Chapter 317

AURELIA’S POV The forest was quiet — too quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as I crept deeper into the shadows beyond the pack’s border. I had no map. No real plan. Only the single, reckless thought burning through my mind: Find out where I am. If I could figure that out, maybe I could decide what to do next — whether to keep running, or to return before Derek realized I was gone. I pushed forward, brushing past low-hanging branches. The moonlight filtered through the trees, pale and fractured, illuminating the narrow path ahead. The earth was damp underfoot, rich with the smell of moss and pine needles. And then — something else. The air shifted. There was a faint, bitter scent mixed with it now — faintly metallic, like rust and rain. Blood. But not fresh. Old, dried. Hidden beneath layers of earth and time. I froze, inhaling carefully again, and this time I caught the underlying note of smoke. Burnt wood. Faint traces of fur. That combination… I’d read about it once, in o