The wind shifted.
Not just around the Rootwell Hollow—but across the entire territory.
Mountains groaned. Rivers stalled. The moon, veiled by dusk clouds moments ago, now cast its full silver eye over the world, as if pulled forward by the gravity of one name.
Rowan.
He stood at the mouth of the Rootwell like a living contradiction.
Ethereal.
Grounded.
Wreathed in divine light and yet entirely, achingly human.
His gaze swept over the forest, the sky, the gathering pack—and landed last on Quinn and Jace.
There was no smile.
No dramatic reunion.
Just the unbearable softness of someone who had seen the end of the world... and still found his way home.
Quinn couldn’t move.
Not at first.
His entire body felt locked—by fear, by wonder, by the aching pull of the bond that hadn’t qui
