# Chapter 79 – The Second Fall
*Vanessa's POV*
The morning mist clung to the forest floor like ghostly fingers, and I should have taken it as an omen. But hope—that treacherous, persistent thing—had made me careless again. Three weeks in Shadowfang territory, three weeks of careful alliance-building, and I'd actually begun to believe that maybe, just maybe, I was finally learning to read people correctly.
Marcus had been different from the others. Where most of the Shadowfang Betas approached me with barely concealed suspicion or outright hostility, he'd offered genuine curiosity about the Heart of Unity. He'd asked thoughtful questions about its power, listened intently when I explained how it responded to acts of mercy and forgiveness rather than violence. Most importantly, he'd seemed to understand why I was trying to unite the packs against the Shadow Council's growing influence.
