LOGINSol POV I didn’t look away from Maxwell. Even as the monsters closed and the ground trembled beneath their uneven steps. My power surged outward, controlled, deliberate. Golden light shot from my hands, forming chains that snapped into place around the remaining creatures. One by one, they were locked down, restrained mid-lunge, their bodies jerking violently as they fought against the hold. “Marcus. Linus. Commanders—” I said, my voice steady despite everything. “End them.” There was no hesitation. No questions. They moved. The sound of battle erupted behind me—steel, claws, power colliding against broken bodies that should have never existed in the first place. But I didn’t turn. Maxwell struggled against the chains, his movements growing more frantic by the second. “Let me go!” he snarled. “You don’t understand what you’re doing—” “I understand perfectly,” I cut him off. He wouldn’t die. Not like this. Not again. A shift in the air. I felt them before I saw them.
My voice spoke again. “Have you truly chosen between father and child?” It echoed through the throne room, calm, almost curious. “Or are you simply protecting the one who cannot protect itself yet?” I closed my eyes. And this time— I didn’t run from the question. I faced it. Because I understood. This was never about choosing one over the other. It never had been. A slow breath left my lungs. “I didn’t choose between them,” I said quietly. The shadows stilled. Listening. “I chose to trust him.” The words settled. Strong. Certain. “I trust Sol,” I continued, opening my eyes. “I trust that he will come back to me.” My hand rested gently over my stomach. “I’m not placing one above the other,” I said. “I’m standing where I’m needed… and trusting that my partner, my equal, will do the same.” The void shifted. Not in resistance. In acceptance. For the first time since I had arrived— It felt… right. And then— Chaos materialized. Not beside me. At a distance. As
“Chaos!” Sol’s voice cut through the battlefield. Sharp. Commanding. “Take her to the void. Now.” “No—” I didn’t even get the chance to finish. The world vanished beneath my feet. One second I was there— With Sol. With the monsters. With Maxwell— And the next— I was in the throne room. The void wrapped around me instantly, vast and familiar, but— Wrong. Too quiet. Too still. Hunter and Order stood near the long table between the unfinished thrones, surrounded by fabrics, symbols, and fragments of ceremony preparations. They both turned the moment I appeared. “Aella—” “Send me back,” I said immediately. Chaos appeared beside me, calm, unreadable. “No.” The word echoed. My jaw tightened. “Send. Me. Back.” The shadows didn’t move. Didn’t answer. Didn’t obey. “They’re avoiding me,” I whispered, the realization settling cold in my chest. Chaos stepped closer, his tone shifting, losing its usual playfulness. “The void has priorities, my Queen.” “My priority is
Maxwell snapped.Whatever fragile control he had left shattered completely.“You’re wrong!” he barked, his voice breaking as he pointed at Chaos. “He may have been exiled, but he was still a King!”His chest rose and fell erratically, his eyes wild, desperate, clinging to something that no longer existed.“He was looking for his Queen,” Maxwell added, almost feverishly. “Just like I am.”That—That was enough.Beside me, Sol lost control.I felt it before I saw it.His power surged, sharp and blinding, and in the next second, his hand lifted—Golden light erupted from him, encasing Maxwell completely.Chains of burning light wrapped around Maxwell’s body, locking him in place.Maxwell laughed.Laughed.“You think this will stop me?” he taunted, voice echoing unnaturally. “I’ll come back. I always come back—”Then he paused.Confusion flickering across his face.The light wasn’t hurting him.Not like before.Not like it should have.Sol smiled.Cold.Calculated.“You think I would give
Aella POVThe world folded around us, not like the shadows or the spirit realm, but sharp and abrupt, unmistakably Chaos’ doing. One moment we were in the mountains, and the next we stood at the very edge of the Silver pack lands.Less than ten feet away from Maxwell.I felt him before I truly saw him. Something about him was deeply wrong, like a presence that had refused death and paid the price for it. When the wind shifted, the smell hit me—decay, rot, something burned and unnatural. It took everything in me not to recoil.He looked worse than I remembered. Thinner. His skin stretched too tightly over his bones, his features sharper, almost distorted. But his eyes… his eyes were the worst part. Too bright. Too aware. Too unstable.And when those eyes landed on me, he smiled.Then he laughed.Loud. Unhinged. The kind of laugh that didn’t belong in the world of the living.“So…” he dragged out slowly, his voice rough and twisted with amusement. “You really are with pup.”My hand move
We were making a list. Not of enemies. Not of strategies. Not of war. A wedding list. And somehow, that felt more overwhelming than anything else. “Molly,” I said softly. Sol nodded. “Marie.” “Of course.” A small pause settled between us before he added, “Linus.” I hesitated, just for a second, then nodded. “Yes.” Another pause. “Aurora and Leo,” he said. This time, I didn’t hesitate. “They’re not optional.” A faint smile touched his lips. “Agreed.” We sat close—closer than necessary for something as simple as a list, but not close enough for everything we had just been through. I leaned into him slightly, resting my shoulder against his. For a moment, I let myself exist in something simple. Something quiet. Something ours. Then everything shifted. It was subtle at first—a tightening in his posture, a sudden stillness that didn’t belong in this moment. I turned toward him. “Sol?” His gaze had gone distant, focused on something I couldn’t see. His jaw tightened,
I turned toward Chaos. “Chaos… I have to go back,” I said quietly. The thought of the prison, the children, and the monsters waiting above the cages tightened in my chest. “How do I come back here again?” Chaos chuckled softly. The sound echoed through the void like wind moving through ancient
The forest changed again. The path that had guided us through the spirit woods slowly faded beneath my feet, the earth dissolving into pale mist until there was nothing left but ancient trees standing in silent rows. I stopped walking. The guide continued forward without hesitation. “Wait,” I c
The guide was watching me from the edge of the clearing, his black eyes unreadable. I took two steps toward him. “Answer me,” I demanded. My voice cut through the forest like a blade. The guide didn’t move. “Was that real?” I asked. The question came out harsher than I intended. “Was Aella p
The forest was not the Silver Pack lands I knew.The trees were the same species, the same twisted trunks and dark bark, but everything felt… older.Wilder.Like the land had existed long before any pack had ever claimed it.Mist drifted through the roots and branches, curling around my boots as I







