Heiko tilted her chin up until she met his gaze. “Or you could save it.”
She frowned. “Save it?”
He nodded slowly. “Maybe what’s calling you isn’t danger, River. Maybe it’s the answer we need against the darkness that’s rising. The witches, the broken seals — all of it started long before us. Maybe it’s connected.”
His words lingered in the air like a spark refusing to die out.
River wanted to believe him. But her heart warred with her reason — the pull toward the North felt both sacred and perilous. And her wolf, usually fearless, now whispered only one word in her mind: “Wait.”
Heiko stood, pulling her up gently by the hand. “Come,” he said. “You’ve been out here too long. You need a change.”
But instead of leading her back to their chambers, he guided her down the garden path to a
