RAVEN POV
I didn’t sleep that night. I just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying every moment from that day seven years ago.
The mate bond snapping into place. The flood of feelings love, desire, fear all tangled together. The way Colton had looked at me, like he’d been waiting for this his whole life.
We’re mates. I knew it. God, Raven, I’ve been waiting for this.
And I felt it too. Felt how right it was. Felt how we fit, how we were meant to be together.
But I’d also felt trapped. The world shrinks to one path, one person, one future. And I panicked.
I reject this bond. I reject you.
The words had burned. I remembered Colton’s face crumbling, the desperation in his eyes, the way he’d reached for me, confused.
Raven, no. You don’t mean that. You can’t—
I do mean it. I’m
