로그인Elara pov Pain dragged me back into consciousness slowly, and the first thing I wanted was to disappear into the darkness again. Every part of my body hurts. My chest felt tight each time I breathed. My left side burned badly, and my arm felt too heavy to move. Even my face ached. I tried opening my eyes, but only one responded properly. The other remained swollen shut. A weak groan escaped my throat before I could stop it. The sounds around me became clearer immediately. Quiet voices stopped talking. Footsteps moved closer. “Easy,” someone said softly beside me. “Do not try to move yet.” I forced my working eye open fully and stared at the blurry shape leaning over me. The medical tent slowly came into focus. Dim lantern light flickered against stained canvas walls. The smell of herbs mixed with blood filled the air heavily. Nearby cots held wounded wolves sleeping or groaning quietly in pain. A young healer crouched beside me, watching carefully. “You’re awake,” she said
Dane pov Something was wrong inside my head, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, the feeling kept getting worse. At first, I thought the connection would pass. When I stepped into the echo’s light during the battle, I believed I was helping Faye. I believed I was helping the pack survive. Everyone around us had been falling apart, and Faye had been standing there with the baby in her arms while the power around them threatened to destroy everything. I could not leave her alone in that moment. None of us could. Now I wished I had never stepped forward at all. The cold ground pressed against my back while I stared up at the dark sky above the camp. My chest rose unevenly as I struggled to breathe properly. Sweat covered my skin even though the night air was cold. Around me, wolves moved through the damaged clearing carefully, trying to clean up the aftermath of the battle. But I could barely focus on any of it. The voices inside my head would not stop. At first, the c
Faye pov Something was wrong with me. That thought refused to leave my head no matter how many times I tried pushing it away. The battle was over. Korran had fallen. The screaming had stopped outside. Wolves were finally resting after everything we survived. But inside me, nothing felt calm. The medical tent smelled heavily of herbs, blood, and damp earth. Torn cloth covered the openings where the walls had been damaged during the chaos earlier. Healers moved quietly around injured wolves nearby, speaking in low voices while trying not to disturb those resting inside. I sat near the back corner of the tent with my daughter pressed carefully against my chest. Even thinking the word daughter felt strange now. Because she no longer felt like only a baby. She felt aware. Present. Watching. The silver glow beneath her skin had faded into something softer, but it had not disappeared completely. Every few seconds, faint light pulsed through her tiny body like a slow heartbeat. I
Pain was the first thing that came back. Not slowly. All at once. Broken ribs. Shattered left arm. Blood filling the back of my throat with every shallow breath. My skull felt cracked in at least one place, and my vision kept sliding sideways no matter how hard I tried to hold it still. I did not move. I lay in the dirt with my cheek pressed against the cold ground and my eyes barely open, and I listened. Footsteps. Low voices. The quiet groaning of wounded wolves scattered across the clearing. The pack was pulling itself together. I could hear them helping each other, calling names, asking if someone could stand. They thought it was over. I almost wanted to laugh. The pain stopped that quickly enough. I turned my attention inward and ran through the damage. Breathing was difficult but possible. My right hand still worked. My legs were useless for now. None of that mattered. I did not need to stand for what came next. I only needed a few more minutes. Slowly, carefully, I
Jacob pov The battlefield had finally gone quiet, but the silence did not bring comfort. It felt strange standing there without hearing screams, fighting, or the sound of wolves crashing into each other. Bodies still covered parts of the clearing. Blood stained the cracked earth beneath the old oak, and the air carried the smell of smoke, dirt, and iron. Nobody moved carelessly anymore. Every wolf looked uncertain. Some sat on the ground trying to catch their breath. Others helped the wounded while glancing nervously toward the center of the clearing where Faye and the baby stood. My hand was still wrapped around Faye’s. Even after the awakening stabilized, the connection between us had not disappeared. I could feel her heartbeat clearly. Fast. Weak. Exhausted. But that was not all I felt. Her fear sat heavily inside me too. Not only fear for herself. Fear for the baby. Fear of what we had all become. Faye slowly lifted her head toward me. Dirt and dried blood covere
Faye POV Silence did not arrive suddenly. It settled in slowly, like the battlefield itself was learning how to breathe again. The silver light no longer surged violently across the clearing. It moved in steady pulses, passing through Jacob, Lena, Darian, and the others who had stepped into the connection. Even the corrupted wolf Tomas now stood still, the last traces of darkness burning away from his skin in small fading marks. Faye held her daughter tightly against her chest, afraid to move too quickly, afraid to disturb whatever shift was happening inside the echo. The baby was no longer screaming. Her cries had stopped completely. Faye whispered, her voice shaking. “Is she… calm?” Jacob was still beside her, his hand resting on the ground as if he needed it to stay upright. His voice came low and strained. “She’s not fighting it anymore,” he said. “It feels different now.” Faye looked down at her daughter carefully. The child’s chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.
Faye pov The silver glow on the stone had already started to fade by the time Harlan finished speaking, but the energy in the circle refused to settle. Wolves didn’t rush off right away. They drifted apart slowly, in twos and threes, with their heads bent close as they talked in hushed voices. Yo
Faye povI sat on the edge of my cot with my daughter cradled in my arms again. She nursed quietly, with her small mouth working in steady pulls that made my chest ache in the best way. Every time she fed it reminded me why I had stepped forward in the courtyard, and why I had offered my life witho
Faye pov The soft light filtering through the white canvas felt gentle on my face when I first opened my eyes. It was morning, or close to it. The tent smelled like wood smoke, herbs, and the faint metallic tang of healing salves. My body felt heavy, as though every muscle had been squeezed and le
Faye povI had barely finished the tea Lila brought earlier, barely had time to hold my daughter close and breathe in her clean baby smell, when the tent flap opened and three warriors stepped inside. They wore the pack’s dark green tunics, with their faces serious, and weapons at their sides. One







