“I’m here,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to the altar stone. “I haven’t left you. Not yet.”
The crystal pulsed faintly.
Not enough.
Kael had been telling the truth. Once the mate-bond was severed, my authority over the shrine had begun to fade. I could feel it—like slipping fingers trying to hold water.
I had seven nights.
After that, Papa would be gone.
There was only one path left to me.
The one I had sworn never to walk.
I activated Nicero Blackfang’s sigil just before the border wards closed for the day.
His projection appeared almost immediately, dark hair loose around his shoulders, the faint glow of territorial magic outlining his form.
“Well,” he said lightly. “You look like hell.”
“I severed the bond,” I replied.
His eyes sharpened.
“And Kael let you live?”
“For now,” I said. “But he controls my father’s spirit anchor. I need your altar. The Moon-root beneath Blackfang lands—it can bind his soul.”
Silence stretched between us.
“You’re asking to merge bloodlines,” Nicero said at last. “That’s not a favor. That’s a war declaration.”
“I don’t care.”
“Do you even understand what a contract bond costs?” he murmured. “You’ll lose your claim to Silvermoon. You’ll become mine in the eyes of the Moon. There will be no returning to what you were.”
I laughed softly, without humor. “What I was is already dead.”
His gaze held mine through the sigil fire. Slowly, a smile curved his mouth—dangerous, unreadable.
“Seven nights,” he said. “Cross the Frostline Pass before the Moon reaches its zenith. If you’re late, I won’t open the wards.”
“And my father?”
“He will be transferred under Blackfang protection,” Nicero replied. “But the binding won’t hold unless you complete the bond.”
My throat tightened. “You’re certain?”
“I never offer certainty,” he said. “Only leverage.”
The sigil faded.
I exhaled shakily and turned from the shrine.
Lyra was waiting in the corridor.
“Planning your dramatic escape?” she asked mildly.
I didn’t answer.
She circled me slowly, eyes glittering. “You know, the pack already whispers that the Moon has chosen me. I wouldn’t have believed it myself—but after your little… incident…”
“You stole my child,” I said quietly.
She leaned close enough that I could smell the blood-magic clinging to her skin. “And you lost yours. That’s the difference between us, Elira. I take what I want.”
I smiled.
It surprised her.