Chapter 136 A Son's Bargain

• The night was cold and silent as they gathered around the ceremonial pyre. Shadows flickered across the crowd’s faces, their expressions somber as they looked upon the body of Hades, the fallen Alpha of the Shadow Pack. Flames licked at the wood, the heat blazing, as a final farewell to the man who had once been a powerful leader and a father in his own way.
• Ares stood close to Hera, her hand clenched tightly in his as the fire consumed Hades’s form. Hera’s face was etched with grief, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. The flickering light illuminated the hollow expression on her face, and Ares felt his heart twist painfully for her. She was losing everything—the man she had once followed, the son she had raised, and now her freedom.
• When the fire finally died down, and the embers settled into a quiet, smoldering glow, the guards approached Hera and Elias, ready to escort them back to the prison cells. Hera shivered as they drew closer, and Elias’s shoulders tensed as he prepared to return to confinement.