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My chest heaved, a frustrated growl echoing in my throat. "That does not erase his treason!"

"No," Valra said, her voice dropping into a solemn, undeniable tone. "It does not. But the storm beneath the earth may be over, Huntmaster... the sky, however, is not. The tear above us has changed this world forever. It is not over."

She took another step, the tip of her staff thumping hard against the floorboards.

"I have seen the threads of what is to come," the matriarch whispered. "I advise you, in the strongest terms the Alu'un grant me: do not execute Vahn. Do not take his head."

A cold, disbelieving laughter almost broke from my throat. "First Mara, now him?"

"Mara was spared because your mate saw the truth of her grief," Valra reminded me smoothly. "You allowed Mara to remain in our home because Lyra willed it. Will you show mercy to the commander who traded your mate to the dark, yet strike down the warrior who bled to keep our walls standing?"

Her words settled over me with suffocating weight.

My jaw clamped shut. Confusion and bitter reluctance warred violently inside my chest. To leave Vahn untouched felt like a betrayal of alpha law, going against every instinct I possessed.

"He tried to kill me," I growled, my voice tight, strained against her demand. "How can I trust him in my camp?"

"You do not need to trust him," Valra said firmly. "You need only leave him breathing. I have a sense—a vision deep in the roots—that Vahn will play a critical role in what is yet to come. If you strike him down today, you will break a thread we will desperately need when the sky finally answers."

I stared at the ancient female. My hands shook slightly at my sides, the primal urge to hunt battling the absolute weight of her wisdom. Valra’s sight was never wrong.

A heavy exhale tore from my chest.

"He will not stay in the Nest," I growled, finding the middle ground between my rage and her prophecy. "I will banish him for three sun-cycles. He will learn his place and the weight of his disloyalty out in the wild, away from this clan."

Elder Valra offered a slow, satisfied nod. "The Alu'un hear your restraint, Huntmaster."

I offered the elder a brief, respectful bow, acknowledging her words before turning back toward the palisade.

"Kaelen," her raspy voice called out behind me, making me stop once more. "Fair winds stir upon the horizon... even as the subterranean storm brews in silence."

I glanced back over my shoulder, but the blind matriarch had already turned, her wooden staff tapping steadily against the timber as she retreated into the shadows. I held her words in my mind for a long moment before exhaling and making my way toward the wall.

My bare feet moved silently over the smooth, worn timber of the bridge until I reached the spot where Vahn was securing a support beam. Sensing my presence, he froze, dropped the wood and turned slowly to face me.

"Kaelen," Vahn said, his voice laced with a tense, guarded distance.

"Vahn," I replied, my voice just as cold, matching his tone. I paused, my golden eyes locking onto his with razor sharpness. "We need a word in private. Unless you would prefer the rest of the tribe to hear your fate right here."

Vahn’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing as he stepped away from the palisade and followed me into the shadowed alcove beneath the watchtower, out of earshot of the other working warriors.

The moment we were hidden from view, the silence stretched taut, heavy with unspoken violence.

"I came down here fully intending to take your head for what you did," I began, my voice a dangerous, vibrating growl. "Every alpha instinct in my blood demands I tear you limb from limb. Even before you turned your blade against me, you threatened my mate the moment she arrived here. But despite your actions... you did defend this Nest when the darkness came. You fought for our borders while I went for Lyra."

Vahn stood rigid, his chest heaving as his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"You have always been a determined soldier among the vanguard," I continued, pushing past the burning anger in my chest as I fought to rise above my own desire for vengeance. "Even if you go about things through unethical paths that go against everything we believe. But there has been too much death, Vahn. Too many betrayals. All I want now is for our people to heal. And for that to happen... you are no longer welcome here."

Vahn’s golden eyes flared with sharp alarm.

"You are banished from the Nest for three sun-cycles," I declared, my tone absolute and unyielding. "You will live clanless in the wild. You will learn the true weight of what you had here, and what you took for granted."

A bitter, harsh laugh burst from Vahn’s throat, his lip curling in defiance. "Banished? To wander the wild like a rogue? You might as well just slit my throat right here, Kaelen! Just kill me and be done with it!"

"Do not tempt me," I snarled, stepping into his space until our chests nearly touched, my towering height forcing him to look up. My golden eyes blazed with lethal intensity, the alpha power in my blood flaring so hot he reflexively swallowed hard. "Do not test the thread of mercy keeping my blade in its sheath."

I took a slow breath, forcing the violent edge back down, refusing to let my rage dictate this moment.