“You’re asking me to give up the Heart?” I ask, my voice trembling, though I can’t decide whether it’s from disbelief or dread.
Kael’s jaw is clenched as he looks at me, eyes narrowed. The weight of his decision rests heavily between us. “It’s the only way, Eira,” he says, his tone barely above a whisper as if the very words could cause the earth to c***k beneath us. “The ancient beings, they won’t stop. Not unless we make the ultimate sacrifice.”
I’m silent for a moment, staring at the Heart of the Wolf that lies between us. It pulses with an energy so fierce, so alive, that I can feel it in the pit of my stomach. I’m drawn to it, as if it has some unshakable hold on me, on all of us.
But to give it up...
I glance at my children, who stand at the edge of the clearing, their innocent e
