The cheering died down as the reality of what just happened sank in.Bodies littered the courtyard. Wounded warriors groaned in pain. The eastern barracks still smoldered, smoke drifting into the dawn sky.We'd won. But the cost was written in blood across the compound."Get the injured to the infirmary," Kade commanded, his Alpha voice cutting through the chaos. "Mara, damage report. Marcus, secure the perimeter in case she comes back."Everyone moved to obey, and I just stood there, frozen.The fifth mark on my arm burned. I looked down at it—black, jagged, but incomplete. It had stopped halfway, suspended between completion and nothing.I'm alive, I thought numbly. I survived the fifth severing."Sera." Kade's hand on my shoulder made me jump. "You're in shock. Come on.""I need to help. The wounded—""The healers have it handled. You need rest." His eyes searched my face. "You just broke a bond you thought would kill you. You're allowed to fall apart.""I can't fall apart. People
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