AELIA REVA
The road stretched endlessly before us, a long and winding scar that cut through the forest, carrying me closer and closer to the place I had sworn I would never return to. I sat in the back of the car with Hayden at my side, his broad frame steady and his expression carefully unreadable. The silence between us was heavy, broken only by the occasional crunch of gravel beneath the tires and the low hum of the engine. Yet despite the stillness, my chest felt anything but calm.
I could not ignore the unease gnawing at me, the restless burn in the pit of my stomach that told me something was wrong. Ulric's voice echoed faintly in my memory from earlier, He had told me only that he was meeting with the other Alpha, and I was to come after with Hayden. He had not told me about Elias. He had not told me why the bond between my brother and me felt faint, weaker than it should have.
