Chapter 22 The Bond Between Us

• Night fell over the forest with a slow, deliberate hush. The wind had shifted—cooler, tinged with something older than time. Ivy stood at the edge of the grove, the heart of their territory, where the moss was thick and ancient stones encircled a shallow pool that shimmered under the moonlight. The air here was different. Sacred. Watching.
• She hadn’t been here since she was a child, when her mother had whispered stories of the first wolves and the rituals they performed to bind their fates together. But tonight, it was not just myth or memory. Tonight, it was real.
• Kael emerged from the shadows, his usual silent steps muffled even further by the reverent stillness of the place. His eyes locked with hers immediately. There was no armor between them now—no room for it. Just truth, and the weight of what lay ahead.