#Chapter 143: Confessions and Departures

Victory felt weird. Anticlimactic, almost. Pack members swarmed through Blood Moon's great hall, hammering at broken walls and sweeping up debris from the battle. But something heavy lingered in the air—thicker than dust, sharper than smoke. Sure, we'd eliminated the immediate threat. The future, though? That was anybody's guess. Especially mine. Raymond tracked me down on the balcony overlooking our territory. I'd been staring at lands that once meant home but now looked like someone else's memories painted in watercolor. His hands found the stone railing as he stepped closer. That familiar scent wrapped around me—pine and leather, the same smell that had followed him around since we were kids. "Now that Giana's gone, we can start fresh. Build what we should've had all along." He'd already decided for both of us. No questions in his voice. No acknowledgment that I might've developed my own opinions during months of separation and struggle. Looking at him felt too danger