Kael kneels in the moonlit clearing, shoulders trembling slightly. The weight of what he has carried—the guilt, the fear, the countless nights imagining her gone—presses down on him like a stone.
Aria stands before him, silent, her silver eyes calm but unreadable. Her wolf stirs faintly beneath her skin, tense, protective, holding her steady.
Kael swallows hard. His voice is low, raw.
“I… I was wrong,” he says, each word heavy with regret. “I should have never let you go. I should have… I should have known you’d survive, known you’d fight.”
He swallows again, fighting tears he cannot hide.
“I thought I lost you forever… and I’m so sorry, Aria. Please… forgive me.”
The forest is quiet except for the rustle of leaves in the night wind. The words hang between them, fragile yet impossibl
