Chapter 73

VALERIA’S POV By the time I reached the pack, the sky was shifting from deep indigo to the soft hues of dawn. The journey had been long, my muscles ached from running, and exhaustion clung to me like a second skin. But despite the weariness weighing me down, there was something else—something lighter, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Relief. Not just because I had managed to sneak out undetected. Not just because I had made it back safely. It was because of him. Elijah. I collapsed onto the makeshift bed in the small cabin I had been given, exhaling a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My body begged for sleep, but my mind was still tangled in the conversation we’d had hours ago. His words echoed in my head, his warning laced with the unshakable protectiveness that had always been so him. You can’t trust them. He was right. I knew he was right. And yet, my thoughts kept drifting to something else entirely. The way his voice had softened ever so slightly when he saw me at hi