The night did not restore anything.
It did not calm the shifts that had begun to spread beneath the structure of the world. It did not settle the unease that had taken hold at Silver Fang. And it did not return the certainty that had once existed within the convergence itself.
The system continued, precise and immaculate.
The world did not.
Arvella stood alone at the edge of the garden long after the others had withdrawn inside.
Lucas had not wanted to leave her.
He had not argued when she told him she needed space, but the bond between them remained fully present—steady, attentive, unwilling to drift far even in separation. He had moved only far enough to respect her request, not far enough to lose awareness of her.
She felt him still.
Constant.
Reliable.
Something that had not
