Rowan’s POV
Every step I took away from the house felt like I was stretching chains embedded in raw flesh. My boots plowed heavily through the snow, the frozen air burning as it flooded my lungs, but the discomfort of the physical world was nothing compared to the storm raging in my chest.
Mate.
The word echoed in the back of my mind like a death sentence. I did not want to hear it. I did not want to acknowledge that ancient command coded into blood and bone, demanding that I turn back, drop to my knees before her, and never let her go again.
Then I staggered.
The impact came so suddenly that I nearly collapsed among the shadows of the pines.
A sharp, deep, agonizing pain tore through me. It was not physical, and it was not mine. It felt as though an ice-cold blade had been twisted i
