GRACE POV – Epilogue
*Perfect – Ed Sheeran*
(even if I knew it could sound cheesy… I couldn’t help it. It had been playing in my mind the entire time)
The lake was quiet in the way only true wilderness could be.
Not empty. Not still. Just… listening. Calm. Waiting.
Loch Ness stretched out in front of me, dark water reflecting the moon in broken ribbons of silver, the shoreline curved and familiar in a way that settled deep into my bones. The air smelled of cold earth, pine, smoke from the fire pits the pack had lit earlier, and something sweeter underneath—mulled wine, fresh bread, cinnamon, butter. Winter solstice. Christmas lights flickered between the trees behind us, soft and golden, the kind of human warmth meant to push back the dark.
I pulled my white fluffy coat tighter aroun
