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Cathal gurgled. Blood foamed at his lips. His fingers twitched uselessly against Finn’s arm.

“No,” Finn whispered. “This is where it ends.”

With flesh torn and bones broken, Cathal’s body dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, blood soaking the floor beneath him in a widening pool.

For a second, the world stopped.

Keira stared. Not out of shock—but because something deep inside her—the beast, the woman, both—approved. It was justice, raw and red. Not clean. Not fair. But true.

Finn stood over the body, breath steady.

Keira walked to him, close enough to feel the heat radiating off his skin.

He looked at her, not asking for forgiveness. Not needing it.

She nodded once, then they shifted and together they turned and left the ruin behind them.

Days passed. The threat was over, but the world hadn’t gone still. It had only changed into something new.

Keira stood at the edge of the estate's southern bluff again, now wearing one of Finn's shirts, the collar still faintly scented with his skin and smoke.

Behind her, the house was quieter. The guards were still there, but the tension had less teeth.

Finn found her there. He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You still dreaming about flying?"

She leaned back into his chest. "No."

He paused. "No?"

She smiled. "I already have everything I need to run."

Finn’s chuckle was low, rough. "Then let's run."

She turned in his arms. "Now?"

He nodded. "Now."

They didn’t undress. Didn’t wait.

The mist came like breath. Familiar. Warm. Laced with the wild.

She shifted first this time. The mist wrapped around her, silk-soft and alive, threading through her limbs as her breath caught. Then came the rush—weightlessness, heat, a deep pull from within. Her body rippled with memory, not pain, as instinct overtook thought. When it cleared, her panther stood sleek and black, the moonlight catching the gleam of her gold eyes. A whisper of power lingered in her paws, and she exhaled a silent growl that tasted like freedom.

Finn followed.

And together, they ran into the dark—two shadows, two predators, two souls finally unbroken.

Together.

EPILOGUE

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

A week later, Finn’s estate breathed easier. The threat from Cathal and his people had been neutralized. Keira sat in the solarium, sipping strong tea as the sunrise kissed the horizon.

Finn walked in, shirtless, wearing only worn jeans and a predatory grin.