The Heart o

unter with Kael. His words, so cryptic and foreboding, clung to her mind like a thick fog. The Binding. The wolves. The forest. She couldn't

en, as if they were part of another world. The weight of Kael's warning pressed down on her chest, but the question that kept rising in her mind was why.

e greeted her, but it did little to ease the chill that had settled deep within her. She closed th

the stone gleamed in the firelight, and she shivered at the memory of the way Kael had looked

d the door, trying to calm herself. Who could it be at this hour? There was no one she expected, no one she want

iu

se, met hers. "Araya," he said, his vo

ual barrier. "About what?" she asked, trying to

the small space like an overbearing shadow. "About the forest," he said sim

t in her throat.

voice carrying an edge of frustration. "I can feel i

his, didn't want to even acknowledge that her life was being pulled into something she couldn't unde

r?" she asked cautiously,

"The Binding is more than just some old legend, Araya. It's real. And the wolves-they a

of them too, but she hadn't fully understood what that meant. Now, s

ted. "Who is he? What

to meet. The forest is awakening, Araya. The wolves are stirred, and there's a force at wo

her like a storm. The Alpha, the wolves, the Bin

he forest has chosen you, and soon, there won't be a place in this world where

. "What do you want me to do?" she asked quiet

. Find the clearing. You'll find answers there. It's the only place where the Binding

door. "We'll be watching," he said over his shoulder. "Don

f her cottage, her mind racing. The heart of the forest. The clearing. The Bindin

waited there. She didn't know if she was ready for this, for the truth that she feared was hiding just bey

had

-

Deci

ome. Every instinct in her told her to turn back, to return to the safety of Hollow Creek and forget everything that

into the unknown. And as she did, the earth beneath her feet seemed t

ding ha

-