Late into the night, under a sky thick with stars, Jess’s bike rumbled down the worn dirt road into Sentinel Hill. The watchtower loomed in the distance, its torches burning low. A few lanterns flickered in windows, but the settlement was mostly asleep. That suited her just fine.

She pulled up outside the cottage and killed the engine. The night settled around her, still and expectant. A month ago, she had stormed out of this place, leaving behind only broken furniture and silence. Now, the silence remained—but the wreckage was gone.

Inside, the single room had been put back together. The chair she had knocked over in anger was upright. The dishes she had left in the sink were clean and stacked. The bed was neatly made. Wren had tried to erase the signs of her fury, to smooth over the damage.

Too late.

She crossed the room, heading straight for the shelf by the window. Behind a dented tin mug, just where she had left it, sat a framed photograph. She picked it up carefully.

It was at least a decade old—her family, before everything splintered apart. Her father, standing solid in the back. Her mother beside him, smiling like she always had. Jess, sixteen, caught mid-laugh between her brothers—Andy, older and steady, and Paul, younger and restless. A moment frozen in time, before loss, before betrayal.

She had abandoned this photo in the chaos of her departure, too angry to care. Now, she knew better. Some things were worth carrying forward.

A shadow shifted in the doorway.

She didn’t turn. She didn’t need to.

“Didn’t think you’d come back,” Fletch said. His voice was quieter than she remembered.

Jess slid the frame into her pack. “Only for this.”

A pause. She could feel him watching her, as if searching for something to hold onto. Regret hung in the air between them, thick and heavy, but it wasn’t hers to carry.

“You’re heading back to Stormwind.”

Not a question. He already knew. News traveled fast, even out here.

For the past month, she had been with the Hounds. Not just passing through, not just another stray looking for work. She was one of them now, a private in their ranks. They had given her purpose, a place to stand, a reason to keep moving forward.

She nodded once. “Yeah.”

More silence. Then a step back.He wasn’t going to ask her to stay. He knew better than that.

Jess slung her pack over her shoulder and walked past him without a backward glance.

The bike’s engine roared to life, splitting the quiet. As she rode away from Sentinel Hill, Jess felt the weight of the past slowly lift. Tonight marked both an ending and a beginning. And in the rearview mirror of her mind, there was nothing left for her here but memories.