EMMA
I don’t breathe.
I don’t blink.
Damien stands in front of my car like he belongs there—like the forest didn’t just inhale behind him, like something enormous didn’t move in the dark with a weight that bends the night around it.
“Get away from my car,” I say, my voice thin but steady enough to surprise me.
Damien turns back to me slowly, smiling like this is a casual reunion instead of a nightmare stitched together by teeth and secrets. “You always did sound braver when you were scared, Emma.”
The growl comes again—closer this time. It isn’t just sound. It’s pressure. It vibrates through the ground, through my bones, through the bond that snaps awake like a struck nerve.
My chest burns.
Run, something inside me screams.
But my body doesn’t move.
Damien’s eyes flick to the tre
