Chapter 1607

They were whole.

They were chosen.

And Jude remained Jude .

The woman stepped back into the pool.

"You have made the island new," she said. "May you never forget yourselves again."

Then she vanished.

The light faded.

The grove stilled.

Jude turned - and twelve women ran into his arms.

And far beneath them, in the deepest root, the island sighed with joy.

They didn't return to the tree. Not yet. The grove around the black pool pulsed softly in their bones, a breath that hadn't yet finished. Jude stood at the center, surrounded by twelve glowing bodies pressed to him - not out of fear, not for protection, but because they needed to feel him now. Needed to feel real. To feel chosen.