Chapter 544

Nina

The thick veil of mist hung heavy in the air, enveloping our makeshift camp in a shroud of eerie stillness. The acrid stench of smoke still clung to our clothes and hair, a lingering reminder of the inferno we had barely escaped with our lives.

Two days. We had spent two days traveling, and I hadn’t seen or heard from my friends or my husband all that time.

I was beginning to lose hope.

Finally, we had managed to make our way out of the burnt portion of the forest, although the place we found was still trampled by animals trying to get away from the hot blaze. We found a spot near a running stream, and set up camp there.

As I hammered another tent stake into the damp earth, my muscles ached with exhaustion, but I refused to rest. Not until we had some semblance of shelter, some fragile sense of safety amidst the chaos that had consumed the world.

And after all, this had been my fault. I had failed; I had let things get out of control. And now, innocent people were paying for it.

Suddenly, a faint rustling in the mist drew my attention, and I squinted, my heart leaping into my throat as a cluster of familiar figures emerged from the haze.

“Lori! Jessica!” The names tore from my lips in a breathless torrent as I dropped the mallet, rushing forward to throw my arms around them.

Tears stung my eyes as I clung to them, reveling in the tangible proof that they were alive, that they had somehow survived the nightmare that had unfolded. Over their shoulders, I caught sight of Matt and Daphne, their faces etched with weariness but their eyes shining with relief.

And trailing behind them were Luke and Tyler—whole, unharmed, and very much alive.

A choked sob escaped me as I released Lori and Jessica, pulling Tyler into my arms and holding him close, as if afraid he might vanish into the mist if I let go.

“You’re all here,” I murmured, my voice cracking as I tried to hold back tears. “How did you…”

“We got separated, but found some stragglers last night,” Luke explained. “They told us about this group of refugees, and we’ve been following your trail ever since.”

“And hoping to find you,” Tyler added.

I swallowed, feeling a mixture of relief and sorrow—because I noticed that there was one person who was missing during this reunion.

Enzo.

Pulling back from Tyler, I scanned their ash-covered faces with my heart pounding in my chest.

“Where’s… Where’s Enzo?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, dreading the answer.

A heavy silence fell over the group, punctuated only by the faint crackle of the campfire nearby. Lori’s gaze dropped to the ground, her lips pressed into a thin line, while Matt’s expression hardened, his jaw clenched as if bracing himself.

“We don’t know,” he said at last, his voice gruff and filled with regret. “We had hoped… that he was with you.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the wind from my lungs as my knees threatened to buckle underneath me. Enzo, lost in the chaos, his fate unknown—the thought was nearly unbearable.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I struggled to maintain my composure, my fingers curling into fists at my sides. “No,” I rasped, shaking my head in denial. “He’s alive. I’m sure of it.”

The others exchanged uneasy glances, but no one contradicted me. They knew better than to argue, to strip away the fragile hope that was all that kept me tethered to reality.

Before anyone could respond, a familiar voice cut through the heavy silence, sharp and laced with barely restrained frustration.

“Nina. There you are.”

I turned to find Kai hobbling toward us on his staff, his expression stony. He swept his gaze over our group, a knowing look in his eyes, but that look was also mixed with an expression of frustration.

“Your foolish quest has cost us dearly,” he began without preamble, his words biting. “The forest, our home—all of it, reduced to ash and ruin because of your reckless actions.”

A flicker of sadness flickered inside of me because I knew that Kai was right. But before I could muster a response, the old village leader’s features softened, his shoulders sagging.

“And yet,” he continued, his voice lowering to a murmur, “you managed to evacuate so many of Mila’s prisoners, to rally those who had lost hope.” He shook his head slowly, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Perhaps I have underestimated you, child.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words caught in my throat as a sudden realization washed over me. “My father,” I breathed, my brow furrowing. “Where is he? If we had his help—”

Kai’s expression darkened, and he averted his gaze, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “Gone,” he said simply. “They pursued Mila after her transformation, but we have received no word of their whereabouts… or their fate.”

A heavy silence fell over the group again. My father, the Alpha King, lost as well—it was nearly too much to bear, on top of not knowing where Enzo had gone.

Yet, even as despair threatened to consume me, a flicker of determination burned inside of me, fueled by the memory of Selena’s words and the life that still stirred in my womb.

Squaring my shoulders, I met Kai’s gaze with a steely resolve. “We’re here to help, however we can,” I said. “Just give us the word, and we’ll do it.”

Kai regarded me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he inclined his head in a subtle nod of respect.

“We need your antidote again. There are those who are still maddened by the Dragon Queen’s influence, and they’re growing dangerous.”

I nodded, and without another word, I followed Kai to the part of camp where those he had described were held. Over the following hours, my friends and I worked to cure those whose sickness caused by the gasses under Mila’s mountain had gone too far.

Before we knew it, we were watching previously sick and borderline feral shifters be reunited with their families, and despite Enzo and my father’s missing status, it was heartwarming.

Later, as we wandered the nearby forest in search of anything edible to forage for the stew that night, Jessica fell into step beside me. Her face was still somewhat ashen from the fires, but she hadn’t lost that spark in her eyes that never seemed to fade.

“Hey,” she said softly, leaning closer as we gathered some wild roots for the stew. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

“More than I can chew?” I almost scoffed as I looked at her. “Jessica, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t—”

“How could it be your fault?” She leveled me with a stern glare. “It was going to happen, sooner or later. That dragon was a ticking timebomb. And if it weren’t for you and Luke figuring out what was happening to Enzo so quickly, then…”

Her voice trailed off, but we both knew what she was going to say: Enzo might have died in Mila’s clutches.

But, at the same time, so many others had died because of our plan to get him out. The forest had been destroyed, Mila was on the loose, and my father was following her somewhere—assuming that he was even still alive.

And Enzo, the man who we had done all of this for to begin with?

He was still missing, too.