Chapter 19 A Gathering Of Shadows

• The sun had just begun to dip beyond the trees, casting long shadows through the pack hospital’s high windows. The golden light filtered through blinds in thin slits, slicing the sterile white walls with bands of dusk. But the hospital no longer felt sterile. It bore the weight of crisis, the faint scent of burned sage clashing with the sharp tang of medical antiseptic, as if someone had tried to cleanse the space of lingering dread. The air held a quiet heaviness, the hum of the machines interwoven with the distant murmur of hushed conversations in the hallway.
• Damien stepped through the door quietly, his boots making only the faintest sound on the polished floor. He didn’t speak right away. Instead, he paused just inside the threshold, his gaze flicking to the bed where Jenna lay unmoving, her skin pale, her breath a whisper of movement beneath the thin blanket. Machines beeped softly, tracking every precious beat of her fragile rhythm. Alexander sat at her side, shoulders tense, hand curled protectively around hers.
• “She hasn’t stirred,” Alexander said without looking up. His voice was calm on the surface, but Damien could hear the strain, coiled, controlled fury simmering just beneath. “But I felt her again. Faint. Just once.”