KILLIAN
I was losing my mind.
The ache in my chest had become a constant, gnawing void that refused to let me breathe properly. Every inhale felt shallower, every exhale heavier, like the bond itself was being slowly strangled. The steady pull that had anchored me since Candice walked back into my life was dimming faster now — a flame struggling against a storm, flickering weaker with every passing hour.
I paced the command center like a caged wolf, hands clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood I barely felt. The monitors glowed with useless maps and dead-end traces. The silence in the room was deafening except for the pounding of my own heart.
Claude stood in front of me, trying to block my path, his face exhausted but determined.
“Killian, you need to breathe,” h
