Chapter 174

• Elvira – First Person POV
• The elevator doors parted with a soft chime, but I barely registered it. My fingers were still curled tight around the photograph Elyra had given me, edges warm from the heat of my palm, the paper now soft with handling. I walked down the corridor of the Pack Tower, past the high windows where early sunlight slanted in golden ribbons across the polished stone floors. My boots clicked with soft echoes, each step pulling me farther away from the quiet countryside and back into the tower’s sterile heart.
• Cassian’s office door was open. He was hunched over his desk, shoulders tight, fingers poised at the edge of his keyboard but not moving, like he was willing it to type for him. He looked up the moment I crossed the threshold.