Chapter 134

Simon's POV In war, you survive by instinct. But in peace, you endure by choice. That was the lesson I kept learning, day after day, as the dust settled and the world we fought to protect slowly stirred back to life. Peace wasn't loud. It didn't declare itself with fireworks or parades. It arrived in the quiet moments, often unnoticed. A warm cup of broth served to an injured vampire. A tiger shifter helping a fallen wolf onto a stretcher. The way Aisha looked at her hospital, like it was a wounded animal she had taken in, determined to nurse it back to health. I led armies. Commanded battles. Made enemies fall on their knees. But none of it compared to watching Aisha restore that place with nothing but conviction and tenderness. The hospital had become the symbol of everything we had bled for. It no longer just belonged to Aska or the Neutral Alliance. It belonged to every being who had ever been broken and dared to hope for something better. And Aisha stood at the heart of it. I watc