Chapter 144

VALENTINA The forest clearing felt… wrong. My legs trembled, my hands still quivered as the last tendrils of shadow ebbed from my skin. The hollow had shown me things I didn’t understand—a faint voice, another wolf, silver-gold eyes, and a power that seemed alive inside me. Kira’s growl rumbled faintly in my mind, warning me, tethering me to reality. Yet reality felt distant. Every breath I drew tasted like ash and moonlight, and the air pressed against me with a weight that seemed unnatural. Something inside me had stirred, something that might never settle again. “Valentina…” The whisper returned, soft, fleeting, like smoke brushing against my thoughts. I blinked, but the forest offered no answers. Only shadows. Then a scent hit me—familiar, impossibly strong: my father. I staggered, trying to regain my balance, but I could not hide the energy that still clung to me. It shimmered faintly in the moonlight, curling around my limbs, the earth beneath me pulsing in sync with my blood. He