Shattered Victory

Valerie's POV

For a moment, it felt like victory. Like everything I had been carrying—the weight on my chest, the pounding in my skull, the gnawing ache in my gut—had finally cracked, letting the light slip through. The wolves had stopped moving. Their growls had softened into cautious murmurs. They circled, but they didn’t step forward. Maverick was still beside me, his black fur matted with stre