At first—
Lyra thought she imagined it.
The space.
The quiet.
But as the day went on—
It became obvious.
Neither of them came to find her.
No unexpected encounters.
No tension-filled moments.
No voices calling her name.
Nothing.
And somehow—
That felt worse than everything before.
Lyra sat alone near the edge of the clearing, her fingers loosely wrapped around a cup she hadn’t touched. Her thoughts were louder now, echoing without interruption.
You have time.
Kael’s voice.
You can’t stand in the middle forever.
Daniel’s.
She exhaled slowly.
This was what she had asked for.
Space.
Time.
So why did it feel like something was missing?
“Lyra.”
She looked up quickly.
For a second—
She expected one of them.
It wasn’t.
Just a passing member of the pack, nodding politel
