My name sounded different coming from him. Like it meant something.
“I’ve been waiting.”
Stephanie’s POV
The night I left the Foreshadow Pack, I didn’t look back. Not once. Because I knew that if I did, even for a second, I might hesitate.
And hesitation was something I could no longer afford.
The man standing in front of me watched me with a steady, unreadable gaze. There was no impatience in him, no unnecessary words. Just quiet certainty.
“You’re ready?” he asked.
I tightened my hold on my bag, feeling the weight of everything I carried inside it.
“Yes,” I answered.
He nodded once. “Then let’s go.”
There were no dramatic goodbyes. No lingering attachments. Just a single step forward. And then another. Until I was no longer part of the life I once knew.
The car ride was quiet. The city lights gradually faded as we drove further away, replaced by darker roads and the looming presence of the forest.
I sat beside him, my hands resting over my stomach, my thoughts tangled in a way I couldn’t quite sort through.
There was something… Strange. Not uncomfortable. Not threatening. But unfamiliar in a way that felt almost… familiar.