Chapter 90. Needed Space

Ainsley

I run.

My lungs burn, my legs ache, but I don’t stop.

The anger is a storm inside me, crackling like a live wire, and I need to move before it eats me whole. I don’t want to think about Redmoon, about what Liam said that it’s unfixable, doomed to repeat the same cycle over and over again until the end of time.

I don’t want to think about the ghosts of my past or the weight of leadership I never asked for but still desperately want to take on because I know, better than anyone, what having that kind of responsibility would mean.

I just want to breathe.

So I push myself harder, the wind whipping against my face as I navigate the uneven terrain of the forest. My paws kick up snow, my heart pounds in my ears, and for a while it works. I can almost forget everything that’s waiting for me back at the safehouse.

Almost.

A sudden rustling behind me pulls me out of my trance. My instincts flare as I glance over my