{ "Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future." }
The caves rose before me like the jagged teeth of some long-dead god — carved by time, wind, and power older than any pack could name. The sea crashed against the rocks below, wild and impatient, as though it, too, could feel the tension rolling off me in waves. I stood at the entrance, the scent of salt thick in the air, and let the silence press against me.
She should be here.
Belle's warmth still lingered on my skin, phantom-soft and maddeningly real. Her voice haunted my thoughts like a song I couldn't stop humming, the way she'd whispered "Just kiss me," the way her breath hitched when I touched her, the way her fingers had clung to me like she was afraid I'd vanish. I clenched my fists, my claws threatening to break through skin. This place was sacred. Forbidden to most. But it felt hollow now. Cold.
