The air didn’t settle after they left.

Not the Council. Not Mason. Not Chizzy.

It hung heavy around the outpost like smoke after a wildfire—lingering, sharp, impossible to ignore. My bones ached with exhaustion, but my mind was sharper than ever. Rest wasn’t an option anymore.

“They’ll come back,” I said, pacing the floor of the chamber.

Maverick leaned against the stone archway, arms crossed, watching me.

“I know,” he said. “But next time, we won’t let them get that close.”

“They didn’t just come to threaten us,” I muttered, rubbing my arms. “They came to study me. To test what I’d become.”

Maverick’s eyes followed me. “They’re afraid of what you’re becoming.”

I stopped walking and looked at him. “And you? Are you afraid?”

He pushed off the wall and walked to me, slowly. “No,” he said. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t… in awe.”

I tried to smirk, but it faded. “You’re just saying that to calm me down.”

“I’m saying that because I watched you make fire crawl and a Councilwoman flinch.”

“You sound proud.”

“I am.”

His hand brushed mine. I looked down at our fingers. Warm. Real. Safe.

Then I shook my head. “This can’t just be about power, Maverick. I’m carrying a child that they want to destroy.”

“They won’t touch her. They won’t get close enough.”

His certainty should’ve reassured me. Instead, I felt the familiar weight of prophecy pressing on my shoulders again.

“Maverick,” I whispered, “what if I lose myself in all of this?”

He tilted my chin up gently. “Then I’ll remind you who you are. Every damn time.”

I stared at him. “You always say the right thing.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I just know you.”

I didn't answer.

I just kissed him.

This time, I didn’t hold back. I let it be real. Raw. Fierce. My power, my grief, my longing—it all poured into him.

When we pulled apart, our foreheads still touched.

“I needed that,” I said softly.

“I needed you,” he replied.

---

The next day, Solon gathered us near the Moonfire Well.

“This place,” he said, his voice deeper than usual, “is sacred. If she’s going to survive the coming trials, the child must be bathed in it.”

My eyes widened. “Bathed? She’s not even born yet.”

Solon nodded toward my belly. “That’s why the fire must come to her.”

Maverick stepped between us. “What does that mean?”

“It means the Priestess within must call the flame willingly. If she resists, it will burn her from the inside.”

I stared at Solon, horrified. “You want me to summon fire… into my womb?”

“She’s not just a child, Maggie. She’s the embodiment of two legacies—blood and light. If she’s to survive the forces coming for her, she must awaken early.”

Maverick grabbed my hand. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” Solon said quietly. “Not if you want her to live.”

I swallowed hard, trying to process it. My child hadn’t even taken her first breath, and already she was being called to war.

Maverick looked at me. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” I said, voice steady. “She’s already glowing inside me. She wants to rise.”

I took a shaky breath and stepped closer to the well. Moonfire shimmered at the bottom like liquid starlight, white-gold and silent.

Solon handed me a small blade.

“What’s that for?”

He met my eyes. “Blood unlocks the flame.”

Maverick tried to take it from me. “I’ll do it.”

“No,” I said, pressing the blade lightly against my palm. “This is mine to do.”

I sliced the skin. Not deep. Just enough.

As the blood hit the fire, it flared.

A column of light burst upward, catching the runes around the well and setting them aglow.

Pain exploded in my ribs—right where the mark lay.

I doubled over, gasping, clutching my belly. The baby kicked wildly, her energy mingling with mine, her heartbeat fluttering fast beneath my hand.

“Maggie!” Maverick shouted, trying to reach me.

But Solon held him back. “Let it happen. She’s waking.”

I screamed.

Not from fear.

But from power.

The fire surged into me, curling through every vein, every memory, every shard of who I used to be. I saw flashes—Aralyn’s death, my betrayal, the child inside me bathed in light, wolves kneeling before a burning altar.

Then stillness.

Then silence.

Then a heartbeat.

Not mine.

Not the baby’s.

Hers.

She was awake.

---

When I opened my eyes again, Maverick was holding me.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he murmured.

“I scared myself,” I whispered. “But I think… we did it.”

Solon stepped forward, kneeling.

“She’s ready,” he said.

And then, for the first time, I saw it.

The mark on my ribs had grown. The crescent moon was no longer alone. A flame now curved around it like a shield.

---

Later that evening, Maverick and I sat under the stars. A small fire crackled beside us, but my body no longer needed its heat. I was warmth.

“I need to ask you something,” I said.

He nodded. “Anything.”

“If I lose myself again… if I turn into something monstrous—promise me you’ll protect her.”

His brow furrowed. “Don’t talk like that.”

“I need to know someone will choose her. Even if I can’t.”

He took my hand and pressed it to his chest.

“I swear on my life. If the world burns, I’ll walk through the flames carrying her. And I’ll never stop.”

I blinked fast.

Gods, I wanted to believe that.

But belief wasn’t enough anymore.

Power required sacrifice.

And war was already whispering on the wind.

---

The next morning, Solon entered the room with a deep scowl.

“They’ve set up camp on the edge of the valley,” he said.

“Who?” I asked, though I already knew.

“The Council,” he said grimly. “And Mason. And his Luna.”

Maverick cracked his knuckles. “So they’re not hiding anymore.”

“No,” Solon said. “And this time, they’ve brought more than words.”

I stood slowly, my hands pressed to my belly. My daughter stirred, not in fear… but in readiness.

“It’s time,” I said.

Maverick stepped beside me. “Time for what?”

I looked out the window, at the distant shapes gathering like a storm.

“To end this.”