Ridah’s POV
The howl hung in the air too long.
Kael wasn’t retreating. He was calling us out.
I didn’t sheath my claws. Didn’t need to. The blood on them was already cooling, and the curse in my chest sat quiet, satisfied for once. Forsaken fell into step beside me, his presence solid and steady through the bond. Marcus stayed back, securing the ridge, but I felt his eyes on us the whole way down.
Kael stepped out of the treeline before we reached the edge of the gully.
Alone.
For once, he wasn’t hiding behind exiles or half-truths. Just him, hands loose at his sides, shirt torn, blood smeared across his jaw that wasn’t his. His eyes found mine first.
“You won,” he said. No anger. No surprise. Like he’d expected it. “Clean, too.”
“You read my plan,” I said. “Not hard to count
