ВойтиKorran pov Everything I believed about the awakening was collapsing in front of me. The silver field surrounding Faye and the child no longer looked unstable in the same way it had before. The power still surged violently at times, but the destruction had slowed. The pulses no longer tore through the battlefield blindly. Because the burden was spreading. Shared. Divided between the wolves connected to her. I stared at the clearing in disbelief while blood dripped slowly from my injured hand. “No,” I whispered. This was wrong. The awakening was never designed to work this way. The vessel was supposed to stand alone. That isolation was necessary. It was part of the process. Part of the sacrifice required to contain power this old. But Faye had changed the balance. Not through strength. Through connection. The realization made something cold settle inside my chest. All these years… All these decades of study… And somehow I still failed to understand the most important p
The scream that tore from Jacob’s throat silenced the battlefield for half a second. Silver light exploded outward from the center of the clearing so violently that wolves across the battlefield stumbled backward. The cracked earth beneath the old oak split wider while loose stone and broken branches lifted briefly into the air from the force of the surge. Faye held the baby tightly against her chest while Jacob dropped to one knee beside her. Every vein beneath his skin glowed silver. “Jacob!” Faye cried. He could barely answer her. Pain ripped through his body in waves while the echo forced itself into him completely. His hands trembled violently against the ground as memories, emotions, and raw power flooded through his mind all at once. But he was still alive. And everyone saw it. Korran stared at him in disbelief. “That should not be possible,” he whispered. Elara forced herself upright weakly despite the blood covering her side. Her exhausted eyes locked onto Jacob i
Jacob POV Fear tells people to survive. Love tells them to stay. The ground beneath the battlefield continued breaking apart while wolves stumbled backward in panic. Deep cracks spread through the clearing as silver energy exploded uncontrollably from the baby in Faye’s arms. Nobody understood what was happening anymore. Not Elara. Not Korran. Not even Faye. And that terrified me more than anything else. Another violent pulse burst outward from the child, knocking several wolves off their feet again. A corrupted fighter screamed as silver light tore through his body before throwing him backward into the broken remains of the old oak’s roots. The entire clearing shook. “Fall back!” someone shouted. “We can’t stay here!” “The ground is collapsing!” Panic spread quickly through the surviving wolves. Some started retreating toward the edges of the clearing while others dragged injured pack members away from the spreading cracks in the earth. But I couldn’t move. Becaus
Faye pov Pain tore through my head so violently that I could barely breathe. The moment Korran’s ritual reached the center of the field, something inside me broke apart. I dropped to my knees beside Elara instantly while clutching my daughter tightly against my chest. A sharp pressure ripped through my mind like something alive was being dragged out of me piece by piece. The ancient voice screamed. Not in anger. In pain. My entire body shook from the force of it. “No!” I cried out. The silver light around us flickered wildly before dimming for a second. The moment it weakened, panic rushed through me so hard that my hands started trembling. My daughter’s glow was fading. The baby whimpered weakly against my chest while the silver marks beneath her skin flickered on and off unevenly. “No, no, no…” I whispered desperately. Around us, the battlefield had completely lost control. Wolves screamed while corrupted fighters tore through the defensive lines. Blood covered the
Elara pov Some people spend their entire lives running from guilt only to realize too late that guilt never truly leaves. The moment Korran began chanting, the battlefield changed completely. Every corrupted wolf lifted their head together before charging forward at once. The hesitation disappeared from their eyes instantly. Whatever uncertainty remained inside them vanished beneath the force of Korran’s ritual. Panic exploded across the clearing. “Hold them back!” Jacob roared. The pack immediately rushed forward to intercept the surge, but the corrupted wolves moved faster than before. Their bodies jerked violently with unnatural aggression as they crashed into the defensive lines. Screams tore through the battlefield almost immediately. I turned toward Faye without thinking. The silver field around her had become unstable again. The light flickered violently while dark energy from Korran’s ritual pushed against it from every direction. Faye stood frozen with the baby held
Korran pov Control was slipping from my hands, and I hated how unfamiliar that feeling had become. The battlefield remained frozen around the unstable silver field while wolves stood divided between fear, loyalty, and exhaustion. Nobody moved carelessly anymore. Nobody trusted the next moment. But my attention stayed fixed entirely on Faye. The echo surrounding her had changed again. Not weaker. Different. I could feel it clearly now. The ancient presence inside the awakening was no longer fighting her as aggressively as before. The energy had become steadier and more focused, almost as though some form of balance had finally begun to settle between them. That was not supposed to happen. Faye was supposed to resist longer. She was supposed to break under the pressure of the choice. Fear should have driven her toward hesitation. And hesitation would have given me the opening I needed. Instead, she was adapting. The realization tightened every muscle in my
Thorn POV The cell felt smaller today. The air was thick and damp and smelled like rust from the chains. The torch outside the bars gave off a weak yellow light. Shadows moved on the stone floor when the flame danced. I sat on the cold floor with my back against the wall. My wrists hurt where the
Jacob pov The tent was quiet except for the baby’s soft breathing and Faye’s slow, even breaths beside me. I watched them both for a minute—Faye’s face relaxed in sleep, and the little one curled against her chest. My side still ached when I moved, but the pain felt smaller today. I had to be read
Faye POV My body still felt heavy from yesterday’s training, but the ache was different now—good ache, like muscles remembering they could do more. The baby slept beside me, with her tiny hand curled near her mouth, breathing slow and even. I watched her for a long minute, letting the quiet settl
Faye pov“Faye Miller. Step forward and offer your blood. Let the runes judge.”Harlan’s voice rang out clear and firm across the small stone circle behind the pack house. The words hit me like a cold wind as I stood at the edge of the circle with Jacob right beside me. His shoulder brushed mine fo







