THE UNBROKEN

The wind had calmed. The child slept.

Niegal sat at the edge of the firelight, hunched forward, his mane damp from washing up in the nearby river, his clawed hands resting on his knees. He stared into the shadows like they were speaking directly to him.

Behind him, Elena stirred.

She blinked awake slowly, heartbeat quickening before her mind caught up.

Niegal wasn't beside her.

She turned her head and saw him in profile, his golden skin glowing faintly, his jaw tight with thought. Something about his posture made her pause. It wasn't just brooding. It was grief.

Quietly, she sat up and crawled to him.

She reached out, hand brushing the side of his arm.

"Niegal?" she whispered, barely above breath.

He flinched.

Not violently. Not with anger.

But it was unmistakable.

He pulled away from her touch.

"Don't," he said softly, not looking at her.

She froze.

Not because it hurt, though it did, but because it was familiar.

A ghost of the past. A storm she thought had long since passed.

The last time a man she loved had pulled away from her like that… it was after the Inquisition carved her open and took their child.

And Seamus… he never came back the same.

Elena said nothing. Just lowered her hand, lips trembling.

She returned to her bedroll without a word.

Curled in silence.

And cried.

Quietly.

Niegal didn't turn. But he felt every tremble in her breath. Every drop of shame pooling in his chest.

He hadn't meant to push her away.

He was only trying to protect her.

That night, neither of them slept soundly.

Morning rose heavy.

The sacred forest was quiet again, the wind curling through branches like a whisper of things unspoken.

Elena and Niegal packed in silence.

Esperanza still slept gently in her father's sling, tucked against his chest.

The air between them crackled. Not with mana this time, but with tension.

It wasn't until the path narrowed and they passed the fifth spiral-lion marker that Elena finally broke the silence.

"You can't keep pulling away like that," she said, her voice steady, but her fingers gripped her satchel tight.

Niegal's jaw flexed.

"I'm not trying to hurt you."

"But you are," she said. "Last night. I was trying to comfort you. And you flinched from me like I was fire."

"I was trying to protect you," he said, quietly. "The lion… he's getting stronger. I feel it rising. I don't always know where the edge is anymore."

"And you think I don't feel it too?" she turned to him, eyes burning. "That bite didn't just change you. I feel it, Niegal. In my blood. In my bones. I ache for you. And not just you, but that form. And it terrifies me that I want it. But I'm still here."

He stopped walking.

"Elena-"

"No." Her voice cracked, and the sky echoed her with a thunderous clap. "You know what it reminds me of? When Seamus pulled away from me after the Inquisition. After I was hurt. When we lost our baby."

Niegal's expression crumbled.

She went on.

"He said he was protecting me too. But what it felt like was abandonment. And I had to heal alone. I had to climb back from death alone. Do you remember who didn't leave me behind?"

She looked at him, eyes storm-glazed.

"You. You healed those wounds. The same ones Seamus couldn't even look at. The ones I bled from for weeks while he buried himself in politics."

Niegal swallowed hard. "Elena…"

"And now you flinch from me too?" she whispered. "You say it's protection. But it feels like punishment."

The wind picked up.

Clouds thickened above them.

"You all do this," she said, rage and hurt rising together. "All the Matteo men. You retreat. You hide behind strength. You think pushing people away is noble. But all it does is leave women like me bleeding in the dark."

The storm rumbled overhead.

And Niegal finally realized just what he'd said last night.

What it sounded like.

The lion inside him stirred. Not in anger, but in shame.

You are pride. You are protector. You do not abandon the pride.

A cry broke the moment.

"…Papi…"

Esperanza blinked awake, face scrunching in distress, sensing the emotions around her.

She whimpered.

Then cried.

Niegal's instincts surged. He cradled her closer, rocking her, whispering soft words into her hair. Elena stepped forward too, running her hand down their daughter's back.

They both knelt, the storm fading from their eyes as they soothed the only thing that mattered more than pain.

Once Esperanza settled back to sleep, Niegal looked up.

His silver lion's eyes glistened.

"I'm sorry," he said, voice raw. "I should never have pulled away. I just… I feel like I'm becoming something I don't fully understand. I don't know if I'm still me. But I never meant to make you feel alone."

Elena touched his cheek. "Then don't shut me out."

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"So am I," she replied.

And they kissed; gently, forehead to forehead, lips to lips. Not for passion.

For mercy.

For apology.

Later, as they walked, side by side again, they passed beneath a great arch of obsidian stone.

A spiral-lion etched in blood-gold shimmered above them.

They were close now.

To the heart of the old Matteo lands.

To the truth of the bond they now carried.

And whatever storm was coming-

They would face it together.