Vanc

ts. I didn't sleep. Before the first rays of sun could pierce the grimy baseme

unced to the darkness. "You are to

s I walked through the sleeping Packhouse for the last time. I didn't see Kaelen, and a par

ky black to a bruised purple. A faint, shimmering line was visible in the air before us-

e, and you are no longer under the protection of the Black

years. I looked out at the vast, untamed wilderness that stretched before me. The air was cold an

ffer a single word of pleading

none came, he pulled a small cloth pouch from his belt and t

e said, the word 'merciful' dripping w

tance-a piece of stale bread, a skin of water. A gesture designed not to help, b

y at Finnian, my voice clear and cold in the da

widened in genuine surprise. He had expected a gr

through the shimmering barrier. As I crossed, I felt a final, subtle connection snap-the lingering scent-mark of

e'd told himself he was just ensuring his orders were carried out. A lie. His wolf, Fenrir, had be

for the first time, he saw a flicker of something in me he had never seen before-not the

t under years of practiced disdain. *It's just the final act of a desperate creature,* he told himself. *The wilderness wi

a backward glance, and soon, the de

nd waved him away, but his knuckles were white where he gripped the edge of his desk. He walked to the window, staring south i

he was watc

This wasn't an exile. It was a homecoming. I wasn't wandering aimlessly. I was heading toward a place th

my wrist. It felt warm against

r end. Elara knew it w