"This is a bad idea." Luca's voice broke the silence as we stood on the brink of the Forbidden Forest, its soaring trees covered in a strange mist. Here the air was cooler, weighted with the type of quiet that made your skin crawl.
I remarked, clutching the pack's strap over my shoulder, "It's the only idea we have." While my heart was pounding, my speech remained steady.
"The pack elders forbid anyone from going in there for a reason, Aria," Luca said, his piercing grey eyes darting forward over the woodland. "This is the reason it's called forbidden."
"And the wolf keeps guiding us here for a reason," I said. "If we fail to decipher what it's trying to tell us, the competing pack will wipe us out—and the bond won't mean anything to anyone."
His jaw clenched, and for a split second I thought he would object. He then nodded and sighed in resignation. "Good. Still, keep close. Should anything happen, I am not wasting time attempting to rescue you.
