Page 39 of When Two Worlds Collide

“So you’d leave Haven’s Heart,” Kade summarizes. “Join his pack.”

“Completely. Forever.” I stare at my hands. “Abandon everything I’ve worked toward.”

Kade remains quiet momentarily. “What does your panther think about this situation?”

The question surprises me. “What?”

“Your panther. Your animal aspect. What’s her perspective?”

I’ve never considered that my shifted form might hold separate opinions from my human consciousness. Yetexamining inward, I discover my panther possesses remarkably clear desires.

“She wants it,” I admit. “The freedom. The simplicity. The primal connection.”

“And what does Ember the woman want?”

“I want...” Words fail me initially. “I want both worlds. To maintain my identity, my purpose, but also to have... him.”

“Perhaps that provides your answer,” Kade suggests quietly. “Not choosing between worlds, but finding existence in both.”

“Zane insists that’s impossible.”

“And you believe him?” Kade raises an eyebrow. “A man who spent his entire life isolated from our world? Who perceives only absolutes?”

Framed that way, Zane’s pronouncements about possibility seem presumptuous.

“The wild claiming ritual has existed for thousands of years,” Kade continues. “But so have evolution, adaptation, and change. Perhaps ancient practices need updating for contemporary realities.”

His words spark the first hope I’ve felt since learning the bond’s truth.

“The question,” Kade says, rising to leave, “is whether Blackthorn possesses that flexibility. And whether you’ll fight for it rather than simply accepting his limitations as truth.”

After his departure, I stand at my window, gazing at Haven’s Heart’s lights. This place represents my home, my purpose. The prospect of leaving creates physical pain.

But thinking of Zane—his unwavering strength, our seamless battle coordination, as if we’d trained together for years—creates another ache. Equally powerful. Equally real.

I’m torn between dual natures, separate worlds, and conflicting duties.

There must exist a way to honor both. I need to find it before war eliminates all choice, or before the bond’s physical toll becomes unbearable.

I retrieve paper and begin writing, outlining possibilities, compromises, and adaptations to the traditional ritual. If Zane won’t consider alternatives, I’ll create them myself. Present them with irrefutable logic that even his stubborn mind must acknowledge.

Because I refuse the binary options of complete surrender or slow death. A third path must exist—allowing us to be both untamed and structured, both free and connected.

I work throughout the night, planning a revolution in mate bonding that neither of our worlds has witnessed before.

9

ZANE

The pre-dawn message arrives with an urgent scout—another breach from the untamed lands. I examine the hastily scrawled note in the dim tent light while the scout, a young female wolf named Tala, waits for my response.

“How far east?” I ask, studying the rough map she’s presented.

“Three days’ run, Alpha. Ridge Stormcrow’s clan has taken the entire Silvermine Valley.”

The area she indicates lies beyond our territory, yet I experience a chill of concern. Silvermine Valley houses one of the largest settlement outposts in the eastern region.

“Casualties?”

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