Kaelen's POV
I take a slow, deliberate breath, letting it draw the tension from my shoulders but not from my mind. Every lie she has spun, every word designed to pull me back, every carefully timed plea—it all lands like shards, cutting a clarity I cannot ignore. My wolf thrums beneath my skin, taut and alert, sensing what I already know: there is no compromise left, no path back through the illusions she has built.
Her eyes, wide and pleading, meet mine. For a moment, I search for a trace of truth, a sliver of honesty that might redeem the chaos she has caused. There is none. Her words are hollow, rehearsed, each one a ghost of the affection she pretends to feel. I do not flinch. I will not.
“Celestine,” I say, low, steady, my voice carrying through the room like a blade sliding free o
