“Mara, baby—“ I start, but she runs past me.
“Dad!” she cries, reaching for Ahmal’s injured hand. Her voice breaks on the word, tears already streaming down her face. She’s trembling, her ears flat against her head, her tail curled tight against her leg in distress.
“I’m alright, Mara,” he says, though his voice is strained with pain. He tries to straighten, to show strength for his daughter, but the agony is written in every line of his body.
“Ah, the beautiful lioness,” Amir says, watching her. “A creature that human men fought wars over.” He approaches her slowly. “Is that what you’re doing, Mara?”
She nervously shakes her head, and Amir grins at her discomfort. Mara’s eyes keep darting between her father’s mangled hand and my face, horror and betrayal warring in her expression.
“I will not force you to rejoin your mate,” Amir explains. “But I also won’t intervene if they fall into battle again.” His golden eyes hold hers. “What will you decide?”
Mara looks away from him, back at her father’s hand.
“I can handle it, Mara. You don’t have to...”
He falls quiet when her lips tremble, her tail falling limp behind her, her big beautiful eyes welling with tears that spill down her cheeks. Her shoulders shake with suppressed sobs, her claws digging into her own palms hard enough to draw blood.
“I can’t be the reason, Dad,” she whispers, her voice so small I barely catch it. The defeat in her tone cuts through me.
“Mara—“ he starts, but she looks over at me, her head down. This isn’t how I wanted it.
“I will submit,” she says softly. “Go back to Aaron.”
I hold my hand out, and magic spills from my fingers toward Ahmal. Mara and Ahmal both stiffen. Ahmal roars at me, and Mara steps forward, her body positioning itself between us.
“Aaron, please, I beg you—“ She falls quiet when she sees the magic fall over her father’s hand.
Blue-gold light wraps around the shattered limb, seeping into the skin. Ahmal winces, his face contorting as the bones shift beneath the surface. The fragments rise, reconnecting in the proper alignment. Blood vessels heal, bruises fade frompurple to green to yellow to nothing. The whole process takes less than a minute, but I can feel Ahmal’s pain through my magic. Each bone scraping against another, each nerve ending firing as connections reform. When the spell completes, his hand is whole again, as if I’d never shattered it.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” I tell him.
“You did,” Ahmal says flatly, flexing his restored hand experimentally.
Mara looks between us, her tail still limp behind her.
“Go home, lioness,” Amir says, his voice soft. “I will tend to the pride.” He turns to us, his expression serious. “I expect you both at the royal palace in two days.”
Mara keeps her head down, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Her shoulders are slumped, her entire posture radiating defeat.
“I will not come back, Father,” she says quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Mara!” Ahmal calls after her, his voice breaking.
“Ahmal!” Amir appears in front of him in a blink. “Your daughter has chosen. Go back home to your family. You must yield.”
Ahmal’s tail stiffens, but he doesn’t challenge his king. He roars in frustration, then storms off toward his cabin. Amir looks back at me, his expression hard.
“What you have just done could have ruined everything that Wintermoon stands for,” he warns, his voice cold. “We will have words.”
Amir turns away and walks off, the rest of the pride following him, leaving me alone with Mara.
“Mara...” I reach for her, but she looks up at me and my heart sinks. She looks emptied out, her eyes dull and lifeless. She walks past me toward the territory line, and I can only follow, staring down at my hands, wondering what kind of monster I’ve become.
Meanwhile, my mother is screaming at the top of her lungs, still fighting against Jacob’s grip. I turn around, following Mara, and when we reach the territory line, she gasps at the sight of the guards still lying unconscious on the ground, blood pooling beneath one’s head where it struck the tree.
I quickly cast a healing spell over them, blue-gold light washing over their bodies. They begin to stir, groaning as they wake up. Mara’s mouth snaps shut, and she just looks at me, her expression unreadable.
The question in her eyes tears me apart.
