53. Weight of Silence-I

|| Alaric’s POV || Something felt off about Lilac. The moment she woke up, I could sense it, a shift in her energy, a distance in her eyes that hadn’t been there last night. She had been so open, so vulnerable with me just a few hours ago, but now she seemed guarded, almost hesitant. Was she unhappy with me? Had I done something wrong? The questions gnawed at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Not yet. I watched her as she moved around the house, her movements stiff and hurried. She was avoiding my gaze, her mind clearly elsewhere. And then there was the name she had called out in her sleep— Runa. Her wolf. Why had she been calling for her wolf? Was something wrong with Runa? The thought sent a chill down my spine. To think about it, I had never seen Lilac shift. She never talked about her wolf, never mentioned her in passing. Even when my wolf, Hunter, tried to reach out to hers, there was no response. Just silence. It was unsettling, like a shadow lingering at the edge of my con