The celebration ended at dawn.
Wolves shifted and ran into the forest, drunk on moonlight and freedom. Vampires melted into shadows, their ancient faces softened by something that looked almost like happiness. And I stood in the empty great hall, surrounded by the echoes of laughter, and felt peace for the first time in longer than I could remember.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kael appeared beside me, his arm sliding around my waist. "What we've built."
"It is." I leaned into his warmth. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Maybe it won't. Maybe we actually get to be happy."
Caspian materialized from the shadows, his expression unreadable. "I wouldn't make that bet."
I felt it then—through the bond, through my hybrid senses, through the pendant that never stopped warming my
