LOGINFaye pov The moment the echo flickered, fear rushed through me so hard that my knees nearly gave out beneath me. Korran’s words still echoed inside my head while the silver light around us trembled unevenly. I hated myself for hesitating even for a second, but the doubt had already slipped in before I could stop it. What if he was right? The thought alone made me feel sick immediately. I tightened my hold on my daughter while trying to steady my breathing, but my chest felt painfully tight. Around me, the battlefield remained silent and tense. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Even the corrupted wolves seemed frozen in place while the echo reacted to my uncertainty. Jacob stood close beside me now, his entire body tense with anger and fear. I could feel both emotions through the strange connection the echo had forced between us. His eyes never left Korran, but every few seconds he looked back at me like he was terrified of what I might do next. I wanted to tell him I would never hand
Korran pov The moment Jacob entered the echo’s radius without being torn apart, I understood immediately that the situation had shifted beyond what I originally expected. My eyes narrowed as I watched the silver light move around him without resistance. The echo acknowledged him instead of rejecting him. That alone confirmed several theories I had spent decades trying to prove. The awakening was accelerating. More importantly, the bonds surrounding the vessel were becoming part of the process itself. That was dangerous. Very dangerous. Because once the echo fully stabilized around emotional connections instead of fear, controlling it would become nearly impossible. The process would root itself too deeply inside the people tied to the child. Severing those bonds afterward would risk destabilizing the awakening entirely. I could not allow that to happen. Pain pulsed sharply through my body as I shifted my weight slightly. The burns left behind by the crown still
Jacob pov The moment the silver light exploded outward from Faye and the baby, panic spread across the battlefield instantly. Wolves staggered backward while shielding their eyes from the brightness. Some of the corrupted wolves screamed and collapsed onto the dirt as the echo surged through the clearing in powerful waves. The ground beneath our feet trembled hard enough to crack further, and the pressure in the air became so intense that breathing itself started feeling difficult. But none of that mattered to me. My attention stayed fixed entirely on Faye. She stood in the center of the clearing with the baby held tightly against her chest while silver light poured around both of them endlessly. Tears continued sliding down her face, and even from several feet away, I could see how badly her body was shaking. She looked exhausted. Not physically alone. Something deeper than that. The fear that hit me at that moment nearly stopped my heart completely because I realized she
Faye POV Silence surrounded me even though the battlefield was still full of injured wolves, broken ground, and lingering fear. The noise around me felt distant now. I could still hear growls, uneven breathing, and the sound of movement somewhere behind me, but none of it reached me fully. My focus stayed locked on the baby in my arms and the strange presence pressing against my thoughts. The echo had changed. Before, it reacted wildly to danger and emotion. Every surge came with fear or desperation. But now it felt controlled. Aware. Watching me carefully. The silver light around my daughter pulsed steadily against my chest, warming my skin through the bloodstained fabric of my clothes. My arms tightened around her instinctively. Despite everything happening around us, she remained calm. Too calm. That frightened me more than the battle itself. My throat tightened as I slowly lifted my head. Jacob stood several feet away, restrained by Elara. The panic on his face hur
Darius POV Pain spread through my body so intensely that it became difficult to separate physical agony from the damage happening inside my mind. My muscles kept tightening uncontrollably, and every few seconds my claws pushed halfway through my fingers before retreating again. The constant shifting left my hands covered in blood. My breathing sounded uneven in my own ears, rough and strained, while sweat rolled down the side of my face despite the cold night air surrounding the battlefield. Around me, the other corrupted wolves struggled just as badly. Some paced violently across the ruined clearing while muttering to themselves. Others crouched low against the ground with their hands gripping their heads as if they were trying to physically stop the voices tearing through their minds. One wolf slammed his fist repeatedly into the dirt hard enough to break the skin across his knuckles. Another growled nonstop beneath his breath, unable to stop the sound no matter how ha
Elara pov Jacob’s body tensed beneath my grip the moment I stopped him. I could feel the desperation radiating from him, sharp and unstable, like he was seconds away from tearing himself apart to reach Faye. His breathing was uneven, and the fury in his eyes told me he was already blaming himself for everything that had happened tonight. Riven’s death had broken something inside him. I saw it clearly every time his eyes drifted toward the blood still staining the battlefield. He carried guilt heavily, and guilt made people reckless. Right now, recklessness would kill Faye faster than Korran ever could. “If you touch her now,” I repeated firmly, tightening my grip on his arm, “you’ll kill her.” Jacob stared at me in disbelief. “What are you talking about?” His voice came out rough and strained. “She needs help.” “She does,” I answered quietly. “But not like this.” He looked past me immediately, his attention snapping back toward Faye standing in the center of the clearing.
Faye povThe great hall looked almost the same as it did on Thorn’s coronation night. Green and gold banners still hung from the high beams. Torchlight flickered across them and made the fabric shine. The Long tables stood along the walls with white cloth and silver platters. The raised platform wa
Faye pov The courtyard had gone completely still the moment the words left my mouth. No one moved. No one breathed loudly. Everyone stared at me while Jacob on one knee, bleeding and fading; Thorn standing tall with his cruel smile; the warriors frozen in their places; the elders with their shocke
Faye pov The dark road stretched long and empty under the moon. Trees stood tall on both sides. Their branches looked black against the sky as my feet pounded hard on the dirt. My breath came fast and sharp. Fear made my legs move quicker than I thought they could. The phone stayed tight in my ha
Faye POV The moonlight still covered the garden in soft silver light. And the old willow tree branches moved gently in the night breeze. The sounds of music and laughter from the great hall still carried across the grass, but they felt far away now as I could hear my heart beat fast and loud in my







