Darius POVI used to think stepping aside meant losing. That if someone else stood where I once stood, it meant I had failed.Maybe that was why I held onto things too tightly.My title.My authority.My pride.But standing in the council chamber now, watching Kaelira address Ironfang like she had been born for it, I finally understood something.A leader did not disappear because someone else rose.Sometimes, stepping back was the first real act of leadership.The chamber was filled again.Warriors.Elders.Representatives.Everyone who had watched Ironfang break apart and rebuild itself.Kaelira stood at the center.Not because anyone forced her there.Because she belonged there. Elder Marrow looked toward me.“Alpha Darius.”The title still carried weight.But not the same weight.“Before the formal transition begins, there is something you must say.”I nodded.I already knew.I stepped forward.The room quieted.For years, I had stood here and spoken as if every word I said was la
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