**SOPHIA’S POV**
The door clicked shut behind me, cutting off Nicholas’s presence, but his words lingered like an unseen weight.
*Only when there’s something worth watching.*
A shiver crawled down my spine. I had walked away first, but the way Nicholas had looked at me—cold yet calculating—made it clear that this was far from over.
I sighed, pushing my hair back as I made my way down the dimly lit hallway. The packhouse was quiet at this hour, most of its residents asleep, but my mind was too tangled to rest.
Instead of returning to my room, I turned toward the training grounds.
The open space behind the packhouse stretched into the woods, usually filled with warriors at dawn. At this hour, I expected solitude.
But I wasn’t alone.
A figure moved in the shadows, stan
