I stood in the ruins of time itself, watching Astro age centuries before my eyes, and I made a choice.
The Keeper's warning echoed through the Sanctum, her voice reverberating off invisible walls. "The more you love, the faster you burn."
My wolf howled inside me, a sound of pure defiance that rattled the celestial gears above us. The vibration traveled through my bones, shaking me from within.
Let me burn.
I'd rather turn to ash than forget what it felt like to be whole. To be seen. To matter to someone who chose me not because of fate or divine mandate, but because of something real.
Something Luna's gears could never calculate.
Astro's eyes widened as I stepped toward him, my footfalls echoing in the strange space. His silver hair caught the fractured light streaming from above, making him look ancient and new all at once. Beautiful and terrible.
"Haven, don't." His voice cracked, rough with emotion. "You'll kill us both."
"Then we die."
I reached for him.
