Silence settled over the shrine.
Not the heavy silence of fear.
Not the suffocating stillness that came before war.
This silence felt different.
Sacred.
Snow drifted softly through the air while silver moonlight illuminated the shattered remains of the ancient shrine. The Guardian was gone. The corruption poisoning the mountain had vanished with it, dissolving into countless silver fragments that disappeared into the night sky like scattered stars.
For several long moments, no one moved.
The infected wolves surrounding the cliffs had fled after the Guardian’s disappearance. The surviving warriors stood frozen among broken pillars and bloodstained stone, struggling to understand what they had just witnessed.
Lyra barely noticed any of it.
Because the mate bond had changed completel
