#Chapter 61: For Love

Neil The cold wind bit at my skin as the Lycan kingdom slowly came into view, its jagged peaks silhouetted against the pale morning sky. My heart was a stone lodged deep in my chest, heavy and unyielding. Each mile closer to home twisted my chest even tighter, but I forced myself forward. There was no room for hesitation—not now, not after what I had done. I hadn’t looked back. I couldn’t. If I had, I might have faltered, and she would have seen the truth in my eyes. That leaving her was a greater wound than any rogue’s blade could inflict. That I loved her with a ferocity that scared me, that consumed me. But love was not enough. It couldn’t protect her in the Lycan world, where every breath she took would be scrutinized, every step watched. They knew the truth of who she was now, what she was, and a target would be on her back the second she set foot in that land again. Loving her meant letting her go, and I hated myself for it. “Neil,” Castor’s