Malric’s Pov

Days… no, weeks. That’s how long it’s been since Delilah vanished. Each sunrise felt like a knife twisting deeper into my chest, each sunset like another reminder that I’d failed her. I had searched every town, every forest, every ruined corner of this cursed land…bones, blood, ashes—but no trace of her. Not even the faintest scent of my mate.

I’d just returned from my last search, mud and fury clinging to me like a second skin, when Reyna’s voice broke through the silence.

“Any progress? Did you find her? Anything?”

Alyssa was there too, standing behind her, eyes rimmed with the same exhaustion I carried.

“No.” My voice...