Chapter 164

CHAPTER 8… VALENTINA The aftermath was quiet — deceptively quiet. The valley held its breath, as if the temple’s collapse had only exhaled halfway and was still waiting to release. I sat on a moss-stained boulder, Luciano asleep in my arms, the faint silver glow at his temple pulsing gently like a heartbeat I could feel in my chest. Andres was nearby, his golden eyes scanning the horizon with practiced calm, but I knew better. The Lycan within him stirred beneath the surface, alert and tense. Every muscle of him was coiled, every sense stretching outward to catch the faintest tremor. His calm was a mask — and I loved him all the more for it. Whispers drifted through the air, faint, rhythmic, like prayers in a tongue older than the Circle itself. Not voices, not words I could fully grasp, but echoes. They came from the ruins of the temple, now just jagged stone and shattered murals. The door was gone, but I could feel its energy lingering in me, like a thread tugging softly at my soul.