They did not rest long.
Dawn came pale and quiet, slipping through the towering pines like a silver breath. The night’s fire had burned low, leaving only smoldering embers that hissed softly beneath a thin layer of ash. The air smelled of damp earth, pine resin, and something older — ancient magic woven into the land itself.
Aaron was the first to rise.
His body moved before his mind fully woke, instincts honed by years of leadership and battle. He stretched, rolling his shoulders, every muscle coiled and ready. His wolf prowled beneath his skin, alert, restless — and still reeling from the truth of the bond that now pulsed between him and Mystic.
He glanced toward her.
She stood at the edge of the clearing, wrapped in her blanket, staring into the deep forest as though listening to s
