Daphne
The forest was quiet—too quiet. The kind of silence that presses against your skin like damp wool, the kind that dares you to make a sound.
I moved like a shadow, bare feet silent against the cold earth, my small satchel slung tightly across my shoulder. I’d waited until the pack house had fallen completely still—until my father’s pacing had ceased and even the night patrols were settling into their routes.
“Now,” Cassidy whispered inside me. “The patrol’s turning.”
I ducked low beneath the trellis of ivy that framed the side gate. The gate creaked faintly when I opened it, and I froze, heart pounding in my throat. Nothing stirred. No voices. No footsteps.
“Go.”
I slipped through the gap and sprinted into the trees.
Every muscle in my body strained to be faster, quieter, invi
