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A laugh escapes her, soft and genuine. "True, very true." She leans into my touch, closing her eyes briefly. "You know what I realized while we were talking to Essie?"

"What?"

"My magic has remained perfectly steady and constant since our arrival. This stability stems from something deeper than the entity's departure or any sudden mastery over centuries of Crowe family chaos. It's because you're emotionally connected to me. We share a bond moving far beyond mere physical presence or professional protection. When you're here with me, actually here, my power feels... balanced."

The words land in the silent chambers of my blood, in the place where my wolf has known this truth longer than my head has. All those times I'd calmed her magic through touch, her power echoing my wolf's presence—it was never simply the soul bond doing the heavy lifting. It had been love. Our profound connection fostered immense trust, built one sleepless night at a time.

"I love you too," she says, and her voice holds the calm certainty she brings to everything that matters. "Being with you forever is everything. Building something real together is what comes next, leaving behind the endless cycle of reacting to catastrophes."

"What would building something look like?" I ask, genuinely curious.

She relaxes back against me, her posture radiating newfound excitement. "For starters, we'd need to figure out where we want to live. This cabin is perfect for recovery and hiding from the world, but long-term?"

"You hate being isolated."

"And you've spent too many years cut off from everything that matters. We need somewhere we can have both—privacy when we want it and connection to people and purposes we care about."

"Chicago?"

She laces her fingers through mine, studying our interlocked hands in the firelight. "Eventually. The city needs time to heal, and honestly, so do we. But when we go back, I want to do things differently. No more solo investigations in abandoned tunnels at two in the morning."

"That's the most mature thing you've ever said."

"Don't get used to it. Kellan mentioned the PGC is being restructured from the ground up. New oversight and fresh leadership will implement strict regulations to make sure someone like Gideon can never operate from the inside again. They're discussing independent audits alongside term limits for council seats and mandatory transparency protocols."

"About damn time."

"They asked if I'd consult. I would help design magical safeguards for the new system—wards that would flag unauthorized surveillance and containment protocols for rogue practitioners." She watches my face carefully. "Kellan also mentioned they want Morvane Protective Solutions involved in the security overhaul."

I let that sink in. The PGC pushed both of us to the brink of survival, harboring corruption in its ranks while innocent paranormals were funneled into ritual chambers. Overthrowing the entire institution, however, leaves a dangerous vacuum. Rebuilding it with integrity is the true path, and those of us who survived its deepest corruption are uniquely qualified to establish permanent safeguards.

"We'd be working together," I say slowly.

"Professionally, this time. We would establish actual contracts along with firm boundaries, avoiding the ambush-hiring-slash-bodyguard-slash-falling-in-love messiness."

"I liked the messiness."

"You liked the falling-in-love part. The part where I practically forced my way into your life gave you gray hairs."

"I don't have gray hairs."

"Yet." She pokes the spot above my ear where she swears she's seen one. I catch her wrist and kiss her palm, feeling the smooth skin where the moon tattoos rest, quiet and warm beneath the surface.

"There's something else," she adds, dropping into something more private. "I aim to compile everything Estella hid and the knowledge Malachai destroyed. All the family history buried, burned, or torn from journals needs to be restored. I want to put it back together properly. The next Crowe witch inheriting this bloodline shouldn't spend half her life terrified of her own power."

"You think there'll be another?"

"Maybe someday. The bloodline won’t end with me." Her cheeks flush faintly as she rushes past the implication. "The point is we must practice absolute transparency from now on. Complete honesty is the only way to honor people and a legacy. The next generation deserves the full picture of the surrounding monsters and their inherited responsibilities, giving them the power to decide for themselves how to face them."

I bring her closer, brushing my lips against her temple. "That sounds like a life worth building."

"It does, doesn't it?" She leans into me, and for a while neither of us speaks. The fire pops and hushes while the wind whistles through the pines outside. Somewhere in the distance, a wild wolf howls, singing to the stars as wolves have done since before humans learned to listen.

My wolf stirs in response with a soul-searing contentment last felt when I was a kid falling asleep to the sound of my pack breathing around me.

"Rene?"

"Hmm?"