The clearing froze.
Every Devourer-born.
Every elite.
Even the guardian stilled—
as Kanah's voice tore through the battlefield:
"GET. OFF. MY. MATE."
The force behind her words wasn't divine.
Wasn't magic.
Wasn't prophecy.
It was biological resonance—
the raw frequency of a Devourer-blooded being
channeled through a human soul strong enough to control it.
A shockwave rippled outward.
Not enough to kill.
Not enough to shatter.
Just enough to interrupt instinct.
The elites pinning Owain faltered—
their claws pausing, their muscles tightening involuntarily.
Owain used the opening instantly.
He snapped his jaws around the nearest elite's arm and ripped it clean off, tossing the limb aside with a furious snarl.
Another elite tried to regain footing—
Owain barreled into it, slamming it to the ground with the weight of a falling boulder.
Blood sprayed.
Yllas's frost-fire curved beautifully around the disturbance Kanah created, sweeping across the field and catching two elites mid-recovery.
Helion flickered into motion, slicing through tendons made vulnerable by the momentary hesitation.
Gerrin gasped behind Kanah.
"That resonance—
It wasn't Devourer dominance.
It was—"
He swallowed hard.
"—Kanah's willpower amplified through Devourer biology."
Helion shouted mid-leap:
"Don't analyze it—USE it!"
The guardian beast rose to its full towering height, freed from the brother's influence, and slammed both its fists into the ground.
Roots tore upward.
Soil fractured.
Two elites lost their balance.
Owain, in full wolf form, pounced—
tearing through one and flinging the other into Yllas's flame.
But the heart of the shift—
the turning point—
was Kanah.
KANAH — HUMAN WILL, DEVOURER RESONANCE
Kanah stood trembling.
Not from fear.
From the intensity of the instinct she had just unleashed.
Her Devourer eye glowed faintly—
but her human eye shone brighter.
"Owain…"
Her voice cracked, soft, aching.
He turned toward her—
bloodied, massive, golden eyes blazing—
and stepped between her and the elites.
You called for me.
And I heard.
She felt the words through the bond.
Kanah clutched her chest, tears gathering.
"I didn't mean to— I just— you were—"
Owain pressed his massive head to her shoulder gently.
She exhaled shakily, leaning into him.
Gerrin's voice rose from behind.
"Kanah, listen carefully—
What you used just now is NOT a Devourer command."
She blinked in confusion.
"What?"
Gerrin stepped forward, voice urgent, excited, and terrified all at once.
"It was your HUMAN consciousness guiding Devourer resonance."
He gestured around them.
"That's why the elites hesitated. Devourer-born instinct automatically reacts to resonance—
but only true Devourers overpower with hunger."
He pointed at Kanah.
"You overpowered with emotion."
Kanah swallowed.
"I… I didn't try to dominate them."
"I know," Gerrin breathed.
"That's why it worked."
Owain bumped his head against her shoulder again, a worried rumble vibrating through her bones.
He didn't care about resonance theory.
He cared about her.
Kanah stroked his fur.
"I'm okay. I promise."
Owain's throat vibrated again.
Don't scare me like that.
THE BROTHER'S REACTION
Her brother watched the entire exchange.
For the first time—
he looked unsettled.
Not alarmed.
Not threatened.
But genuinely… surprised.
He stepped onto the battlefield, ignoring his wounded elites.
"You speak without compulsion," he murmured.
Kanah tensed.
He continued, slower:
"That was not Devourer dominance.
It was…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…self-control."
Kanah stiffened.
"I told you—I'm not like you."
"On the contrary," he murmured.
"You are far more dangerous."
Owain's lips pulled back in a snarl, positioning himself between them again.
Her brother's gaze drifted to the wolf form.
"The bite anchored her.
The resonance obeyed her."
Kanah shouted:
"It obeyed my CHOICE."
He looked at her fully.
"And what, sister, did you choose?"
Owain growled loudly.
Kanah stepped forward, shaking but steady.
"I chose my humanity."
Her brother stilled.
"I chose," she continued,
"to use the Devourer side without letting it use me."
Owain exhaled sharply—
a sound that was half-relief, half-awe.
Her brother's expression darkened.
"That is not how our blood works."
Kanah shook her head.
"I'm not your blood.
Not in the way that matters."
The elites hissed.
The guardian snarled.
Owain lowered his body protectively.
Her brother's voice dipped to a near-whisper.
"You anchor the hunger with emotion.
You direct instinct with desire.
You command resonance with humanity."
He took one slow step back.
"You should not exist."
Kanah trembled.
Owain bristled.
Yllas raised his flame.
Helion bared his teeth.
Gerrin lifted his magic.
Ilai gripped her stick again.
Her brother lifted a hand—
not attacking,
just observing.
"Father will not allow this."
Kanah's stomach dropped.
"My father—?"
"Your existence disrupts Devourer inheritance.
You do not obey blood.
You obey bond."
Owain snarled.
"That's the POINT."
Her brother's gaze slid over Owain and Kanah again.
Then he gave a small, terrible smile.
"You are becoming something
that shouldn't be possible."
Kanah swallowed.
"And what is that?"
Her brother stepped backward into the shadows.
"A Devourer human."
He vanished.
The elites retreated instantly with him, disappearing into the forest as if pulled by strings.
The entire clearing went still.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Owain shifted back slowly, collapsing to one knee, panting heavily.
Kanah ran to him.
"Owain—Owain—are you—"
He caught her waist and pulled her into him, burying his face in her shoulder.
"I'm fine," he rasped.
"Just—don't run toward danger again—
EVER—"
Kanah cupped his face gently.
"You didn't break."
Owain pressed his forehead to hers.
"And you didn't lose yourself."
Yllas approached, wiping blood from his cheek.
"Her brother will not stop now."
Gerrin nodded grimly.
"This was only the first battle."
Helion stretched his bleeding arm.
"And we lived. That's something."
Ilai wheezed.
"Barely!"
Kanah looked at all of them—
her mates, her allies, her guardian—
and exhaled.
"We need to move."
Owain nodded.
"We need to prepare."
Yllas agreed.
"We need allies."
Gerrin added softly:
"And Kanah…
you need to learn what you truly are."
She swallowed.
Then lifted her chin.
"I'm human."
Owain smiled faintly.
"And mine."
The guardian rumbled its agreement.
Helion smirked.
"And ours."
Yllas nodded solemnly.
"For now and forever."
Kanah took a breath—
steady
anchored
unchanging.
"Then let's win this war."