Chapter 137

Kaelen

The first sign something is wrong is the silence.

Not the peaceful kind—the kind that presses in too tightly, like the forest itself is holding its breath. The bond hums low in my chest, steady but alert, a warning bell I’ve learned not to ignore. Maren is a few steps ahead of me, moving carefully through the trees, her senses stretched outward. I watch the way the air curls around her ankl