Owen Greystone's POV
I've been waiting patiently for news on Ember, my heart thumping in my chest, a tight knot of tension I couldn’t shake. Deep down, I knew she couldn’t pull off some grand magic trick, appearing out of thin air under the light like a magician revealing it was all a clever illusion. The hope felt foolish, a childish fantasy I couldn’t indulge.
The pack kept searching along the riverbank, their footsteps heavy with exhaustion. We turned up scattered remnants—pretty high heels glinting in the mud, a worn pair of shoes, a broken bracelet, and a bloody rag caught on a rock. Each find twisted the knife of certainty deeper. That was enough to convince me she wouldn’t show up again. A wolf-less human, frail and injured, falling from that towering cliff – there was no way she’
