LILA’S POV
The night felt wrong.
Not quiet. Not peaceful.
Wrong.
The kind of wrong that crawled beneath your skin and whispered that something irreversible was coming.
I stood at the center of the clearing, my wings half-unfurled, golden energy flickering weakly around me. The air was heavy too heavy like the world itself was holding its breath.
Around me, the pack slept in scattered groups, exhaustion finally claiming them after days of relentless tension. But even in sleep, they weren’t at peace. I could feel it.
Every heartbeat.
Every flicker of fear.
Every thread of fragile hope.
All of it… tied to me.
And it was starting to tear me apart.
Nathan stepped quietly beside me, his presence warm but strained. “You haven’t slept,” he murmured.
I didn’t look at him. “Neither have
