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CHAPTER 63
~Valerie's POV~
I didn't answer. Not because I didn't want to, but because I could finally feel my wolf shifting inside again.
Astra had been quiet since the explosion. Still. Dormant. But now her energy pulsed faintly under my skin, like a heartbeat aligning with mine.
"We're close," she whispered, voice shaky but present. "I can feel the city again."
"We're going the right way," I told Xander.
We hiked through another patch of undergrowth. Vines clung to our legs. Burrs caught in my trousers. Sweat slid down the back of my neck, and my body still ached in places from the earlier hit. But I didn't stop.
I couldn't. Not until we were out of this cursed forest.
"Who do you plan to contact when we reach the edge?" Xander asked.
"My cousin," I replied without hesitation. "Solstice. She's the only one who won't report it to the council or the school until I tell her to. She can get us transport—or at least shelter."
