KAEL'S POV
Her body went limp in my arms.
For one heart-stopping moment, I thought she was gone. My chest constricted, my wolf howled, my claws tore furrows into the stone. I lowered her slowly to the scorched floor, pressing my ear to her chest.
A heartbeat. Ragged. Weak. But there.
I exhaled so hard it shook my ribs.
The cavern around us was ruined—walls melted into slag, the ceiling sagging with cracks like a skull split open. The air reeked of smoke and burned magic. Ash drifted down in slow, quiet spirals, landing in her hair like frost.
I brushed it away with shaking fingers.
Her skin still glowed faintly, veins of silver light pulsing beneath the surface. Too bright. Too alive with something that wasn't just her. My wolf pressed against the bond, snarling, demanding I tear whatever it was out of her with tooth and claw.
But I couldn't. Because it wasn't only them. It was Ayla too.
