Chapter 305. Beginning of the Storm

Aurora’s POV

The wind outside howled like a beast denied, thrashing through the trees and slamming against the walls of the packhouse with desperate fists of cold. Another storm. They always came at night now, as if the very world knew that peace didn’t belong to us anymore.

I lay curled up beside Caleb, the warmth of his body the only thing anchoring me in the present. My fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt as if holding on could somehow slow the unraveling of everything around us. The window panes rattled with each gust of wind, and the dim light of the lantern on my nightstand flickered, casting dancing shadows on the ceiling above us.

“I can’t stop thinking about them,” I whispered into the quiet, my voice rough from hours of unspoken worry. “Maggie and Jade. I can’t save one and lose the other, Caleb. I can’t.”

He wrapped his arms tighter around me, the scent of cedarwood and home grounding me for a breath. “I know, Aurora. But we can’t run in