All Chapters of RUN AWAY WITH ME: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

He was cleaning his blades with sharp, methodical movements—too sharp, too focused.“She’s been quiet,” Ariane said carefully.Kael didn’t look up. “She’s been under strain.”“Yes. But this feels… different.”That got his attention.Ariane leaned against the worktable, arms folded loosely. Not intimate. Not defensive. Neutral.“She didn’t challenge anything in council today,” Ariane continued. “She didn’t even weigh in.”Kael’s jaw tightened. “That’s not like her.”“No,” Ariane agreed softly. “It’s not.”She didn’t suggest a reason.She didn’t need to.Silence did the work.Selene felt it immediately.The bond hummed with unease—Kael’s confusion bleeding through like static. She sat in her chambers long after midnight, hands resting on her knees, breathing carefully.This is nothing, she told herself. You’re imagining patterns where there are none.The twin laughed softly.She’s speaking for you now.Selene flinched.No.Then why does he listen?Selene stood abruptly, pacing. Her magi

Ariane had always known when Kael was slipping away.It wasn’t something dramatic—no shouting, no slammed doors, no declarations of finality. Kael had never been that kind of man. When he withdrew, it happened quietly, like the tide receding before a storm.Tonight, she felt it in the way he didn’t look back.She stood near the edge of the courtyard long after the others had gone, watching his broad back disappear into the keep. His stride was purposeful now, sharp with urgency—not for the pack, not for duty.For her.Selene.The name burned in Ariane’s chest like a brand.She exhaled slowly, schooling her expression into something calm, something unreadable. Anyone watching would have seen only an advisor lingering after council, thoughtful, loyal, harmless.But Ariane had never been harmless.She had simply learned how to survive by being useful.She turned away at last, fingers curling in the fabric of her cloak.So.He’d chosen.Not consciously—Kael was far too honorable for that—

The chamber feels impossibly small, though the stone walls stretch high above them. Lyra can still feel the lingering heat of their closeness, the lingering pulse of the bond that threads them together—alive, hungry, impossible. Even after the fire of their stolen, stolen intimacy, Rylan has not left her side. Every movement he makes mirrors hers, every breath synchronizes, every heartbeat echoes across the invisible tether that binds them.But the world will not pause. The Veil hums low, impatient, as if warning them the reprieve is temporary. And beyond the chamber, footsteps echo, deliberate, dangerous.Kade.Lyra’s chest tightens. She can sense him more than see him—a predator, lurking at the edge of firelight, eyes glinting with jealousy so sharp it could cut stone. He doesn’t just want her; he wants the power that courses through her veins. And perhaps, he wants to claim Rylan’s devotion, too.Rylan notices before she can speak. His jaw tightens, gold flaring dangerously bright.

The summons arrived before dawn.Not by horn. Not by runner.By seal.Selene found it waiting on the small table beside her bed when she woke—parchment thick as hide, the Nightfang crest pressed deep into crimson wax. For a moment she simply stared at it, heart thudding, already knowing.The law had teeth.And it had bitten.The twin stirred lazily inside her, amused rather than alarmed.So it begins, she murmured. How quaint. Wolves pretending rules can hold gods.Selene ignored her and reached for the seal. Her fingers hesitated—then broke it cleanly.By order of the Nightfang Elders,Selene of the Silver Vein is hereby summoned to a Council Review,to assess fitness for Luna Ascension under Clause Thirteen.No accusation. No defense. Just procedure.Selene exhaled slowly, folding the parchment with deliberate calm.So this was Ariane’s escalation.Not a confrontation. Not a theft.A structure.A cage built of tradition and “concern,” where Selene could either contort herself into a

Adrian did not leave the Hall in anger.That was what made it devastating.There was no slammed door, no shouted accusation, no final look thrown like a blade over his shoulder. When the Oracle dismissed the Council and the torches dimmed back to their resting blue, Adrian simply inclined his head—once—to the elders, once to Selene, and once to Kael.A gesture of respect.A gesture that said I am not finished, but I am not your enemy either.Then he turned and walked out.The sound of his footsteps faded long before anyone breathed.The Nightfang Hall emptied slowly after that, as if the pack itself were afraid that motion might shatter something fragile and unseen. Wolves avoided Selene’s gaze—not in judgment, but in discomfort. This was not a wound they could bite or bleed out. It was a knot pulled too tight around fate.Kael remained where he was long after the last torchbearer left.Selene stood beside him, close enough to feel the heat of him, far enough that her sleeve did not b