Chapter 193

The quiet didn’t return after the Wardens left.

It never does, once it’s broken that cleanly.

By evening, the pack had gathered without being called. No horns. No messengers. They came because instinct told them this was a moment that would be remembered later—retold with sharper edges, softened guilt, selective honesty.

Caleb stood at the center of it, not on the dais, not elevated. On the stone like everyone else.

That choice mattered.

Kaia stayed beside him. Not ...