ALARIC

I had spent the entire night thinking about Muna.

Not because I wanted to, but because I could not understand why she had returned.

For years, I had convinced myself that she was dead. I had buried every memory of her beneath anger, hatred, and everything I had built after she disappeared. I had told myself that she had chosen to leave me, that she had chosen Kieran, and that I would never allow myself to be hurt by her again.

Then she appeared in front of me again, alive, standing in the forest as if all those years had never happened.

And the worst part was that I...