Two days later
The skies over Almira were still dark, a thin silver mist curling around the castle spires like whispers of dreams not yet fully gone.
It was just before dawn, the world caught between silence and awakening, and Heiko stood in the courtyard, ready to shift into his beast—his tall frame taut, eyes glowing, power held barely beneath the surface. The forest behind the estate loomed dense and ancient, a wall of green shadows waiting to swallow him whole.
River stood in front of him, wrapped in a thick shawl, her bare feet kissed by the dew-laced stones. The wind played with the curls of her hair, and in the fragile stillness of that moment, they didn’t speak—not yet.
He finally took a step closer and pulled her gently into his arms. His hands cradled her with the same revere
