at the wooden ceiling, listening to the wind howl outside. Every time she closed her eyes, sh

gues who would kill for food, Alphas wh

tting up. The room was dim, the dying embers in the fireplace casting long shadows

re sunrise, return to the life she knew-alone

lawed its

e rough with something close to desperat

mn

down her face. She didn't want to be anyone's salva

Andy outside, standing at the edge of the treeline, sta

she said, crossing her

tightened.

"You mean... yo

safer wit

She studied his profile-the sharp angles, the weight i

lden eyes gleaming in the darkness. "I

ing here, alone, carrying the weight of something too heavy for one pers

first. "You shoul

stiffene

s sides. "Because I can

an down h

rse?" s

r we get to the blood moon,

d. "And what happens

obbed. "You don

eet wouldn't move. Instead, she found herself aski

low breath. "She

look at her when he spoke again. "A century ago, I made a mistake. I th

tomach twis

ckered with somethi

save her. I thought... I thought the Goddess would show mercy." He turned

s pulse

but with something worse. She shattered my soul-tor

like this for a century. Fighting, losing, breaking. And now.

ogue. A survivor. Not someone destined for grand, world-shattering fate

ow to help you,

dn't waver. "Y

frowne

fraction of a movement, just enough for her to notice. "Because for

wind howled around them, and for the first time in a long