Chapter 7

Aurelia POV

The silence of the cottage was no longer a suffocating weight.

For the first time in over a year, the air in my lungs didn’t taste like fear. Through the open window, the steady, rhythmic hum of the runic barrier pulsed softly, casting a low azure glow across the wooden beams of the ceiling.

Down at the riverbank, Draven’s vanguard remained, but they were frozen. A massive, jet-black raven—a Council Sentinel—circled in total silence above the rushing water, its glowing red eyes recording every breath on both banks. So long as the barrier held and the Council’s eye remained unblinking, Draven couldn’t move his army across without triggering an immediate war with every pack in the Northern Alliance.

It wasn’t complete freedom, but it was a reprieve. A chance to breathe.

I sat on the small wooden porch, wrapping my hands around a steaming mug of tea Talia had brought me an hour ago. No sedatives. No crushed roots. Just bitter chamomile a