NADIA
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
I couldn't sit still.
My feet kept moving….pacing the length of the stone floor, back and forth, like if I stopped, I'd collapse. The walls were closing in. Every second was like a needle pricking at my skin.
Elira was still unconscious.
So was Loria….my baby.
My two-year-old daughter, lifeless on a bed too big for her small body, her chest barely rising and falling like the world was holding its breath along with me.
"They declared war," Merlin had said earlier. "Dagger Moon doesn't want peace. They want submission. They want blood."
And they took mine.
I paused mid-step, glancing at the bed. Loria hadn't stirred in hours. Her hand was still curled against her chest like it had been when I carried her in. Her wolf hadn't even fought back.
That's what terrified me most. There was no fight. No spark. Just… silence.
I turned and punched the wall.
The stone was unforgiving. The pain grounded me, but only for a second.
