Chapter 108

• Rose’s POV
• When the ceremony ended and the music faded into the quiet hum of the night, people began trickling out of the pack house, their laughter echoing faintly as they made their way home. The lanterns still glowed, warm light flickering across the stone pathways, but soon it was just Kavian and me lingering behind.
• We strolled together under the velvet sky, the air crisp and filled with the earthy scent of pine and faint smoke from the torches still burning. My heart fluttered when his fingers brushed against mine, tentative at first, before he firmly laced them together. That one simple act made me feel anchored, and yet unsteady at the same time—like the ground beneath me wasn’t entirely solid.