LOGINAeliana's POV
"That matches intelligence from the Silverwood records. The Shadow Council's core members are centuries old...some claim millennia. They've spent lifetimes perfecting their craft." He scanned the tree line with narrowed eyes. "If they wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. They want you captured."
"Why?"
"Because dead, you're useless to them. Your power disperses, returns to the earth, and becomes inaccessible. But alive and bound..." He didn't finish; he didn't need to. The implications were clear enough.
They wanted to use me. Drain my power for themselves, or bend me to their will, or turn me into a weapon against everything I loved. Death would be a kindness compared to what they had planned.
The barrier flickered
Caelan's POVThe Entity's perspective lingered in my mind like an afterimage from staring at the sun. Seeing ourselves through its ancient awareness shifted something fundamental in how I understood our situation.We weren't failing. We were growing. And maybe that growth was exactly what the Arbiters needed to see."Tell me something else," I said to Aeliana, echoing her earlier request. "Something true that you haven't shared before."She considered for a moment, her fingers tracing idle patterns on my chest. "When I lost my memories, when I spent those two years living as a human with no knowledge of you or the pack or any of this... part of me was happy."I felt her shame through the bond, her guilt at the admission. "Why does that make you feel guilty?""Because I should have been miserable. Should have felt incomplete without you. But instead, I just... existed. I went to work, had human friends, and lived a simple life where my biggest worry was making rent on time. And some da
Aeliana's POV"You're not alone in feeling that way," I said quietly. I opened myself completely, letting him feel the full weight of my own doubts and fears. "I'm the Silverwood heir who doesn't remember her kingdom. The Luna who lost two years because a witch cursed her. The vessel that nearly destroyed herself the first time she tried to use Entity power at full capacity. I'm supposed to represent humanity's potential, and I can barely keep myself together.""You're keeping yourself together better than you think.""So are you." I kissed him gently. "We're both doing our best under impossible circumstances. And maybe that's all the Arbiters can ask for. Not perfection, certainty, or even flawless execution. Just... honest effort. Genuine attempt to do right even when right isn't clear."Through our shared mind link, the Entity stirred. Its presence had been muted since our conversation with Annalise, giving us privacy for grief and fear and the very human process of confronting pot
THE ENTITY'S POVI have existed for 3,847 years by mortal reckoning.In that time, I have witnessed the rise and fall of seventeen civilizations, the birth and death of countless mortals, and the slow evolution of what humans call "progress." I have been weapon and witness, tool and observer, power and presence in vessels across millennia.And in all that time, I have never been as uncertain as I am now.Uncertainty is not native to my nature. I was forged in divine fires during the God Wars...a conflict so vast and terrible that even the memory of it reshapes reality around those few entities old enough to remember. I was designed with purpose: to serve as an instrument of divine warfare, to channel unnatural power through mortal vessels, and to act as a bridge between the celestial and terrestrial.I was never meant to feel doubt.Yet here I am, split between two mortal consciousnesses, watching as Arbiters of the Third Concordance judge whether humanity deserves to wield beings lik
Caelan's POVI can feel Aeliana's distress and concern about what shadows from her family's past might emerge to haunt her.She's manipulating us, I cautioned her through our mate bond. Trying to make herself indispensable so we can't eliminate her even if the Arbiters judge in our favor.I know. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's lying about the information."Now," Annalise said, her tone shifting to something more serious, "let me tell you what the Arbiters are really assessing. Because it's not just about whether you personally serve balance or threaten it."She had our full attention now."The Arbiters," she continued, "are assessing whether humanity deserves access to divine power at all. Whether mortals can be trusted with weapons of cosmic significance, or whether such power should be permanently sealed away from mortal reach."Silence fell on us like a hammer. Through the Entity's presence, I felt its shock, a genuine surprise from an ancient being that rarely experienced
Caelan's POV"Then the Council faces a very difficult decision. Do they attack dual vessels who survived cosmic judgment? Do they risk everything on eliminating a threat that cosmic powers decided to preserve? Or do they retreat, regroup, and wait for a better opportunity?" She turned back to face us. "I don't know which choice they'll make. But I do know they're debating it right now."Looking at Aeliana, I can feel her processing this information. If there are forty operatives that close, we need to warn the allied Alphas. Adjust our defenses. Prepare for the possibility of another attack immediately after judgment day.Agreed. But first, we need everything Annalise knows."What else?" I pressed. "What othe
Caelan's POVAnnalis is held in holding cells, which are in the deepest part of the pack house, warded so heavily that the air itself feels thick with magic. Jolene and Theron had layered protections upon protections—wards to prevent escape, to block magical communication, and also to suppress Annalise's power to the point where she was functionally mortal.Functionally, but not entirely. I could still feel the witch's presence as we approached, a cold spot in the warmth of pack bonds, like frostbite spreading through healthy flesh.Through our dual vessel bond, I felt Aeliana's tension match my own. Are you sure about this? she asked silently. Confronting her now, with only t







