登入Aella POVThe battle continued long after the barrier rose.The dome of protection stretched over the Silver Pack like a second sky.Golden sunlight intertwined with shimmering darkness.Beautiful.Ancient.Alive.Every time a mutant slammed into it, the barrier responded with a flash of light.Holding.Protecting.Enduring.The sight alone gave the pack warriors new strength.Unfortunately, Sol and I had nothing left.Absolutely nothing.The ritual had drained us.Six hours of blood.Six hours of chanting.Six hours of feeding our essence directly into the land.By the time the barrier completed itself, my legs barely worked.Sol wasn't doing much better.We stood together near the boundary line, trying very hard not to collapse.The effort was becoming increasingly difficult.A mutant crashed through a group of trees.Another followed.Then another.I instinctively reached for my power.Nothing answered.Not enough.The barrier had taken almost everything.Then Hunter moved.The bat
Aella POVWe were close.So close.Less than thirty steps.Thirty.After six hours of walking.Six hours of chanting.Six hours of feeding our blood into the land itself.The barrier was almost complete.The Silver Pack was almost safe.The realization gave me enough strength to keep moving despite the exhaustion clawing at my limbs.Around us, the battle continued.The commanders had somehow managed to hold the mutants back.Barely.The sounds of combat echoed through the forests.Roars.Howls.Explosions.The clash of claws and steel.But the fighting felt distant now.Muted.The ritual demanded too much attention.The land beneath my feet glowed softly.Ancient runes flickered beneath the soil.The territory was listening.Waiting.Ready.Twenty-nine steps.Twenty-eight.Twenty-seven.Then the earth exploded.The ground directly beneath me cracked apart.One second I was walking.The next—I was falling.The world vanished beneath my feet.Darkness opened below.A massive fissure t
Aella POVThe ritual began before sunrise.According to the ancient texts, timing mattered.The boundary had to be created in a single continuous circuit.No interruptions.No shortcuts.No teleportation.No assistance.The monarchs themselves had to walk every inch of the territory they intended to protect.Their blood.Their will.Their promise.Only then would the land recognize them.Only then would the barrier live.I stood beside Sol at the edge of the Silver Pack territory.The forests stretched endlessly around us.Mountains rose in the distance.Rivers cut through the land like veins.For the first time, I truly appreciated how large the pack lands were.Because we had to walk all of it.Every border.Every boundary.Every corner.Hunter stood nearby holding the ancient text.Beatriz had already threatened both of us.Several times."If either of you collapses, I will personally bring you back just so I can kill you."An inspiring speech.Sol seemed oddly reassured by it.I f
Aella POVThe following days were... different.Sol didn't mention our argument again.Not once.He didn't bring up Elias.He didn't bring up the Silver Pack.He didn't bring up me running into danger alone.But I could tell.The Bond told me.His actions told me.His silence told me.He was worried.Not panicked.Not angry.Worried.Deeply worried.The kind of worry that settled into a person's bones and refused to leave.Sol stayed close.Always.If I was reviewing reports, he was reading beside me.If I was meeting with nobles, he was handling Academy paperwork nearby.If I walked through the Void, he somehow ended up walking through the Void too.He wasn't being controlling.That wasn't who Sol was.He was simply... there.Present.Watching.Making sure I was safe.Part of me wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous.The other part remembered the look on his face after the Silver Pack attack.Remembered the fear.The desperation.The honesty.A few words weren't going to fix tha
Aella POVThe argument started the moment we returned from looking at the blood binding texts.Not immediately.At first there had only been silence.The dangerous kind.The kind that settled into the Bond and made every instinct inside me nervous.Sol had barely spoken during the trip back from the Silver Pack.He answered questions.He listened to reports.He made sure the children were safe.But underneath it all, I could feel it.Anger.Not directed at the pack.Not directed at Elias.At me.I found him standing alone on one of the balconies overlooking the Void.The realm glittered beneath us.Cities were growing.Roads were forming.Light existed where once there had only been darkness.It should have been beautiful.Instead, the atmosphere felt heavy.I approached slowly."Sol?"He didn't answer immediately.His shoulders tensed.The Bond pulsed.Fear.Anger.Relief.All tangled together.Finally, he turned.The expression on his face made me freeze.Not because he looked furio
Aella POVBy the time the last mutant fell, I was exhausted.Not the kind of exhaustion that came from paperwork.Not the kind that came from raising three impossible children.Battle exhaustion.The kind that settled into your bones.The kind that made every movement feel heavier.The battlefield was silent.At last.The Silver Pack still stood.The resort still stood.The people had survived.That should have been enough.But it wasn't.Because Elias would return.He always returned.I stood overlooking the rebuilt pack lands while healers moved among the wounded.The scent of smoke still lingered in the air.The ground remained scarred from the battle.Evidence of how close we had come to disaster.Again.Beside me, Sol remained quiet.Watching.Thinking.Planning.I knew that expression.He was already looking toward the next threat.The next battle.The next problem.The next way to protect everyone.And honestly?So was I.Because surviving wasn't enough anymore.We needed preve
The announcement arrived via a royal scroll at breakfast: a Medieval Masquerade Gala. Attendance was mandatory for all towers. The King’s decree was clear—this wasn't just a party; it was a showcase of the hierarchy. "A group entrance," Marcus proposed, leaning back with a grin that was all sharp
Two months had passed since the cafeteria incident, and the hierarchy of the Imperial Tower had shifted permanently. Amelie had leaned fully into her "victim" persona, limping through the halls and wearing silk scarves to hide bruises that had long since healed. She whispered to anyone who would li
The arena was a theater of carnage. Maxwell stood on the sands, his chest heaving, his wolf pushing so hard against his skin that his eyes were a constant, unstable amber. Sol stood opposite him, calm and immovable. Before the first blow was struck, Pamela stepped onto the lower ridge of the stand
The middle of the day was a grueling marathon of mental gymnastics. Finance Class was a joke; I ended up correcting the professor's tax-haven models while Sol watched with a smirk that said he’d already moved his gold to my recommended accounts. Theater was even more surreal—the "Acting Method" was







