Third person POV


    Cassian had always believed loyalty was a simple thing.


    Not easy-but simple. You showed up. You stood where you said you would stand. You protected the people you imed to care about, even when it cost you something.


    He had built his life around that belief.


    That was why the truth about ire felt like a de sliding between his ribs-slow, deliberate, and devastating. He moved through Moonstone with purpose, cloak pulled tight against the evening chill, his thoughts sharp and relentless. Rae''s words reyed over and over in his mind, each repetition cutting deeper.


    She thinks Nn is manipting Ellie.


    She wanted to help Kieran win her over.


    She fled.


    ire hadn''t denied it. She''d run.


    Which meant she knew exactly what she''d done.


    Cassian''s wolf paced beneath his skin, agitation simmering dangerously close to the surface.


    He kept it leashed by force of will alone. Losing control now would solve nothing. He needed answers. He needed


    to understand how someone he had trusted since childhood could betray him sopletely.


    The guards at the western border stiffened when they saw him approaching.


    "She came through here," one of them said immediately, before Cassian could ask. "An hour ago. Traveling alone."


    Cassian nodded once. "Which direction?"


    "North road. Toward Pine Ridge territory."


    Of course. Running to Kieran.


    He didn''t waste another second.


    The path narrowed as it wound away from the city, stone giving way to packed earth and sparse trees. The moon was already high, silver light spilling through the branches Cassian followed the familiar scent without difficulty -fear, determination, and something bitter beneath it all.


    Guilt, maybe.


    He found her just beyond the final boundary marker, standing rigidly at the edge of Moonstone''s influence, a single bag slung over her shoulder.


    "ire."


    She spun around.


    For a moment, relief shed across her face. Then it hardened into something defensive, brittle.


    "Cassian," she said. "You shouldn''t be here."


    His jaw tightened. "That''s funny. I was thinking the same thing about you."


    +25 Bonus


    She took a step back instinctively, stopping only when the boundary stone pressed against her heel. Cassian bit back a growl at the sight. If she crossed that line, there was no going back.


    "I didn''t want it to happen like this," she said quickly.


    Heughed once, sharp and humorless. "You didn''t want to get caught."


    Her shoulders stiffened. "That''s not fair."


    "Isn''t it?" he asked quietly. "Because from where I''m standing, you spied on my sister. On her children. You fed information to a man who has been openly nning to use them for political advantage. And when you were discovered, you ran." She flinched.


    11


    "I was trying to help her."


    The words hit him harder than he expected.


    “Help her?” he repeated. “By betraying her trust?”


    "You don''t understand,” ire insisted, stepping forward now, eyes bright with something like desperation. Ellie wasn''t herself when she was with Nn. You saw it. You know what he was like back then. She told me all about it. How cold he was, how cruel. Kieran wouldn''t be like that! Even if he was marrying her for the political benefit, he''d still treat her better."


    Cassian''s chest tightened. "I know he failed her. Nn is still her mate and he''s trying to be better."


    "And you think that the past just... goes away because he''s putting in effort now?" she demanded. "That a few apologies and a couple of children erase years of neglect? He''s manipting her, Cassian. Using the bond. Using fear. Using the goddess."


    Cassian shook his head slowly. "You don''t get to decide that for her."


    “She was vulnerable,” ire pressed. “She trusted me. She told me things-things


    that proved she wasn''t free. That she was still trapped.”


    "So you decided to trade one maniptor for another?" he shot back. "Kieran isn''t interested in Ellie''s happiness. He''s interested in control."


    "You''re wrong," ire said fiercely. "He loves her, in his own way."


    Cassian stared at her.


    For a long moment, he couldn''t find words. All he could feel was the fracture spreading through his chest, the realization settling heavily into ce.


    "You believe that," he said finally. "You really believe that


    “Yes,” she said, voice shaking. “He would have given her a choice. A real one. Not this-this inevitable pull back into a life that nearly destroyed her."


    Cassian exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay calm. "Ellie chose Nn. With her


    eyes open. With full knowledge of what they''d been through. It''s her choice to make. All we can do, all we should do, is support her."