LOGINFaye pov I saw it happening before my mind could fully process what I was witnessing, the sequence of events unfolding with a terrible clarity that made every second stretch into something far longer than it should have been. Jacob was locked in battle with Korran, his movements fast and relentless as he drove forward with an intensity I had rarely seen from him before. Every strike he threw carried the weight of desperation behind it, the kind that came from knowing there was no room left for hesitation or measured calculation. But he was not moving toward me anymore. He was contained, held exactly where Korran wanted him, fighting with everything he had while the real threat continued to move unchecked. The wolves were closing in from multiple directions now, their movements synchronized in a way that should not have been possible for individuals acting independently. They were not rushing forward in a chaotic surge. They were advancing with deliberate coordination, each
Jacob I broke through the containment with more force than precision, tearing past the wolves who had been positioned to slow me down as though they were nothing more than obstacles in a path I had already committed to crossing. Whatever restraint I had been holding onto, whatever part of me had still been calculating cost and consequence with each movement, was gone now. It had burned away the moment I watched Riven fall, and it had turned to ash entirely when I saw Korran step closer to Faye with that calm, measured expression that treated her suffering like an experiment worth observing. I did not care anymore who these wolves used to be, what names they carried, or what roles they had once filled within the pack. They were between her and me, and that was the only detail that mattered now. My strikes were not gentle. They were not calculated to minimize harm or preserve the possibility of recovery later. They were direct, efficient, and brutal in their simplicity, des
Faye povFor a terrifying moment that seemed to stretch beyond all reasonable measurement of time, the echo disappeared again.Not suppressed in the way it had been before, not diminished gradually under pressure or weakened by exhaustion, but gone in a way that felt absolute and final. The absence of it was not subtle. It was immediate and complete, as though something that had been woven into the fabric of everything around me had been suddenly torn away without warning.I felt it vanish before I could understand what was happening, and the moment that realization settled into place, panic hit me with a force that knocked every other thought aside."No," I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of that single word as my arms tightened around the baby instinctively. "No, come back. Please, come back."My hands trembled as I adjusted my grip on her, pulling her closer against my chest as though proximity alone could restore what had been lost. My breathing became shallow and
Korran povI did not rush the moment because urgency belonged to those who were uncertain of what they were facing. I had already seen enough to understand that this situation was not collapsing randomly; it was revealing itself layer by layer, like a structure stripped of its surface until only its true framework remained.And at the center of that structure stood Faye.I observed her, not as an opponent reacting to pressure, but as a system responding to internal instability. The Lunaris echo surrounding the child in her arms was no longer behaving like an independent force. It moved in direct correlation with her emotional state, expanding when grief surged through her, tightening when fear attempted restraint, and destabilizing whenever conflicting emotions overlapped.That was not a weakness in the traditional sense.It was dependency.The child carried power, but the mother shaped its expression.That distinction mattered more than anything else unfolding around us.I spoke in
Faye pov Everything changed the moment Riven fell. It did not happen slowly enough for my mind to prepare for it, and it did not happen quickly enough for me to dismiss it as something temporary. Instead, it unfolded in a strange distortion of time where every detail became painfully visible while still refusing to feel real. I saw Jacob drop to his knees beside him, saw the way his hands tightened as if refusing to accept what his eyes were already confirming, and I saw the stillness that began to spread through Riven’s body. That stillness was the part that broke through everything else. It was not fear that came first. It was not even a shock. It was a loss, immediate and irreversible, settling into me with a weight I could not push away. My chest tightened as if something inside me had been pulled out and left open, exposed to everything I had been trying to hold back since this nightmare began. Riven was gone from the fight. Not wounded in a way that could be managed
Jacob POV I have learned over the years that battle rarely gives second chances, and when it does, it only does so to expose the weakness you were trying to hide from yourself. I had always believed my strength was in decisiveness, in the ability to act before doubt could take root. That belief had carried me through wars, uprisings, and betrayals that should have broken me long before I ever stood here. But this time, I hesitated. It happened in less than a heartbeat, yet it stretched inside me like something far longer, something that refused to collapse back into instinct the way it should have. I saw the attacker moving toward Faye with clear intent, his body already committed to the strike, his focus narrowed to a single target. My body reacted immediately, pushing forward with everything I had, closing the distance the way I had done a hundred times before. And then I saw him clearly. Not an enemy. Not a threat. Riven. Recognition struck me like a sudden weight, for
Faye povI stood frozen in the doorway, with tears still streaming down my face, and my chest heaving from the effort of holding everything in while the cheers for Rieka echoed behind me. My legs felt weak, my hands shook, and the small swell under my dress suddenly felt too heavy to carry alone. I
The Black house stood quiet under the afternoon sun. The tall stone walls kept the outside world away. Inside, rooms felt warm and open with soft rugs and big windows that let light pour across the floors. Days here moved slowly and gently. For the first time in months, I could breathe without fea
Faye povThe moonlight spilled silver across the garden path, turning every leaf and stone bright and cold. The old willow tree stood behind us with its long branches hanging low, and hiding us from most of the pack house lights. Music and cheers still floated from the great hall doors, sounding di
Faye povThe garden path blurred under our feet as we ran toward the edge of the property. Jacob’s car was parked in a hidden spot behind thick bushes. It was a sleek black car, low to the ground, with smooth shiny lines that caught the moonlight and looked fast even when standing still. The window







