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Torack watches the bug’s lazy orbit. “She’ll remember how it felt.”

I smile. “That’s enough.”

A sudden gust rustles the trees, carrying faint laughter from the camp. Someone’s telling a story by the fire—probably Groth. He’s been doing impressions of me all week, which are equal parts terrible and horrifyingly accurate.

Torack reaches out and brushes a thumb under my chin.

“You did this.”

“I had help.”

He nods. “But you believed in it first.”

I lean into him, resting my head against his chest. “I believe inusnow.”

And he says it like it’s been tucked behind his teeth for days:

“I love you.”

I look up, eyes burning.

“Say it again.”

He leans down and murmurs it right into my mouth, kissing me like it’s a promise.

Lillian stirs, muttering something about jellybeans and dragon wings, and we both laugh, pulling her in closer.

This is everything I never knew I needed. A snoring kid, an orc with a secret heart, and a night sky lit up by magic bugs. We’re a family now. And somehow, that feels like the most magical thing of all.