Chapter 445:

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Several council members looked startled. “But Your Majesty…”

“I said it is over.”

My voice carried across the room. The council slowly began to leave, whispers following them into the corridor. Sorian remained behind. Abel stayed near the doorway, watching my mother with an expression I couldn’t read.

Anatoria didn’t move. She stared at me for several seconds before turning away. As she reached the door, she stopped. “One day, Kade, you will understand that a ruler cannot save everyone.”

And for the first time that morning, I wondered if she was right.

Remi POV

The morning after the Luna ceremony

“His fever is getting worse.”

I pressed the wet cloth against Nero’s forehead again, watching the moisture vanish almost immediately against his burning skin. He had been like this for hours. The ceremony had ended sometime before dawn, the villagers had slowly returned to their homes, the music had died, and even the grandmothers had finally left Gemma’s house to give us privacy. Everyone had gone home carrying the happiness of the Luna ceremony with them, but I hadn’t slept for even a minute.

I had stayed beside Nero all night, changing the cloth whenever it grew warm, giving him tiny sips of water whenever he stirred, and listening to his breathing, because every time it became too quiet, panic squeezed my chest.

Nero had survived the curse. He was free. I could feel that much through the bond, but his body had clearly paid the price for carrying that darkness for so many years. His skin was hot beneath my fingers, his lips were dry, and every now and then a tremor ran through him beneath the blanket.

𝘈𝗰𝘁𝗂𝘷e 𝗰𝗈𝗺𝗆𝘶𝗇і𝘁𝘺 𝗈𝗇 𝘨𝗮𝗹n𝗼𝗏𝗲𝗅ѕ.𝖼o𝗺

The powerful Dark Alpha who had walked into the village last night looking as though he could fight an army now looked frighteningly human. Weak. Exhausted. Vulnerable. There was something strange about seeing him like this, because Nero had always been the one standing between danger and everyone else. He was the man who walked into a room and made people lower their voices, the man who could stare down an Alpha twice his size without blinking. Now he couldn’t even sit up without shaking.

I dipped the cloth into the bowl beside me, wrung it out, and laid it over his forehead again.

“You scared me last night,” I whispered. His eyes remained closed. “You scared me so badly.”

A faint sound escaped him, almost a groan, and my heart jumped.

“Nero?”

His lashes moved, but his eyes didn’t open. I grabbed his hand at once. His fingers were warm and weak around mine. Through the bond, I could feel the exhaustion beneath his sleep, but there was no darkness anymore. No terrible pressure hiding beneath his skin. No curse twisting around his soul.

Just him.

My runes tingled. I looked down at my arm. The markings had changed.

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