The aftermath was silence, broken only by the groans of the wounded. Wolves lay bloodied, the air heavy with smoke and fear. Ronan had fled with his surviving rogues, the shadow fading with him into the trees.
Aradia sat trembling, her fire dimmed, her body weak. Kael knelt before her, his green eyes filled with both fury and tenderness.
"You saw it," he said softly. "Didn't you? In the shadow. You remembered."
Her lips parted, her chest aching. "It was us. In another life. We fought it before. We failed."
Kael's jaw tightened, his hand brushing her cheek. "Then this time we do not fail. This time, we end it."
Her tears spilled, her heart breaking with the weight of destiny. "And if the cost is me?"
His lips pressed to hers, fierce and unyielding. "Then I burn with you. Always."
And deep inside, though she did not yet know the full truth, she felt it—the bond that stretched beyond one life, one body, one world. A promise carved into time itself.