(Siena POV)
The evening air wraps around me like a cool blanket as I sit on the settlement's eastern overlook, watching the sun's last rays paint the valley below in shades of amber and gold.
My fingers trace the rough texture of the wooden bench beneath me, weathered by seasons of rain and sun. Like me, I think wryly. Weathered by storms I never saw coming.
The council session today had been brutal.
Raiden's desperate moves, the elders' unprecedented challenge to his authority, and the palpable shift in pack dynamics reverberate through the mate bond like distant thunder.
Zion’s gentle touch on my hand. A very public display that even now, I can’t decide if it’s good or bad.
I close my eyes, inhaling deeply to center myself in this moment of rare solitude.
