KAEL'S POV
The sound was worse than any battlefield scream.
The mate bond tore inside me like a blade gutting my chest—hot, ripping, final. I dropped to my knees, claws raking the temple stones as my golden wolf howled in agony.
"No—NO!" My roar shook the hall, raw and cracked. The tether was gone. Ayla—gone.
Rylan staggered beside me, blood pouring from his nose, his hands still clawing the air, tracing desperate sigils. "She's not dead! I can still—fuck—she's not dead!"
I slammed my hand on the stone, breaking it. "I don't feel her! I don't feel her!" My chest convulsed, the absence hollowing me out, gnawing like wolves at my insides.
Cassia's laugh sliced through the chaos—high, broken, triumphant. "You see? She was never yours, Kael. Never your Luna. The Hollow claimed her because she was tainted!"
I wheeled on her, golden eyes blazing. "You did this." My voice dropped to a growl sharp enough to bleed stone. "You killed her."
