Kael POVThe forest changes the moment Elara rides beside me.Not because the road grows safer.Not because the Witch’s shadow retreats.Because the bond settles.The moment I lift her onto the horse in front of me, the strain that had been clawing at my chest finally eases. My arm wraps around her waist, my hand settling low and firm across her middle, and beneath my palm the restless pulse of our pup steadies into something warm and watchful.Mine.Ours.Together.For one brief, impossible breath, the world feels right again.Not safe.Never that.But right.Elara leans back into me, not weakly, not like someone asking to be held up, but like someone choosing exactly where she belongs. Her hair brushes my jaw every time the horse shifts, carrying her scent up into the cold morning air—wild grass, smoke, silver magic, and something sweeter now beneath it all.Our child.My wolf presses closer beneath my skin, calmer than he has been since dawn.Family.“Yes,” I murmur so quietly only
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