Ayla's POV
I woke up later than usual.
For a moment I didn't move. I just lay there, letting the room settle around me, trying to place the feeling that the air had shifted while I was asleep. The light through the curtains was the pale grey of a winter morning. Everything looked the same as it always did.
Then I remembered, and the memories came in quiet waves.
The forest. The bond snapping into place. The three of them were standing in the snow, not chasing me the way I'd expected.
And then the community room.
I sat up slowly, the blanket slipping from my shoulders.
The party had been simple. Careful. Nothing like anything I would have associated with them. I remembered standing at the edge of the table, scanning the room, certain it must have been meant for someone else.
"This i
