THE UNBROKEN

The scent came first.

Sharp. Clean. Almost electric—like rain hitting warm stone.

Niegal paused on the trail, one hand tightening protectively around Esperanza's back. She stirred in her wrap but did not wake. Elena slowed beside them, her fingers glowing faintly, brushing the air like she was reading Braille in the wind.

"…We're close," she whispered.

Mana shimmered here, just beneath the surface of the leaves. The soil hummed beneath their boots. The trees looked older, wiser, twisted with spirals of bark and thick roots like knotted hands. The forest was watching them now.

And it remembered.

That night, a small campfire crackled in a grove lit by fireflies and half-moon silver. Esperanza slept swaddled near the warmth, tiny breath soft and even. Elena lay curled beside her, one arm across the child, her braid tangled with wildflowers.

Niegal didn't sleep.

He tried. But the moment his eyes closed, the memory tore through him again.

Elena screaming as her skin peeled and cracked with cursed magic. The smell of burned flesh. The sound of her body seizing. The moment her soul left-

And he could do nothing.

His body jolted.

He gasped.

And the lion answered.

Fur burst along his arms. His spine stretched. His face shifted, sharpened. The transformation wasn't as painful as it once was, but it came fast—wild—half-shifted in moments.

He staggered into the trees, trying not to growl.

But Elena woke instantly.

She stood barefoot in the grass, following the thrum of his soul through the trees.

She found him kneeling by a stream, shoulders heaving, black mane spilling over his back like a crown of darkness and grief.

He didn't speak.

He didn't need to.

She walked right to him and climbed into his lap, wrapping herself around his shaking body.

Then, without a word, she kissed him.

Softly.

Like home.

His breath hitched. He clutched her to him like she was the only thing tethering him to the earth. Then, like a storm breaking, they made love.

Slow. Hungry. Tender. Desperate.

She moaned into his mane, nipping at his throat, eyes fluttering closed as her hips rocked against his. He bit back growls, trying not to lose control, but she craved every bit of him.

She was sleepy and spent, tucked against his chest, when his mouth hovered over her shoulder.

The lion inside wanted to mark her again.

Claim.

Bind.

Own.

But just as his jaw opened, ready to bite-

Zzzzzttt.

A crack of lightning burst from Elena's fingertips into his side.

Niegal yelped, startled, blinking into her smirk.

"Down, kitty," she whispered.

He groaned and buried his face in her neck.

"I'm sorry," he rasped. "I didn't mean to. I just…"

"I know," she said gently, stroking his mane. "But we're already bound, remember?"

Silence.

Then-

"I love you," he said, voice thick.

"Why?" she teased, even half-asleep.

He answered instantly.

"Your fire. Your fury. Your grit. The way you look at the world like you dare it to stop you. The way you burn for justice and still make time to kiss our daughter's cheeks. You're a force of nature, Elena. Untamable. Wild. That's what made me so damn mad for you."

Her fingers trembled slightly.

"I love your gentleness," she whispered. "Even in this form. Your patience. Your quiet. Your strength. The way you never try to tame me. You're my calm after every storm, mi León."

They held each other there beneath the canopy, letting the forest wrap them in its peace.

They didn't know the Children of the Storm would soon welcome them.

But the forest knew.

The cemis knew.

And so did the wind.