The night settled heavily over Silverfang stronghold.
Mira felt it in the stone beneath her feet, in the way the torches burned lower than usual, in the uneasy silence that pressed against her ears. The rejection sickness had not worsened since the healer’s chamber, but it lingered—sharp, watchful, like a predator waiting for her to stumble.
Her heart skipped at random. Her breath sometimes caught for no reason at all.
And every time it happened, the bond reacted.
She felt Ryker then. Always Ryker.
Not his thoughts, not his voice but his presence. A steady pressure at the edge of her awareness, like a hand hovering inches from her skin without touching.
It made her angry.
It made her afraid.
A guard escorted her through the upper corridor without speaking. The Alpha’s wing was quie
