Chapter Seventy eight

The silence in Draven's quarters hummed with a heavy, oppressive weight. It was a silence that mirrored the emptiness gnawing at his soul, a void that had taken root the moment Jessica, his mate, had been stolen from him. The moon, a pale, silver sliver in the night sky, cast its light through the open window, illuminating the dust motes that danced in the stillness. But Draven saw none of it. His gaze was fixed on the intricately carved wooden floor, each grain seeming to mock his helplessness.

He had not touched food in two days. Sleep had eluded him, a cruel tormentor that taunted him with false promises of oblivion. The wolf inside him, usually a constant companion, a source of strength and primal instinct, lay dormant, its usual roar replaced by a whimper of despair.

A knock at the door startled him, a small intrusion into his desolate world. He didn't need to look to know it was Penny, the pack healer, her presence a constant reminder of his broken state.

"Draven?" Penny's voice