Lyra's POV
We pulled into the Scarlet Luna pack just as midnight struck, and exhaustion weighed heavily on my bones. I couldn't remember the last time I'd endured such a lengthy car ride.
Actually, I could - it was when Caelum had taken me from the Shadow Fang pack to his palace. But that journey had been different. Julian's terrible jokes had filled the silence, and despite how cringeworthy they were, I'd found myself laughing anyway.
I suppose I was desperate for any kind of human connection back then. Those moments had made me feel lighter somehow, more like myself. The stuttering stopped, the walls I'd built around myself crumbled just a little.
These past few days had been a revelation. My spirits had lifted considerably, though mornings still brought that awful churning in my stomach and waves of dizziness that left me reeling.
