#Chapter 226 – Return to Nightfall

Lila The road unspooled like a ribbon beneath the morning sun. As we moved through towns and Pack territories, healers, merchants, farmers, and wolves of all kinds stopped to bow with respect and welcome. Damon stood at the palace gate when we departed, only a quiet smile tugging at his mouth. His hand lifted once, pressed to his chest. Always, his voice murmured through the bond. Zane hummed low in agreement. I sent back a pulse of light, Ruby’s voice soft within me. Always. We rode north first, through frostbitten passes where the mountains still bore the scars of old wars. The miners there still limped from injuries no one had bothered to tend before. I walked among them, pressed my hands to skin cracked from cold and labor. Silver light spilled through my palms, and when the last wound closed, one of the elders, his beard rimed with ice, whispered, “You heal like the moon herself.” He wept then, free from pain. We continued through the lowlands, where spring crept i