[Ace's POV]
The last wagon wheel vanished around the distant bend, swallowed by the dense tree line. A thick, golden cloud of dust hung in the still afternoon air, slowly settling over the empty road. The space where our companions had just stood felt vast and hollow, the silence they left behind a heavy weight pressing down on me.
Beside me, Ovelia's shoulders gave a minute tremble. A soft, wet sniffle was the only sound she allowed to escape.
She's trying to be strong, I realized. Trying to hold it in. Because that's what she's always done.
A primal, possessive urge surged from the wolf within me—a raw need to shield her from this pain, to absorb the sadness that made her seem so fragile. Before logic or propriety could intervene, I moved.
