The Shadow closed in, endless, unstoppable.
Aradia cradled Kael's broken body, her tears falling, her fire guttering weakly. She felt the gods watching, she heard the Shadow laughing, she saw Ronan standing triumphant.
And then she remembered.
A promise whispered centuries ago. A vow sealed in blood and fire.
"If death takes us, if fire consumes us, I will find you again. In every life. In every world. I will always find you."
Her tears burned away. Her fire surged, not wild, not destructive—pure. Golden. Eternal.
She kissed him, fierce and desperate, pouring every life, every vow, every fragment of soul into him.
Kael gasped, his green eyes blazing, his wolf howling as fire poured into his claws, his veins, his heart.
They rose together, Alpha and Witch, Fang and Flame, Bond eternal.
The Shadow screamed. For the first time, it retreated—not defeated, but afraid.
Because they were not curse. Not destruction.
They were love.