The rogues growled at her words—but with confusion, not anger. Their eyes darted between me, Emilia, and each other, unsure of what to believe.
I stepped forward, letting my voice thunder across the clearing.
“That is why,” I said, “I am giving every rogue here a chance. Surrender… and you will be given an opportunity to belong to a pack. To start over.”
Silence.
Then a rogue near the front—bloody, exhausted—shifted into his human form. He dropped to his knees, panting.
“I’m tired,” he said, voice cracking. “I’m tired of living in the wild. I surrender.”
Another rogue shifted in the back, raising his shaking hands.
“Me too,” he whispered. “I’m done with this life.”
One by one, rogues lowered their heads. Some knelt. Some shifted. Some cried.
It wasn’t trust.
It was relief.
A hea
