Aeron's POV~
I watched them disappear into the mouth of the cliffside like two men stepping willingly into the belly of the death.
Fifteen elite warriors followed close behind, every one of them handpicked, every one of them willing to bleed for their Alphas. For us.
And yet… it wasn't enough.
Because as the last one vanished into the abyss, a weight settled in my chest like a stone. A dread I couldn't name. Couldn't reason with. It gnawed at my ribs, curling low and poisonous beneath my heart, whispering all the things I refused to let myself believe.
That we were too late.
That she was gone.
No. No.
I wouldn't believe it. Couldn't.
So I stayed.
I stayed right at the cliff's edge, my boots sunk into the torn earth, where the wind still smelled of her and the blood she spilled. I told myself I would wait here until they brought her back. I would be the first thing she saw. The first thing she touched when they carried her back into the light.
