AYLA'S POV
For a heartbeat, I believed it was over.
The void collapsed, the darkness screaming as it broke apart, and then—silence. The air was thick with smoke and dust, the ground scorched black, but the abyss's voice was gone. The chains were gone.
I turned to him.
Kael was on his knees, chest heaving, sweat and blood streaking his face. His wolf glimmered faintly around him, silver light guttering but alive. Relief struck me so hard it left me dizzy.
"You did it," I whispered, crawling toward him. My fingers shook as I reached for his face. "Gods, Kael—you did it."
His eyes lifted to mine. Silver, yes—but not only silver. For a split second, I swore I saw it: a ripple of black, faint but sharp, flickering in the depths of his gaze.
My breath caught.
He didn't speak. He didn't need to. I felt it through the bond—the heat of his wolf, strong, steady... and beneath it, a shadow, coiled tight, waiting.
Not chains. Not prison. But not gone.
