The afternoon sun slanted through the windows of my study, casting long shadows across piles of paperwork. For hours, I’d been immersed in trade reports and border patrol dispatches—the mundane business of running a pack. For the first time all day, my thoughts weren’t consumed by breakfast, by the stark emptiness of the chair beside mine, by Una’s absence.
I was almost at peace.
Then a knock shattered it.
"Enter."
One of the gate guards
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