All Chapters of THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf : Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

The hollow glowed as if it had stolen a fragment of dawn. Veins of fire traced themselves across the blackened stone, crawling like living lightning, branding the walls with memory. The scorched cracks hissed faintly, alive with a heat that wasn’t only heat, it was defiance. For a breath, just one fragile moment, I felt the forest stagger back.The roots at the entrance writhed, smoke curling from their charred tips. They twisted, snapped, then recoiled into the shadows beyond the ridge. The whisper that had haunted every step rose again, but not in its patient murmur; it fractured into sharp notes, broken, splintering, furious.Kieran sagged into me, his body trembling, his breath ragged but alive. His skin burned hot in places, ice-cold in others, as if the fire inside him was tearing itself apart to stay alive. His eyes fluttered open, gold burning through blue, not steady but flickering, light fighting shadow inside the space of a single heartbeat. His hand found mine, weak but in

The hollow walls glowed faint with the last shivers of flame, veins of gold threading through cracks like fragile lifelines. Smoke curled along the ridge mouth, clinging to the stone, a bitter veil that stung my throat. Outside, the forest shifted with the weight of something vast, something ancient. It had not fled. It was gathering.I felt it in my marrow, the hush before a storm, the heaviness of air pressed down by the promise of ruin. The roots had retreated, but not in surrender. In strategy.Kieran slumped in my arms, his forehead damp against my cheek. His ember still pulsed, faint and uneven, but alive. That was enough to anchor me, even as my own arms shook beneath his weight.The girl crouched by the wall, her blood-slick hands pressed hard to her side. She was pale, trembling, but her eyes did not leave the glow in Kieran’s chest. “It’s not finished,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “It never stops with roots. When the fire cuts them back, the forest sends the boughs.”I turn

The fire-wings blazed until the sky itself looked torn in half, gold against black. But in the silence that followed, something shifted, not in retreat or defeat. It was a pause, the kind of stillness that waits, not to end, but to begin again stronger.The guardians’ hulking forms burned and faltered, their trunks cracking under the blaze, their crowns snapping like bones. Yet their fall didn’t feel like victory. It felt like an offering. A sacrifice to something deeper.Beneath my feet, the earth pulsed once, twice. Then a steady rhythm began, like the beating of a colossal heart buried under the ridge. Each thrum rattled the hollow walls, each pulse pulling air from my lungs until it felt as though I were breathing inside someone else’s chest.The girl’s cry pierced through the smoke. “No… no, it’s waking it. The Root-Heart.”My throat tightened. “The what?”Her voice cracked. “The core. The soul of the forest, every tree, every shadow, every guardian… it’s only a limb. The Root-

The hollow shook as though the earth itself recoiled from the Root-Heart’s fury. Its sphere throbbed, vast and merciless, every pulse a hammer driving into my chest. Roots writhed in endless cascades, walls of living wood clawing toward us, their tips splitting into jagged teeth slick with sap. Each breath carried the stench of rot so thick it coated my tongue.The ember inside Kieran blazed in answer, but it wavered. The firestorm that had roared only moments before now guttered, sparks instead of flame, a shield too thin to keep back the tide. Sweat burned down my face, though I knew it wasn’t mine alone, the heat pouring from us had fused our pain into one.“Kieran… ” My voice broke against the roar of splitting stone. I pressed harder to his chest, feeling the ember shiver like a trapped heart. “It’s too much. It’s breaking us.”His breath was shallow and thin, but his hand, gods, his hand still found mine; weak fingers, but steady in intent. His lashes lifted, and through the haz

The hollow broke in its very breath. The cavern’s ceiling cracked open as if the earth itself had grown weary of harboring rot. Splinters of light spilled through fissures above, pale and trembling, like dawn remembered after endless night.The Root-Heart thrashed. What was left of its body convulsed, roots clawing into its own walls for purchase. Its once-immortal voice fractured, collapsing in on itself, a thousand syllables slurring into nothing more than a gasp.No… I am the first seed… the marrow of earth…The white fire did not answer. It consumed as answer. Each thread of flame unwound the Root-Heart’s claim, stripped it of its false eternity, until what remained wasn’t enemy, terror, or god… just a hollow knot of wood and sap, ancient but mortal at last.And still Kieran’s grip did not falter. His fire was not wild anymore; it was certain. His wings… our wings… beat slowly, steady, and relentlessly. They did not rage.The Root-Heart collapsed inward. Its sphere cracked in hal