Chapter 5 Her body went limp . Her chest stilled . The bond shattered like glass . Killian roared , raw and broken , his grief echoing through the western gate . He cradled her , rocking , begging the Moon , begging her . And as he held her cooling form , memory after memory pierced through him like blades . The time she climbed the snow peaks barefoot , fingers torn and bleeding , just to bring back the rare frost - herbs that would heal his wounds . He had never asked her to - yet she had come back smiling , her cloak heavy with snow . The way she woke before the sun each morning , slipping quietly into the woods , hunting so he could have the freshest kill before training . She would hand him the meat still warm , eyes bright , as if it were a feast . The nights she stitched his skin , pressing herbs into open gashes , whispering , " You're safe now . " And the silence she carried - the silence of a woman who never once spoke against him , though her own heart bled dry . She had given him everything . And he had let it all rot between his fingers . Now her lips were pale , her eyes closed , her wolf's light extinguished . " No , " he gasped , shaking . J VORENCE A " You can't leave me . Not after all of that . Not after everything you gave . " But Clara was gone . The healers lowered their heads . The Beta pulled them back , leaving only silence . None of them saw it - none but the Moon . For in truth , Clara's soul had not severed . It had only been cloaked . The Moon's power wrapped around her like a second skin , pulling her wolf deeper , hiding her from every gaze . To the world , she was dead . To Killian , she was lost . But in the silence between her last breath and her first exile , the Moon's voice reached her . " Child , you have carried burdens that were never yours . Now I release you . You are no longer bound by a mate who could not see you . You are free . Free to be yourself , to live as more than someone's shadow . " Her spirit trembled - then steadied . Chapter 5 Her body in Killian's arms cooled , pale , silent . He believed she had left him forever . And that belief carved him open deeper than any blade . Only the Moon Goddess knew the truth . Clara had not died , She had been reborn . a