Damon’s POV
Her voice cut through the training yard before I even stepped past the archway. Sharp, ragged, more than battle-grit.
“I didn’t ask for this crown!”
The words hit me like a blade to the gut. I froze in the shadows, one hand on the stone wall, listening.
Rayna’s sword sang against Kael’s, wild and furious, sparks kicking up in the air. Her wolf’s energy flared silver, spilling into the dirt with every strike.
“I didn’t ask to carry a kingdom or rebuild from ash!” she shouted again, her voice cracking open. “I just wanted to be me. And I don’t even know who that is anymore.”
The sound of her - raw, breaking - made something inside me ache. My wolf pressed against the surface, desperate to go to her, to shield her, but I held still.
Kael disarmed her then, blade clattering
