Caitlyn's POV

I walked through the heart of Eldoria with Raymond at my side, my steps light despite the weight of everything we had been through. For the first time, I didn’t feel like the prophecy’s child, or a weapon made to be wielded. I was simply Caitlyn. Just Caitlyn. And I stood there not as a chosen one, but as a leader by choice, as Alpha by choice.

The people were bowing, as they had always done. And as they did, I stopped. I looked at them—at my people—and I didn’t feel the need to make them kneel anymore. I wasn’t the ruler they feared. I wasn’t here to...