Elias’s POV

The morning air felt too quiet.

I walked across the training field with my hands inside my pockets, trying not to look like someone who barely slept. The sky was gray, soft, almost dull. It matched the heaviness inside my chest.

I had woken up before Ronan. He slept like he was waiting to fight something even in his dreams. His arm had been wrapped around me the whole night. A part of me wanted to stay there and pretend the world outside did not exist. But pretending never ...