I walked through the common hall slowly, my fingers brushing the stone bench where we once gathered during feast nights. The worn mark where Selene always sat was still there. So was the cracked table edge Draven caused when he stumbled after training. Even the crystal image on the wall, our first cycle together after the Academy, still reflected smiling wolves I no longer recognized.
I remembered cooking late at night with Alden, burning the first loaf and laughing as we ate it anyway. I remembered card games at the table, wagers over who would patrol next. I remembered believing this den was more than stone; it was home.
I had built my small world here. Now it was only a resting place for ghosts.
For a moment, I wished it could have been saved. That perhaps, if I had endured longer, things would have changed.
But no. I had endured long enough.
With a steady breath, I whispered farewell to the den and to the Luna who once believed love alone could bind a pack.
I lifted my travel case, left the manor and did not turn back. I took shelter at a Moonrest Inn beyond the inner territory, only until my skybound griffin departed. No goodbyes. No explanations.
Only silence.