109. Nightshade's Past

|| Lilac’s POV || The meadow stretched endlessly before me, a sea of emerald green dotted with wildflowers that swayed gently in the breeze. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and blooming lilacs, a strange comfort that wrapped around me like a warm blanket. In the distance, the sound of a cascading waterfall echoed, its rhythmic roar both soothing and haunting. My feet moved on their own, drawn to the water’s edge, where the mist kissed my skin and the sunlight refracted into a thousand tiny rainbows. And then I saw her. Runa. My wolf. She lay on a bed of soft moss, her golden-brown fur shimmering faintly under the sunlight. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm, as if she were in a deep, peaceful slumber. Her fur was slightly damp, glistening with droplets from the waterfall nearby. She looked better than the last time I had seen her— stronger, healthier— but she was still unconscious, her presence in my mind a hollow void I had grown too accustomed to. “Runa,”