KAEL – POV
The bond had never lied before.
But now it whispered in halves.
One thread pulled toward Ayla—still breathing, still bound.
The other hummed with a different rhythm.
Same scent. Same face.
But a howl I didn't recognize.
The Luna had fractured. And half of her walked the woods outside.
We locked the sacred chamber with every seal Rylan knew.
Ayla slept within it. Her breath ragged. Her runes flaring between gold and black. Each flicker a sign of the struggle inside.
"She's holding her off," Rylan said. "Barely."
Daya stood at the door, two blades drawn.
"If she turns, I end it."
I growled.
"You won't have the chance."
Because if Ayla went dark, if the Echo fully took her—
I'd go with her. Or through her.
The camp outside the wards had doubled in a single night.
Wolves from the Eastern Barrens.
One of the Tide-born Alphas.
Even a Seer from the fractured houses. Each one marked with a single crescent rune—burned into the wrist.
