Elyse pov
The forest was darker on this side of the hill.
I walked carefully, placing each foot deliberately to avoid snapping branches. Every sound made me jump. Every shadow looked like a wolf waiting to pounce.
My heart wouldn’t stop racing.
Calm down. I needed to calm down. Getting nervous would only…
Heat flared beneath my skin.
No. No, not now.
I pressed my hand against a tree trunk to steady myself, trying to breathe slowly and trying to push the power back down.
But fear was a living thing inside me, feeding the magic and making it stronger.
The bark under my palm began to smoke.
I snatched my hand away, but the damage was done. A handprint burned into the wood, edges glowing orange before fading to black char.
“Please don’t spread,” I whispered, watching the scorch mark
