HELENA POV
*f***k being a princess - Esme Rose*
Waiting was no longer an option.
Outside, the air felt heavier with every step, like the world itself was bracing. The sun was gone behind a ceiling of dark clouds that didn’t move like weather. They hung there, thick and swollen, swallowing light without apology.
This wasn’t an eclipse.
This was theft.
I walked past the last buildings of the pack, boots crunching against frozen ground, breath steady despite the way my heart was hammering. With every step, something inside me unfurled further—heat blooming in my veins, power stirring like it had been held underwater too long.
I didn’t fight it.
I let it rise.
Wild and consuming.
The closer I got to the border, the stronger it became. Light pulsed under my skin, not blinding, not vis
