Chapter 142

Caleb POV

The room stayed painfully quiet long after my words settled. No one dared to challenge me—not openly. But I could feel it. The tension. The fear. The resistance brewing beneath bowed heads and respectful silence.

Good.

Let them fear me if it meant Kaia would live.

I lifted her carefully, cradling her against my chest as if she were made of glass. Her head fell against my shoulder, breath still shallow but steady enough to keep my heart from shattering ...