Chapter 19. The Mountain's Hunger

Mairead left before the moon had finished rising.
No guards. No escort. No wolf watched her go.

But Seraya knew.

She’d felt the ripple in the bond—the silent farewell masked in steel. It wasn’t defiance. It was duty.
Mairead had said nothing, but her eyes the night before had been full of something older than fear.
And now she was gone.

Rael stormed into the war room before sunrise. “She crossed without telling anyone. What if it’s a trap? What if she’s giving them—”
“She’s not,” Seraya said.
“How do you know?”

Seraya met his eyes. “Because if Mairead wanted to betray me, she wouldn’t have walked. She would have stayed.”

But her words tasted like ash.
Because loyalty didn’t always feel like comfort. And trust wasn’t silence. She knew that better than anyone.