The world didn't roar when she woke.
It exhaled.
Liora opened her eyes to soft torchlight and Kaelen's hand resting in hers. Not gripping. Not guarding. Just there.
Her chest rose with a breath that didn't carry heat.
No glow.
No pulse of energy beneath her skin.
Just air.
Just life.
She turned her head.
"I'm still here," she whispered.
Kaelen didn't speak.
He just leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers.
And held on.
---
Outside the den
They called it The Quelling.
The day the seal closed. The sky cracked. The Accord scattered.
No one knew exactly what had happened—only that the flame that had threatened to consume them all…
Didn't.
And the girl who'd once commanded it walked without it now.
The new alliance was wary.
Hopeful.
But wolves were slow to change.
And slower to follow when power wasn't shining from someone's skin.
---
Sienna watched her daughter closely.
Liora moved quieter now.
Not broken. But new.
