#Chapter 91: Following the Trail

Something kept nagging at me about Lydia's secret meeting place. We'd found evidence there before—coded messages, signs of regular use—but I couldn't shake the feeling that we'd missed something important. The thought had been eating at me for days, growing stronger with each passing hour. Maybe it was desperation. With Raymond's restrictions tightening around me and Kane's emotional walls growing higher, I felt like I was running out of options. But every instinct I had screamed that I needed to go back. Look deeper. Search more thoroughly. I waited until my guard rotation changed, then slipped through the hidden passages I'd discovered as a child. These narrow corridors between the walls had been my secret escape routes during countless childhood punishments, and now they served a far more dangerous purpose. The forest clearing was located on neutral territory, far enough from pack lands to avoid detection but close enough for regular meetings. As I made my way through the dens