AYLA – POV
The horn's echo faded, but its aftershock pulsed through the valley—an omen wrapped in dark intent. Kael's grip tightened on my hand, his presence steady beneath the storm stirring inside me.
"It reverberates from beyond the Ridge of Bones," he said quietly. "Past the broken peaks."
The Ridge. A place of myth—and of final reckoning.
Camp stirred behind us. Warriors emerged from long nights: Beta scouts, healers, even wounded soldiers leaning into dawn. Their eyes were unguarded now. The covenant had released them, at least for this moment.
I looked at Kael—at the man who'd stood across battlefields and political halls, who'd knelt beside me today, who'd claimed me—no, chosen me. The new Luna of the Reborn Moon.
"We did more than bind our people," I whispered. "We laid the first stone of an alliance—one that must survive what's coming."
He nodded, jaw set in resolve. Together we turned toward the ridge, the horn's distant wail pulling us forward.
