The reflection was gone when I looked again.
Just stone.
Just us.
But the feeling lingered—like breath against the back of my neck long after a whisper stops.
Ronan sagged fully into my arms, his weight heavy, real. Alive. I held him there until his shaking eased into shallow breaths.
“He didn’t take me,” he murmured. “Not yet.”
I pressed a kiss to his temple. “He won’t.”
Ashael didn’t contradict me.
That scared me more than anything else.
By dawn, the news had already spread.
Not by messengers.
By relief.
Packs began arriving—not fleeing, not hostile. They came orderly. Quiet. Hopeful.
They stood at the edges of our territory like guests waiting to be invited inside.
“He’s guiding them,” Kaelith said grimly as we watched from the ridge. “Not forcing. Not threatening.”
“He d
