I sprint through the trees,toward the cabin... toward the girl I love.
Lether think I’m him. Let her sob into my chest and beg for my touch, believing she’s whispering his name into the night. By the time the sun rises, it will be too late. She will be mine in every way that matters.
Far off,buried in the heart of the forest, a raw, desperate scream echoes. It’s Andrik—the real one.
He can feelme in his skin. He’s fighting the hibernation spell, trying to claw through the sludge of dark magic, but he’s fighting a losing battle.
I’m alreadyon the way to claim my queen.
I’mthe king of this forest now.
45
Chapter 46-
Andrik POV-
The forest is too quiet.
I’ve been tracking for hours, and I’ve found nothing. No footprints. No snapped twigs. No scent trails that don’t belong to the local fauna.
It’s been days since this shadow-man made himself known—the one who’s been circling Lumi like a wolf stalking a wounded fawn.
Days of silence.
Days of nothing.
And that silence terrifies me more than his presence ever did. Predators don't go quiet unless they're preparing to strike.
I kneel beside a cluster of birch trees, my claws raking through the drift. The ground is undisturbed. Too clean—he should have left something. A trace. A mark. But there’s nothing here but the forest breathing softly around me. Just me, alone, while Lumi waits in the cabin.
Alone.
Guilt claws at my chest sharper than any wound. I shouldn’t have left her. I told myself I was protecting her... securing our future, but what if I was just giving him exactly what he wanted?
I stand abruptly, shaking the frost from my fur. I need to get back.Now.
I turn toward the cabin, and that's when the world snaps.
It isn’t a sound. It’s a pull. A tug on the thread of the bond so violent it feels like a hook is yanking me forward. I stop mid-step, one hand bracing against a trunk.
Lumi?
I warded the cabin. I left Saevael to keep her inside. She has to be safe.Right?
The pull comes again, stronger this time, and then it twists.
Pain lances through my heart, sharp and harrowing, like something vital has been severed. I gasp, stumbling forward, my claws digging into the bark.
The bond... it’s stretching... being pulled taut until it’s ready to snap.
“No—”
I push off the tree and run.
My hooves pound through the snow, tearing up the loam beneath the ice. Branches whip past my face, snagging on my antlers, but I don’t slow down. All I feel is our connection fraying.
Lumi. Just hold on for me, baby. Don’t let go.
