The compound was burning, but it didn’t matter. Smoke curled into the night sky, mingling with sparks from the alarms Chloe had set in motion. Every corridor echoed with screams, sirens, and the chaos of rebellion. Yet in the center of it all, Damian held me close, his arms locked around me like iron, his eyes scanning for any remaining threat. We were safe, as safe as two people could be after surviving what we had. But safety felt surreal. I still trembled against him, not just from exhaustion, but from the raw intensity of everything we had endured, the betrayals, the serum-crazed alphas, the Council’s manipulations, and Chloe’s revelations. She stepped forward, her hands raised, mascara streaked with tears, clothes tattered but clean of the blood that coated the pit below. “It’s over,”
