All Chapters of Bound Wolf, Burning Heart: Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty-One**He didn’t answer.Not because he couldn’t.Because for the first time—He didn’t know how.The clearing felt it.That absence of immediate certainty.That break in inevitability.The darkness around him didn’t surge. It didn’t tighten or expand. It simply lingered—unsteady in a way it had never been before.Storm exhaled slowly, her voice low.“…he’s hesitating.”Orion didn’t move.“Not enough to trust.”Aldric’s gaze remained fixed.“But enough to matter.”Kael’s hand stayed at Rose’s back.Steady.Grounding.Ready.But he didn’t pull her away.Didn’t step in.Because this—This still belonged to her.---Across from her—He stood motionless.Eyes locked on hers.Not searching.Not calculating.