The forest's breeze surrounded them: slow, ancient, and indifferent. Lucas walked in silence, the crunch of dead leaves beneath his boots the only sound marking his passage.
He's here now.
He guessed there really was no turning back.
Mara's shoulder brushed against his again, deliberate this time, as if testing the strength of his presence.
What kind of creature did you imprint on?
The question should have been simple. But nothing about Sebastian Reed had ever been simple. Lucas exhaled a deep sigh, watching the ghost of his breath dissolve into the cold air.
"He is a vampire."
What he saw in her eyes was a combination of pity and remorse. Long ahead of them, Elijah's shoulders tensed, yet he didn't turn.
The trees seemed to lean in, listening.
And for Lucas?
His heart ached every time he mentioned anything that described Sebastian.
"Let's hurry," Elijah said finally, his voice rough from the icy breeze of the forest. Mara cleared her throat and slowly walked side by side with Aida.
The path ahead narrowed, shadows stretching long fingers across the dirt. Lucas kept his eyes fixated on the ground, on the roots twisting through the earth like buried secrets.
He wondered if this place could hold him.
He wondered if the soil here was soft enough to swallow the things he carried, especially when it was time for him to become one with the ground.
Yes, he knew what he was getting into the moment he left the motel.
They walked further into the deepest part of the forest. On the rocks below, the stream sang an old song.
A song that Lucas would hear all the while he was here in Tanesab.
When the lodge came into view, a stoic, weathered thing with smoke curling from its chimney like a sigh—Lucas abruptly stopped.
He hesitated.
Any steps further from where he was standing would only mean one thing.
This was it.
The end of one road, the uncertain start of another.
No more takebacks.
He heaved a deep breath as he watched Elijah turn in his direction, his gaze unreadable.
"Wait here."
Lucas nodded. Mara gave him a tight smile as she followed Elijah behind.
The air in Tanesab was different.
It was not the sharp, sterile cold of La Ber, where silence clung to the walls like frost.
Not the suffocating tension when his father knew who he imprinted on. Not the same sharp glares of his friends when they found out he imprinted on the enemy.
Here, the wind carried the scent of damp earth and pine, of wood smoke, and of wild things. It should have been comforting, yet he felt nervous.
"I am no longer home. But this place still feels like home."
Lucas kicked the tiny rock underneath him.
"Guess this is really it. I can't believe I was able to get here without shifting."
The village around him was quiet, not empty, but still in the way of places that had learned the value of silence.
Wolves lounged in patches of sunlight, their eyes flickering towards him with mild curiosity before sliding away.
No challenge. No judgement. No suspicion. Just…acknowledgment.
"You'll fit right in there. Its villagers don't ask questions," Aida once told him.
"They just let you be. That place is the perfect one for the likes of you, carrying burdens as heavy as the Earth."
He stayed in silence throughout the whole ride. He never acknowledged any of what Aida had said.
He wasn't sure who he knew how to be anymore.
Sebastian had carved so much out of him—piece by piece, bite by bite, that standing here, unclaimed, felt like balancing on the edge of a cliff.
Their bond had gone quiet since he stepped inside the deep forest. No more pain and no cold fingers yanking him back to La Ber.
Just…silence.
And silence, after so much noise, was scaring him.
Mara was the first one to go out of the cabin, looking at him with an unreadable expression. Her eyes spoke of the truth behind her words.
Lucas knew.
She smiled at him, still with pity and remorse, yet there was something else. Something that Lucas's pack mate once showed him when they found out who he imprinted with. She just absorbed it, the way the forest absorbed the rain.
A neutral expression that sent chills down Lucas's spine.
What did they even tell the chief?
I let a vampire ruin me?
I left because I would rather die than allow him to continue pretending that I meant something to him.
The truth was a tangled, ugly thing.
He wasn't sure he could pull it apart without bleeding.
A breeze stirred the trees, sending a shiver through the leaves. Lucas closed his eyes, just for a second, and imagined roots sinking into the earth beneath him.
Balancing him there.
Maybe, if he stood still enough, this place would decide he belonged.
He could hear Mara's footsteps nearing where he stood. He opened his eyes; the woman in front of him gave him a smile.
"She wants to meet you."
Lucas gulped but nodded.
As he trailed behind her, she stopped in front of him and faced him back again.
"Oh also, welcome to Tanesab."
—
The door creaked open.
The Chieftain stood on the threshold, her eyes the color of amber, sharp enough to peel black layers.
"So," she said. The word was neither warm nor cruel—just heavy.
"You're the one who loved a vampire."
Loved.
Past tense, it almost made Lucas laugh. Had it ever been love? Or just the imprint's cruel mimicry of it—a hunger mistaken for devotion?
He met her stare. "Yes."
She hummed in answer, studied him for a long moment, then stepped aside.
"Follow me inside. Tell me why you are here."
Lucas nodded; the air inside was thick with the scent of pine resin and hearth smoke. Lucas crossed the threshold and stopped when he felt Mara's or Elijah's presence was gone.
"They can't go in further."
Lucas looked behind him and saw the couple smiling back at him.
"We'll be waiting for you outside, okay?" Mara spoke, clinging to her husband as if her life depended on it.
Lucas nodded and continued trailing behind the chief.
The weight of his story settled in his chest like a stone.
But for the first time in years, the stone felt like something he could finally lay down.
"I hope you had time to gather all of your thoughts. Now, out with it."