Hailey's POV
The wind felt different here, thinner, colder, like even the air mourned what had become of this place.
I stood alone on the cracked, overgrown path leading into the remnants of what once was my home—the Blood Haven territory. The trees had grown wild, untamed, like they'd claimed back the land. The ground was dry and cracked in places, while others still bore the scorched marks of old fires. The once-beautiful gate to the pack's land now lay in half, rusted and twisted.
I should've felt something warm in my chest… relief, maybe. Or nostalgia. But all I felt was this empty ache. It gnawed at me from the inside out.
I didn't tell Vickson or Ava where I was going. After what happened in the penthouse, after the demons poured out of that red cloud like nightmares made real, I knew I had to move fast. Vickson had been too weak to chase after me, and Ava… well, she was too busy trying to prove she was still useful.
