Chapter 1300

Chapter 1300:

The soft rhythm of footsteps broke the silence.

Clayton and I turned our heads at the same moment. Alden stood in the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame.

The instant his eyes landed on us, the flicker of hope in them dimmed like a dying ember. He must have seen the light too and come running, thinking—just maybe—that Makenna had returned.

None of us spoke. We only stared at one another, weighed down by the silence. After a long pause, Alden stepped further into the room. His feet dragged slightly, as though each step carried a burden.

“We’ve scoured every inch of the werewolf mountains…” Clayton finally said, his voice rough and raw, as though scraped across gravel. “Even searched under every damn rock at the base of the cliff. There’s nothing. No sign of her. Where the hell could she have gone?”

Alden dropped onto the edge of the bed as if his legs had given out, his head swaying in a fog. Grief clung to his words when he whispered, “She wouldn’t just die…”

My eyes locked onto the map of the werewolf lands spread open across the table. “The far side of the werewolf mountains,” I began softly, my voice barely recognizable, “belongs to the Wizard Clan.”

The mood in the room shifted instantly. Cold seeped in like a sudden frost.

Both Clayton and Alden snapped their heads toward me, their stares sharp enough to cut.

“What are you saying?” they asked together, their voices tense.

“I’m saying…” I stood slowly, my silhouette falling across the map, stretching over the Wizard Clan’s land. “Is it possible… that Makenna crossed into their territory?”

Makenna’s POV:

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“Mmm…”

That calloused hand clamped over my mouth and nose, smothering my scream. All I could muster were faint, choked sobs clawing their way from my throat.

My pulse thundered in my chest, threatening to shatter my ribs.

“Where do you think you’re scampering off to, sweet thing?” Brice’s voice rasped, his breath sour with liquor as it grazed my ear. His other hand seized my waist with cruel strength.

I writhed frantically, my nails carving deep, bloody gashes into his arms.

“Damn you!” Brice snarled, wincing in pain, his hand shooting upward.

Crack!

A brutal slap struck my cheek. My vision swam with bursts of light, a shrill ringing flooded my ears, and the metallic tang of blood coated my tongue.

Before I could regain my bearings, Brice hurled me to the ground with savage force. My spine crashed against the unforgiving earth, stealing the breath from my lungs.

“Let’s have some fun…” His grimy fingers latched onto my shirt, the sharp rip of fabric slicing through the forest’s eerie silence.

“No! Please, let me go!”

The frigid air seeped through my torn clothing, sending shivers down my spine.

I pleaded with Brice repeatedly, but my cries fell on deaf ears.

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