?


    The door creaked open, and I tensed, expecting to see the stern faces of my parents, armed with a lecture or two.


    Instead, it was Enzo. His eyes met mine, and he looked softer than I''d ever seen him. Tyler gave me a knowing smile, touched my hand briefly, and left, closing the door behind him.


    Enzo hesitated, his eyes shifting from me to the ground. The room seemed to swallow us both, making his silence fill the space like thick fog.


    "Do you think I''m crazy?" I finally blurted out, unable to stand the tension any longer.


    He looked up, his eyes locking onto mine. "Put on something suitable for going outside," he said, his voice gentle but firm. "We''re going for a run."


    I nced at the window, confused. "Now? A run? Enzo, it''s-"


    "Not that kind of run," he interrupted, his eyes flickering with an inner fire I recognized all too well.


    Ah. That kind of run.


    Rushing to my closet, I slipped out of my dress and into leggings and a sweatshirt.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org.


    We tiptoed through the maze-like corridors of the mansion, dodging family members and avoiding the areas where I knew my parents and their guests would be congregating. Finally, we reached the back door, slipped outside, and it felt like we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.


    We barely exchanged a word as we darted into the forest behind the mansion. Once we were far enough from prying eyes, we stopped and looked at each other.


    "Ready?" he asked, his eyes full of concern and something else-anticipation, perhaps?


    I nodded. In the next moment, we shifted, our human forms melting away as our wolf forms took over. I felt an overwhelming surge of freedom, as though this was the most natural way to live.


    With a quick nce at one another we took off, running through the forest like we had been locked up for years. The wind howled in my ears as we darted between trees, leapt over logs, and sshed through streams.


    For the first time in weeks, I felt at peace. The oppressive weight of the visions, the dread, the confusion-it all seemed to evaporate, leaving me feeling astonishingly free.


    We ran until our legs could carry us no further, and then we stopped. Shifting back to our human forms, I looked around and realized where we were. The ce was all too familiar, but I hadn''t visited it in a long time.


    It was Selena''s grave.


    It felt like she had just been buried, like it was the day of her funeral all over again. And yet, the grass had grown over her grave, the leaves on the trees had returned, and there was the scent of fresh flowers in the air.


    Her grave was a small, carefully maintained clearing in the forest, hidden away from the rest of the world. A simple stone marker stood in the middle, Selena''s name and dates etched into it. It was a ce of sorrow, but also one of remembrance.


    "I thought you might need to be here," Enzo whispered, as if reading my thoughts.


    His words hung heavy in the air, and I felt my eyes brim with tears. But then, something odd happened. A faint stir, a delicate flutter, deep within my belly. I instinctively ced a hand on my abdomen, my eyes widening as I met Enzo''s gaze.


    His eyes were soft, searching, almost hopeful. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice filled with a note of concern. But the sensation was gone just as quickly as it hade, leaving me to believe that it was just in my imagination.


    "Yeah," I managed to say, my voice a little shaky. "I think I am."


    "Come here," Enzo said, holding his hand out for me. "Let''s sit."


    I took his hand and followed him to a stone bench that my father had ced nearby her grave, beneath a weeping willow tree. The long fronds of the tree swayed gently in the early summer breeze, rustling soothingly.


    Sitting there, beside Selena''s modest yet beautiful grave, with Enz''s hand gripping mine as if he could shield me from the pain with just his touch, I felt an overwhelming urge to spill everything.