<h4>Chapter 1135: Chapter 1135</h4>


    Rose’s arms were crossed, her fingers unconsciously tapping her forearm. "It’s not just her waiting. She wants us to wait too. Maybe so, we’ll drop our guard."


    "No," Sophie murmured. "She’s not hiding. She’s watching."


    Emma’s voice came from behind, low and tight. "Then let’s make her wait with us. Let’s not give her a reason to move."


    Jude turned slowly, his eyes scanning every one of the women, their faces, their bodies, the expressions written on their skin. There were no false smiles now. No odd nces. No corrupted desire leaking through. Just tired, fierce, real women. His women.


    "We stay close today," he said. "No searches, no watcherscript hunting, no rituals. We stay in the camp. Together. If she wants us to wait, we’ll wait, but on our terms."


    They returned to the fire, lighting it higher than usual. Not for warmth. For each other. The circle of stones where so many decisions had been made now became something else: a hearth, a sanctuary. The center of their bond.


    Scarlet was the first to break the stillness, walking to Jude and gently pulling him down beside her. Her hair still smelled faintly of river moss and flowers, and when she kissed him, it wasn’t rushed or desperate, it was grounding.


    "You kept me," she whispered.


    "You came back," he whispered in return, brushing her cheek.


    Others followed.


    Ste came next, sliding into hisp with a grin, nudging Scarlet aside with yful hips. She kissed him deep and slow, then leaned into his chest, pressing herself against his heartbeat. "If she’s watching, let her see this."


    Natalie smiled, sitting beside them, curling into his shoulder with a soft murmur. "Let her see how full he already is."


    La came with a gaze that held more mischief than shadows now, her fingers slipping under his shirt to trace the fading watcherscript marks. "You taste better when you’re not cursed," she teased, and her mouth found his neck.


    The others made a slow orbit, likes around a sun that was still trying to understand its own gravity. Rose, ever the center of mystery,id her head in Jude’sp without a word, eyes closed, mouth curved into the barest smirk. Lucy curled against Sophie, whispering something that made herugh, the kind ofugh that banished dark corners. Susan leaned over them all, her arms wrapping around several at once, nting kisses without preference.


    Emma, always the protector, remained standing, watching, alert, but her expression was softer than usual. When Zoey came to her, slipping an arm around her waist and leaning her head on Emma’s shoulder, something rxed in her. They stayed that way, statues of strength and trust, as the others tangled around the fire.


    There was no hunger in the touch tonight. No fevered passion or desperate iming. Just warmth. Skin against skin. Breath shared in whispers. Hips pressed together not in conquest, but inmunion.


    Jude kissed Sophie beneath the stars as the fire cast their shadows long. She straddled him gently, her hands tracing down his chest, and when she moved, it was with reverence. Behind her, Rose’s hands guided her rhythm. Around them, the women whispered encouragements,ughter rising like smoke.


    It was as if the ind itself had gone quiet to listen.


    To watch.


    Their love became a message.


    This is ours.


    You can’t take it.


    And maybe Elyara saw it.


    Because the next morning, the watchersign had changed again.


    The word Wait had vanished.


    In its ce: Choose.


    The word was smaller this time, etched clean into the stone with no bleeding, no glow. Choose. Just that. One word. No sign of how long it had been there. The lines were dry, shallow, like they hadn’t been carved with force but coaxed out of the rock gently, lovingly even. It felt wrong somehow, so calm, so neat, after everything they’d survived. But the weight of it was undeniable. Jude stood in front of it with Sophie and Rose at his sides, the rest gathered behind them in a cautious arc, all quiet, all reading the same word at once.


    No one said anything for a while. A breeze moved through the trees, soft and strangely warm, carrying the scent of fruit and firewood. But the stillness beneath that word pressed heavier than the jungle heat.


    Rose was the first to speak. "She’s not just reacting anymore. She’s giving us the illusion of control."


    "She wants to make it feel like we decide," Zoey murmured from behind, stepping up beside Emma. "But everything she does, everything she says, leads us where she wants."


    "But choose what?" Lucy asked, her arms folded, her voice guarded. "Choose her? Choose one another? Choose who lives?"


    Sophie’s hand tightened in Jude’s. "No. This isn’t about loyalty. She’s trying to push us into taking sides."


    La brushed her fingers along the stone carefully. "It’s a test."


    Scarlet spoke next, voice lower than the rest. "She’s seen she can’t take all of us at once. So now she’s trying to divide."


    "Which means she’s still scared," Natalie said. "And desperate."


    Jude looked out at all of them, every face still slightly drawn from the long night, but alert, wary, strong. The memory of the fire, of their bodies tangled infort and resistance, still hummed between them. Their bond hadn’t broken, it had deepened.


    "She wants me to choose," Jude said finally. "She wants to force me to pick someone. Or leave someone behind. She’s not just trying to break our love. She’s trying to rank it."


    Rose looked over at him, her eyes calm, dark. "Then don’t."


    Sophie turned to him too, her expression fierce. "You don’t choose between us. You choose us."


    Emma nodded. "All of us."


    Jude’s heart thudded heavily in his chest. "But if she makes it so we can’t all stay, "


    "We still stay together," Susan said. "Even if that means facing her head-on."


    Grace stepped forward, her hand brushing Jude’s arm. "If we split now, she’s already won."