Chapter 76 Validations

• Snow covered the courtyard that morning. The sky was a soft grey, the kind that made every breath come out as fog. Wolves gathered in long rows, silent but curious, as the main gates creaked open.
• Selene stepped through. She looked thinner than before, her once-perfect braids now undone, her robes replaced by travel-worn furs. But her eyes were sharp, proud, and calculating; they had not changed. Not even exile could dim them.
• Damien stood at the front of the courtyard, with Aria at his side. Their hands were close, almost touching, but not quite. The tension between them hummed like a quiet storm.