ELISA'S POV
"Are you okay, Elisa?" The guard’s question pulled me out of the spiral I’d been falling into.
“You seem distracted,” he said. His voice was quiet, not the crude bark I was used to with the guards around here. It had a steady, careful tone, like someone testing thin ice. As if he wasn't sure himself how I would react to being asked.
I blinked and forced my face to settle. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said too quickly, because saying anything else felt like opening a door I couldn’t close.
He didn’t push. Instead, he fell into step beside me as we walked. We passed pack members coming and going, but no one stopped to greet us. They were all too distracted, talking about the strange light in the woods last night. It seems it was seen by more people than I realize. The guard kept his p
