The bond woke her before dawn.
Not with pain.
Not with fear.
But with longing.
Ivy gasped as sensation flooded her senses, sharp and overwhelming. Her skin tingled. Her pulse thundered. Heat coiled low in her belly, unfamiliar and dangerous.
Her wolf stirred, restless and hungry.
Mate.
The word echoed through her mind, ancient and insistent.
She sat upright in bed, breath ragged, fingers clutching the silk sheets. The room felt too small, the air too thin.
The bond broken, shattered, severed by rejection was reforming.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs.
“No,” she whispered. “Not now.”
But her body betrayed her.
She could feel Rowan.
His presence brushed against her consciousness like heat through glass. Strong. Aching. Calling.
The pull tig
