ALARIC POV
The run back to Greenwood took an hour.
Maybe a little more.
Maybe less.
I honestly couldn't tell.
Time had stopped behaving like time the moment I turned my back on her at the riverbank and forced Drake to run in the opposite direction while every instinct in my body screamed at me to go back and tear the forest apart until I found her again.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Because I promised her. Because Owen was clinging to my back like a drowning kid gripping driftwood, his fingers twisted deep into Drake’s fur, his small body shaking with those silent sobs children try to hide when they think crying might make things worse.
And Elle—Goddess, Elle—
She had stopped crying almost immediately.
Which was worse.
Much worse.
She rode on Knight’s back beside us, completely r
