The blade gleamed like moonlight made solid.
Elder Kairis—no longer cloaked in frailty or age—stood tall beneath the ruined beams of the lodge, her skin glowing with runes, her eyes molten silver. She was no longer merely an Elder.
She was the seventh Hunter.
The final judge.
Her voice was layered—hers and something far older.
“The child has passed.”
“Now the bond must be weighed.”
Jace moved in front of me instantly, blocking the blade with his body.
“You will not touch him,” he growled, voice deepened by his wolf, barely restrained.
Kairis tilted her head.
“Still protecting what you nearly destroyed. Still leading with guilt.”
Her eyes turned to me.
“And you. Still afraid of what love costs. Still believing pain protects better than instinct.”
I said nothing.
Because I coul
