LUCIAN
The forest was too quiet.
I stood still, my gaze sweeping the darkness, every sense sharpened, every instinct alert.
Where could she have gone?
The question lingered, unwanted.
Unnecessary.
She wasn't my responsibility.
I had already done more than enough.
I turned slightly, scanning the ground again, the surrounding trees, the broken undergrowth. There were signs of movement...faint, scattered, but not entirely gone.
She had run.
Of course she had.
My jaw tightened.
"She should have stayed where I left her," I muttered under my breath.
It would have been easier.
Safer.
For her.
For me.
My wolf stirred restlessly beneath the surface.
You asked her to leave now find her.
The command wasn't calm. It wasn't patient.
It was sharp. Insistent.
I ignored it.
"She could go to hell for all I care" I said coldly, my voice low, controlled.
Silence followed. But it wasn't empty.
My wolf didn't retreat.
If anything, it grew more agitated.
