Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

His words hit me hard, heavier than the silence after a fight. For a moment, doubt crept in, cold and sharp. Was this victory enough, or just the first crack in the stone? I thought about the enemies still hiding, the promises I’d made, and the fear that something older and crueler might take this chance away. Every bruise from the fights that brought me here ached in memory. The scars under my skin felt fresh, reminders of what I’d already paid. I wanted to believe we had won something lasting, but hope felt thin, stretched over a bruise that never healed. Responsibility pressed down like armor I never chose, the weight settling into my bones. I wondered if I could carry it, if those before me had doubted themselves too, or if their fears were lost in the stories that survived. Still, some stubborn part of me wanted to believe this was more than survival, that we could make something better if I held on. I nodded, letting his warning settle inside me.Cass joined us, her face pale bu

The Hollow was quiet, but outside, the world was anything but calm.The Council convened in emergency session before dawn. Silas, representing Thornridge, tabled a motion to recognise the Sovereign’s claim. Rowan Ashveil seconded it. The vote was quick and brutal: three abstentions, two furious dissents. Dara Ironveil signed her support, but her face was tight, her eyes wary. The packs had spent generations pretending Sovereigns were a myth. Now, with the moon’s answer, they couldn’t pretend anymore.Aldric was removed from the Council on medical grounds. Not stripped of his title, just quietly pushed aside, the way powerful men are when their usefulness has run out. The Silver Cells were ordered closed. Cass oversaw it personally, her hands steady as she broke locks and burned records. Jax was officially reinstated as a Thornridge pack member, his rank raised, so that he never had to work in the kitchens again unless he wanted to. He said he might want to. He liked cooking.The Counc

I didn’t know if I would stay or leave. I didn’t know what I owed to the world that tried to erase me. Part of me wanted to run, to let go of every duty and leave the past behind. Another part hoped that all this loss could mean something, that I could make it matter. I was afraid. If I stayed, I might end up like those before me, lost to old mistakes. But leaving felt like giving up on the people who still needed someone to fight for them. I wasn’t sure which choice would cost me more. It was my choice now. And that was everything.In the dark, Cass found me, her voice soft. “You know what you are now?”I shook my head. “Not yet. But I know what I’m not.”She smiled. “That’s a start.”The Hollow breathed, and the world held its breath.Tomorrow, I will answer. Tonight, I just let myself be.Six weeks after the Rite, the Hollow was ordinary. Ordinary meant nothing hurt, and nothing was easy. The pool was still. I didn’t look into it. I didn’t need to anymore.The morning was gray, the

The first thing I learned about surviving in a world that wants you dead: never trust the quiet. Quiet is just the world holding its breath before it breaks your ribs.Cass’s warning rattled around my skull, colliding with Fen’s note and Kael’s heartbeat still echoing in my skin. I scrambled upright, adrenaline burning away the last of my exhaustion.Kael was on his feet in a blink, knife in hand. He scanned the trees, tension radiating off him in waves. Cass caught her breath, eyes too wide, hands shaking.“I saw them,” she said. “Old Growth shadows. Not wolves, or Exiles. Something else, something with silver eyes and marks I’ve never seen.” She shivered, eyes distant. “They moved like smoke through the trees, but the air around them went cold. Their skin looked like charcoal split with veins of light. The marks twisted and glowed, and when they looked at me, the shadows between the branches felt alive.”Kael’s jaw flexed. “Feral?”Cass shook her head. “Worse. They moved like they k

We moved fast. Cass led, Kael at my side, Jax limping behind us but refusing to stay put. The Hollow felt different, like it was holding its breath. Every tree seemed to lean closer, every shadow a threat.The path curved, then split. Cass paused, sniffed the air. “They’re north. By the Dead Oak.”We ran.The Dead Oak was a blackened skeleton, massive, hollowed by fire years ago. Fen stood beneath it, arms folded, tattoos coiling up his neck like smoke. Marek was beside him, too relaxed, too sure. Behind them, three more Exile-wolves waited, eyes sharp, bodies tense.Fen didn’t look at us as we arrived. He just stared into the hollow trunk, face unreadable.Kael stepped forward, all teeth and threat. “What is this?”Marek smiled. “A trial. Fen’s idea.”I glanced at Fen. “You’re letting him talk for you now?”Fen’s lips curled in something that might have been a smile, or a warning. “I’m not letting anyone do anything. But you need to see what’s inside.”Jax winced as he dropped to sit