Ryker’s blood hit the stone floor in dark red drops.
Mira froze.
For a heartbeat, the entire council chamber went silent. Even the guards stopped breathing.
Then chaos erupted.
“Alpha!”
Two warriors rushed forward, but Ryker raised a shaking hand to stop them. His other hand pressed against his chest as if trying to hold his heart together.
“I’m… fine,” he said.
He was not fine.
The bond screamed.
Pain ripped through Mira’s chest not her pain, his. It spread through her body like fire under skin. Her knees buckled, and she caught herself on the wall.
The seer watched them calmly.
“You don’t have long,” she said.
Ryker forced himself to stand.
“Enough,” he growled. “Leave us.”
No one moved.
“That is an order.”
The council slowly backed away. Guards followed. The heavy doors
