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Maya closed her eyes and laid her palms flat against Kieran's chest over his heart. His heartbeat thrummed beneath her touch, strong but erratic. She focused on that rhythm, imagining it stabilizing and strengthening.

Lena began chanting in a language Maya didn't recognize, burning herbs that released sweet smoke into the air. The scent triggered something primal in Maya—her wolf stirring beneath her skin.

Heat flowed from her palms into Kieran's body. Maya gasped as she felt the silver poison respond, pulling toward her hands as if magnetized. Dark silvery tendrils emerged from his skin, wrapping around her fingers like living mercury.

"That's it," Lena encouraged. "Draw it out."

Pain seared through Maya's arms as she absorbed the poison. Kieran's back arched off the cot, his body convulsing. His eyes flew open, glowing wolf-bright.

"Maya," he gasped, her name sounding like salvation on his lips.

The silver poison collected in the bowl Lena held beneath Maya's hands, pooling like liquid metal. Around them, the young shifters watched in awe, whispers flowing through their ranks.

"The hybrid is healing the Alpha."

"Just like the prophecy said..."

"She's the One..."

A final violent shudder passed through Kieran's body before he collapsed back against the cot, his breathing suddenly deep and even. The silver veins had vanished from his skin.

"It worked," Maya breathed, dizzy with relief and exhaustion.

Kieran's hand shot up to capture her wrist, holding her in place. "Stay," he commanded, his voice regaining its familiar authoritative edge.

Maya rolled her eyes despite the fluttering in her stomach. "I just saved your life. I don't plan on going anywhere."

His lips curled into that infuriating smile that never failed to quicken her pulse. "Good."

The air in the cabin seemed to vibrate with possibility. Maya glanced around at the faces watching them—young shifters whose lives had been shaped by outdated traditions and unyielding hierarchies. In their eyes, she saw hope blossoming.

"You see what they see in us, don't you?" Kieran murmured, following her gaze.

"A bridge," Maya whispered back. "Evolution and tradition. Human and wolf."

He nodded, his eyes intense as they locked with hers. "We could change everything, you and I."

The thought was both terrifying and exhilarating. A week ago, she'd been a wildlife biologist tracking unusual wolves. Now, she was part wolf herself, bound to this powerful, maddening man—and possibly the key to transforming an entire society.

"Ready to rewrite history, Dr. Collins?" Kieran asked, his thumb tracing circles on her wrist.

Maya smiled, warmth blooming in her chest. "With you? Always."

TWENTY-FOUR

KIERAN

As the minutes passed by, Kieran's strength returned in waves, each one stronger than the last. The silver poison that had weakened him was gone, drawn out by Maya's touch and Lena's ancient ritual. He flexed his fingers, marveling at how quickly his body recovered once the toxic metal had been purged from his system.

Inside the safe house, the younger wolves had finally settled, their whispers about prophecies and hybrids quieting as exhaustion overtook excitement. Kieran watched Maya through half-lidded eyes as she spoke in hushed tones with Lena about her newly awakened abilities.

The moonlight streaming through the window pulled at him like a physical force. His wolf, no longer subdued by the silver, surged forward beneath his skin, demanding freedom and connection with his mate under the moon's watchful gaze.

"Maya." His voice cut through the women's conversation, low and commanding. Both turned toward him, but his eyes fixed solely on the copper-haired woman who had fought for him, healed him, and changed him. "Come with me."

He didn't wait for her response, simply rising from the cot with fluid grace and striding toward the door. The eyes of every young shifter in the room followed him—the deposed heir who'd chosen love over legacy.

Outside, the night air carried the scent of pine and distant rain. Kieran breathed deeply, relishing the clarity in his lungs after twenty-four hours of silver-induced fire. He led Maya away from the safe house, his hand capturing hers with possessive certainty.