AYLA'S POV
The words echoed through me like blades dragged over bone.
One lives. One stays.
Kael's blood smeared against my hands, hot and slick, his chest trembling with the effort of each breath. His body was broken, his wolf battered, but his eyes—Gods, his eyes were steady.
He was already choosing for me.
"No," I rasped, my voice cracking into the ash-thick silence. "No, you don't get to decide this."
Kael's lips twitched, blood in the corner of his mouth. "I always knew you were too stubborn to listen."
"You think this is funny?" My nails dug into his burned skin. "You think I'll just walk through some cursed door while you stay behind and rot? That's your plan?"
His laugh was rough, half-cough, half-growl. "Better me than you."
"You arrogant bastard," I hissed, shaking him as if I could rattle sense back into him. "Why do you always think your life is worth less than mine?"
