Noah.
I went out to exercise my body a bit, needing the familiar burn of movement to clear my head. For the past two days, the endless preparations for the celebration had completely thrown me off my routine. Meetings, duties, responsibilities, everything had piled up until my body felt restless and wrong, like something vital had been neglected. Running had always been my escape, the one thing that steadied both my wolf and me.
By the time I turned back, my muscles were warm and my breathing steady, my mind finally beginning to quiet. That was when I saw her.
Just a glimpse at first, a familiar back disappearing ahead of me. The way she walked. The slight tension in her shoulders. Something deep in my chest tightened painfully.
Without thinking, without stopping myself, her name slipped from my lips.
"Maria."
She didn't respond.
