Nicholas’ POV
Later that night, I knew I needed to go out into the woods and think. It was where I could think about the fiercest decisions and think about the mate I had lost a few years back.
I left the pack house, walking with steady strides toward the woods. The forest had always been my refuge, the only place where I could think without distractions.
The moment I stepped beneath the trees, the cool air wrapped around me, easing some of the pressure building inside my chest. I took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp scent of damp earth and pine. The sounds of nature surrounded me—the rustling of leaves, the distant call of a bird, the soft trickle of a stream nearby. These things never changed. They remained constant, unlike the tangled thoughts in my head.
Roy stirred within me, s
