AYLA – POV
My lungs burned—not from the fight, but from this moment. The council's emissaries were gone, scattered like frightened birds. The camp's fires flickered low, shadows folding into the ash-stained earth. Wolves stirred at the edge of the ridgeline, uneasy—but not afraid.
I pressed my cheek against Kael's chest. His heartbeat thrummed steady—strong enough for two. He didn't hold me, but he didn't let me go either. Not tonight.
Because we had won: the court bowed, not out of fear, but because I refused to let them stand.
Flash of motion—Cassia.
Her eyes were wild: rage, disbelief, something like reverence. She knelt in the dirt, black moonbone dagger clattering away. She looked up—at me, at Kael—and I felt the weight of every broken promise in her gaze.
"Rise," I said. My voice—low, calm—but under it roared the First Luna's power. "Rise and choose."
She stayed where she was, head bowed. Then the tremor hit. The ridge beneath us shuddered. Rocks cracked. Wolves snarled.
