Chapter 16: Return to Old Ground

The snow never stopped.

It drifted endlessly over the blighted forests and black hills, blanketing the land in silence. Every step left a mark—then vanished.

Alvin walked ahead, cloak pulled tight, Frey leaning against him as they crossed the northern pass.

“I thought this path was closed,” she murmured, voice hoarse.

“It was,” he said. “Until you asked.”

Her lips curled into a faint smile. “You still don’t say no to me.”

“Never learned how.”

They reached the edge of a frozen waterfall just as the wind rose again. The cliffs were sheer, towering, brutal. But beneath them—a valley bathed in pale aurora, the last untouched stretch of silver tundra.

Frey sank to the snow, breath shaky.

Alvin knelt beside her. “You okay?”

“Tired.”

“You want to turn back?”

“No. We’re close.”

He studied her. The color had returned to her cheeks, but her limbs still trembled at night. The poison hadn’t returned—but neither had the strength of the wolf.