Alina’s POV

The rain started before I even realized I was crying.

Cold drops fell hard and fast, slicing through the trees as I stumbled deeper into the woods. The wind howled like a wounded thing, tearing at my hair, my clothes — as if the world itself wanted to strip me bare.

But nothing hurt as much as what was happening inside me.

Each breath burned. Each step felt heavier than the last.

The image of Ares’s face — the flicker of guilt when I said my mother’s name — ...