~Kaida Orion POV~
They had not confessed all.
Lupus swore under his breath. "We have to cut it."
The First Bride shook her head. "Cut, and you sever alliance, seal, and rot creeps, you must bring them down. Make them speak, only truth dissolves the last root."
My stomach dropped. "They refused to stand in the circle."
"Then pull them," she said. "Drag if needed, or the green thread will bloom and all this returns."
The chamber rumbled again; dust rained, above, people shouted through the shaft, rope thumped somewhere far up.
Lupus gripped my shoulders. "We climb, get them, return before the night turns."
I nodded, no more delay, no unspoken debt left to feed him.
Before we left, the First Bride placed something cold in my palm....a small red‑silk knot with a wolf tooth threaded through it.
"Wear it when you stand before the ones who will not speak," she said. "They will see what silence does."
I closed my fingers over it. "Thank you."
