The night passed in deep, undisturbed exhaustion, their bodies and minds too spent to stir even once. The tension of the previous days, the chase, the theft, the endless running, all of it had drained them to their limits, leaving nothing but an overwhelming need to rest. The forest remained eerily silent, the usual rustling of leaves and distant calls of nocturnal creatures subdued under the weight of the stillness, as if the wilderness itself knew they needed this moment to recover.
But when morning arrived, something was off.
Raya’s senses came back to her sluggishly, her body warm and comfortable, and for a moment, she let herself linger in the feeling, her mind still wrapped in the haze of sleep. That was until the slow rise and fall of another body’s breath against hers finally reg
