Chapter 157

Freya I didn't sleep that night. The bed was too big,too cold,and the scent of cedar and Silvano that lingered on the sheets only made it worse. I lay there in the darkness,staring at the ceiling while the silver light from the moon crawled slowly across the room. My chest felt hollow,like something precious inside me had cracked open and leaked away. There was a time when just thinking of him filled me with warmth—now,it only left me cold. Maybe I was too tired. Maybe my wolf was too tired. We'd been trying for so long to hold this bond together,to pretend it still pulsed with life. But that morning,as dawn began to bleed across the horizon,I realized I didn't have the strength to fight for it anymore. Still,I reached for him through the bond. The connection between us had once felt like an endless river—his energy flowing through me,mine through him. Now it was thin and brittle,like ice about to shatter. I could sense him somewhere on the other end,but he was distant,closed off. My w