Chapter 150: The Breach
KAEL'S POV
I woke up to the scent of ash.
The wind howled through the ruined camp, and I sat upright, claws halfway shifted before my brain caught up. My ears rang from the howls of the night before. The fires had finally been extinguished, but the damage lingered—in the bones of the land and the hearts of our people.
Celeste was back, but something had changed. I could feel it in my chest like a storm circling too close to the heart. The bond still burned between us—alive, but strained.
I rose from the tent and met Lucien by the outer perimeter, both of us scanning the forest.
"She's not sleeping," Lucien said quietly, not looking at me. "I can feel her pacing. Restless."
"Me too."
He didn't say anything else, but we both knew.
Celeste had been almost killed. The witch who attacked her had nearly succeeded in something no one thought possible—ripping through a bonded link.
And someone helped her.
That part hung between us like poison in the air.
