When I arrived, the pond lay still as glass, framed by snow-covered stones and black trees. The mist still hovered like a veil over the surface, and in the muted light, the place looked like something pulled from a dream.

  Or a nightmare.

  I stood still. Alone. No footprints in the snow. No sounds.

  "You came after all," said a voice behind me.

  I turned quickly. Will stood there, half-shadowed by a tree, arms crossed over his chest. His expression was serious, but not threatening. More... uncertain?

  "Who else would it be?" I replied, defiant but slightly breathless.

  He stepped toward the water without saying anything. His movements were unusually calm, almost as if he didn't want to scare me.

  "I wasn't sure you'd find the note," he said at last. "Or that you'd bother with it."

  "I almost didn't. But..." I shrugged. "I'm too curious for my own good."

  Will gave a crooked smile, almost appreciative. "You're braver than you think."

  We stood in silence for a while. Only the gentle ripples of the water could be heard. Until he suddenly said:

  "This is where I used to come when I... needed to think. Before everything."

  "Before the curse?" I asked cautiously.

  He nodded slowly. "And after. Here I still felt like... myself. Not like the monster I became."

  "You're not a monster."

  He gave a short, bitter laugh. "You saw what I did to Zaine."

  "He tried to kill me, Will."

  "And I killed him." He looked at me, and his eyes burned with something I couldn't read. "What does that say about me?"

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  "That you saved me," I said quietly. "You made a choice. A hard one, but the right one."

  His breathing deepened, but he didn't say more. Instead, he sat down on a rock near the water. I followed, the snow crunching softly beneath my feet.

  "This is the only place where things don't feel wrong," he said at last.

  I looked at him for a long time. There was something broken behind the surface, something he fought to keep hidden. I didn't know what I felt, but I knew I wanted to understand.

  "Will..."

  He met my gaze, and for the first time, I saw him truly vulnerable.

  "If there's a way out of all this," he said softly, "I hope it's you who leads us there."

  And for the first time, he didn't say it like an expectation.

  He said it like a hope.

  We sat there a while longer, silent, with only the wind moving across the water's surface. I glanced at Will. There was something new in his face now—something I hadn't seen before. Not just seriousness or anger. It was sorrow. And guilt.

  I didn't know what to say to ease it. Maybe there was nothing to say.

  "You're cold," he said at last, eyes fixed on my hands clutching the sleeves of my coat.

  "A little," I admitted. "But it's okay."

  He stood and held out his hand to me. I took it without hesitation. For the first time, it felt... natural. No pressure, no resistance. Just warmth. Human warmth.

  But then a crack echoed through the forest.

  We both froze.

  Will immediately let go of my hand and turned his head sharply. His eyes narrowed, and his entire body tensed. I felt my pulse quicken.

  "Was that one of yours?" I whispered.

  "No," he said flatly. His voice was sharper now. Alert.

  The sound came again, this time farther off—as if someone was moving fast through the underbrush.

  Will stepped in front of me, protective. "We need to go. Now."

  I nodded, and we started walking, quickly but quietly. Will kept glancing over his shoulder. I noticed how his nostrils flared—as if trying to catch something in the air.

  Suddenly he stopped.

  "Run," he said, low.

  "What—?"

  "RUN!" he barked.

  I started running before I could think. Branches scratched my arms, snow sprayed beneath my feet. I heard a roar behind me—deep and guttural. Not wolf. Not human. Something in between.

  Something... wrong.

  I heard Will growl—a sound so animalistic it made me stop and turn back—but all I saw was a dark blur of movement, and then... silence.

  "WILL?!" I screamed.

  No answer.

  I turned again and ran as fast as I could back toward the clan, my heart pounding in my ears and a growing terror in my gut.

  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, barely staying upright as panic drove me forward. The trees blurred past like shadows, and the air burned in my lungs. Away from the danger.