Silas is already inside when I enter.
He looks up. “You should be—”
“I felt something in the bond.”
That stops him.
Silas straightens slowly. “Explain.”
I close the door behind me. The latch settles into place.
“It touched the connection between us,” I say. “Not forced. Not resisted. It was just… there.”
“That’s impossible,” he replies immediately.
“I know what I felt.”
He studies me for a moment, confirming I’m not guessing. I don’t guess.
“When?” he asks.
“Just now.”
“Did it weaken the bond?”
“No.”
“Damage it?”
“No.”
His brow tightens. “Then it wasn’t trying to enter.”
“That’s the problem.”
Silas waits.
I rest my hands against the stone table. “It didn’t feel like an intrusion. It felt aware of her. Of us.”
He goes quiet.
“A mate bond can’t be accessed from the outsi
