y shielded by jagged peaks where no human hiker ever dared to wander-the settlement was a collection of low-slung timber longhouses that looked like they had grown directl

re officially in a secret, forbidden relationship now! The weeks that followed were a blur of double lives. During the day, Ivy was the dutiful daughter, helping Sloane with the garden or sitting with Liam on the porch. But as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon and her parents settled in with their books, Ivy became someone else. She became the girl who belonged to the woods. Silas showed her things that weren't in any of her art books. He showed her the "Ghost Orchids" that only bloomed under the full moon, glowing with a soft, bioluminescent pulse. He took her to the Hidden Falls, where the water fell so perfectly it sounded like music. In return, Ivy brought him things from her world. She brought him a chocolate bar, which he ate with wide-eyed wonder, and an old MP3 player. He sat for an hour with the earbuds in, his eyes closed, listening to a cello concerto while Ivy sketched him. "It sounds like how the wind feels," he whispered, handed the buds back to her. But the bubble was starting to thin. The Suspicion One evening, as Ivy was sneaking back through the mudroom, the light flicked on. Liam was standing there in his bathrobe, holding a glass of water. He looked at Ivy's boots, which were caked in thick, black forest mud, and then at the hemlock needles stuck in her hair. "You're out late again," Liam said. His voice wasn't angry, but it was heavy with a new kind of worry. "Ivy, we came here to get you out of your shell, but you're disappearing. Every night. Alone." "I'm just drawing, Dad. The lighting is different at night." "In the dark? Without a flashlight?" Liam stepped closer. "And who were you talking to? I thought I heard voices near the creek." "Just... talking to myself," Ivy lied, her heart thumping against her ribs. "Processing things." Liam sighed, rubbing his face. "Your mother thinks I'm being paranoid, but there's something different about you. You're not lonely anymore, but you're... elsewhere. Just be careful. That 'neighbor boy' Silas? We haven't seen him since he recovered. Does he live around here?" "I don't know," Ivy said quickly. "He just passes through." The Warning The next night, at their usual meeting spot by the mossy log, the air felt different. Silas didn't greet her with his usual quiet smile. He was pacing, his movements twitchy and animalistic. "My father is onto me," Silas said without preamble. "He smells you on my clothes even after I wash in the river. He's added two more sentries to the Western Ridge." Ivy reached out, catching his hand to stop his pacing. "Then don't come tonight. It's too dangerous." "It's more than that, Ivy." Silas looked at her, his eyes shifting to that honey-gold color. "The pack... they're talking about 'clearing' the area. They think the humans at the cabin are staying too long. They want to scare you away." Ivy felt a cold chill that had nothing to do with the night air. "Scare us? Like the bear?" "Worse," Silas whispered. "If they find out you know about us, they won't just scare you. They'll see you as a witness. A threat." He pulled her closer, his forehead resting against hers. For a moment, the girl from the city and the boy from the pack were the only two people in the world. "I love you," she whispered. The words felt huge, terrifying, and absolutely true. Silas froze. He didn't have a word for it in the Old Tongue that quite matched, but he felt the weight of it in his chest. "I don't know how to be without you," he replied. "But Ivy, we're running out of time. My people are coming for this land." The breaking point arrived on a Thursday. The air was heavy, the kind of stillness that usually precedes a violent summer storm. Inside the cabin, the tension was just as thick. Liam and Sloane were sitting at the small dining table, a map of the area spread o