Page 66 of Mane Squeeze
“But it didn’t work,” Lillith said, voice quiet but carrying. “Because we resisted. Because… we chose.”
And then Dominic’s voice turned thunderous.
“She is my mate.”
Everything went still.
The kind of stillness that drowns a battlefield seconds before a sword is drawn.
Hazel blinked. Elder Myra actually gasped. And Jace’s face—a mask carved in stone—twitched just enough to betray his surprise.
Dominic held the moment, unshaken. “Not because of the curse. Not because of prophecy or manipulation. Because when everything went dark, she found me. When Thaloryn tried to break me, she put me back together. She chose me. And I chose her.”
Lillith stood rooted beside him, her body taut with emotion, lips parted as if caught between breath and disbelief.
Dominic turned back to the chamber, letting his words fall heavy. “If Thaloryn thinks he can use her—use us—to shatter the world, then he’s not just a threat to the Pact. He’s an enemy tothis town. And I won’t let him win.”
Jace’s brow lifted, his arms still crossed over his chest, but his posture shifted—just a little. Enough to say he’d heard him. Really heard him.
“You’re serious?” Jace said.
“Deadly.”
The wolf shifter nodded once. “And her?”
All eyes turned to Lillith.
Her voice was a breath at first. Then it rose, stronger. “I agree with him. I’ve seen what Thaloryn’s capable of. I’ve stood in the Echoes. I’ve felt the terror of what comes through when the veil thins. If we don’t act now, if we don’t unify—there won’t be anything lefttoprotect.”
“She made her choice,” Dominic said again. “No coercion. No magic. Just truth.”
Hazel’s silence was long. Measured.
Then she folded the parchment, gently, as if handling an ancient wound.
“Then we prepare,” she said, her voice low and firm. “We convene the Council of Concords. We send word to the border towns. And we reinforce the Pact.”
“We don’t have long,” Dominic added. “Thaloryn won’t sit idle now that we’ve seen through him.”
“I’ll call in my pack,” Jace muttered, uncrossing his arms at last. “We’ve held the northern line since before the Great Reconciliation. Whatever this bastard’s planning, he’ll have to go through me first.”
Dominic gave a small, grateful nod. “We’ll need the old records. Pact law, ley line placement. Every scrap of magical precedent. Lillith and I can get Echo Archive access.”
“And what about you?” Jace asked, glancing at Lillith. “You ready for this?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I was born ready. I just… forgot for a while.”
A rare chuckle rolled from Jace’s chest. “Spirits help us.”
As the elders rose and scattered, orders already flowing from lips and parchment, Dominic took one long breath. The chamber was still filled with tension, but now it had direction. Purpose.
They stood outside the council chamber, the wind stirring the dried leaves at their feet, the sky above bruised with impending dusk. Around them, Celestial Pines buzzed with the tension of awakening—calls to arms, spell runes dusted off ancient shelves, warriors and witches alike drawing lines in the sand.
But in that moment, Dominic only had eyes for her.
Lillith, strong and certain during the council meeting, now looked… haunted.
Her arms folded tightly across her chest, like she could hold herself together if she just pressed hard enough. Her voice, when it came, was barely louder than the breeze.
