جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

LYRA'S POV The bond slips.Not all the way. Just enough for me to feel it.It hits me like cold water.I stop walking mid step. My breath stutters and my hand flies to my chest before I even think about it.“No. No no no.”I press harder. I push into it. I reach for him through the link the way I have a thousand times.It answers.Weak.Thin.Not wrapped tight around him like it should be.I grit my teeth and keep walking. I do not let my face change. I do not let anyone see.Control first. Panic later.Darius is already gone. Of course he is. He never waits anymore.That alone would have been unthinkable a year ago.I turn into the hall and nearly run into one of the guards.“Where is he?” I ask.The guard straightens. “Alpha ordered the trackers out. He’s heading to the east line.”Of course he is.I nod once. “Go.”The guard leaves fast.I stand there for a second longer than I should. My nails dig into my palm.He did not ask.He did not wait for me to ground him.That never used

POV: ELARAI wake up because my skin feels wrong.Like something is crawling under it. That sharp pull in my chest hits first. The one that says something’s wrong before my brain catches up.My eyes fly open and I freeze.Someone is standing over Arin.I sit up so fast my head spins.“Hey,” I choke out, already grabbing for him.The shape shifts. Tall. Solid. Too close.My heart is pounding in my ears and I’m already about to launch myself at him when the moonlight hits his face.Varek.I freeze.My hand is still stretched out. Fingers shaking.He doesn’t move. Doesn’t flinch. Just standing there, quiet, watching my son breathe.My chest hurts bad. Like I almost lost something and my body hasn’t realized yet that I didn’t.“Goddess,” I whisper. “What the hell are you doing?”He turns his head slowly. Like he knew I’d wake up. Like he was waiting for it.“Guarding,” he says.I swallow. My mouth is dry.“You scared me.”“Good,” he says. “Means you’re awake.”I push myself up more, sitti

POV ARINI wake up because something shoves itself into my brain.Hard.Like I get kicked awake from the inside.I gasp and sit straight up with my chest burning. My heart is already running like it knows something I don’t yet, my hands are shaking and my ears are ringing.Before I even move, I know.They’re here.I don’t hear them. I feel them.Pressure. Weight. Meaning with no words.I stumble off the couch and almost fall. My legs feel stupid. Like they forgot how to work. I grab the table and steady myself.Another push hits my head.Not pain.Intent.Warning.I push the door open and step outside and the cold air slaps me awake.The camp is fully up.Every adult is outside. Every single one.They’re standing in a loose line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the trees. No one is talking. No one is relaxed. Everyone looks ready to snap.Mom stands near the middle. Kael is close to her and Varek is a step ahead of everyone else. As alwaysI follow their line of sight.Five wolves stand

POV: DARIUSI wake up flat on my back with dirt in my mouth and blood on my hands.Again.That is how the day starts.I blink hard because the sky looks wrong. Too bright. Too quiet and my head feels like it got cracked open and glued back together wrong.I sit up and that is when I see my hands.Red. Dried into the lines of my skin. Under my nails. On my wrists.Not a lot.Enough.I stare at them for a long time.“What did I do now?” I say out loud.No answer.The ground around me is torn up. Footprints everywhere. Claw marks. Broken branches. The smell of fear sits heavy in the air like it never left.Pack fear.That hits harder than the blood.I try to remember.I close my eyes and press hard, like I can force the memory back.I remember standing near the gates. I remember a patrol report. Rogues moving close to my land. Too close. I remember deciding to go with them because I was tired of being told to rest. Tired of being handled.After that.Nothing.Just a wall.I growl low and

POV: KIERANI watch him die.Not in my dreams. Not in some story I tell myself to sleep at night. Right here. Right now.He kneels on the cold stone floor, hands bound, jaw tight, eyes darting between me and Lyra like he’s praying. Like I’m supposed to pity him. I don’t.Lyra’s standing there, tall, perfect, immaculate, like the world bends for her and it does. Every wolf in this clearing feels it. Fear curls around them like smoke, thick, choking, unavoidable. Mothers clutch their children harder. Young warriors shift uneasily on their feet. Even some of the cabal tremble slightly, just a quick flicker of doubt before they steel themselves.“Why?” he gasps. “I just… I just asked…”Lyra lifts a hand. She doesn’t touch him. She doesn’t need to. Her presence alone is enough. “You asked too much,” she says softly, voice like silk dragging over glass. “You spoke a name you weren’t allowed to speak. One word can unravel everything. You chose chaos.”I move a step closer, leaning casually o