Kieran POV
I made it fifty yards from the Thornwick ruins before every instinct in my body screamed at me to turn back.
Uncle Marcus was barely conscious in my arms, his blood soaking into my shirt, his breathing shallow and labored. I could hear
Damien through the comm, frantically working to disarm the explosives. Every rational part of my mind said to keep moving, to get Marcus to safety, to trust that Aria had a plan.
But the mate bond was on fire.
I felt her fear, quickly suppressed. Her determination. The sharp spike of adrenaline as Logan attacked. And underneath it all, bleeding through despite her control, I felt her pain, not physical, not yet, but emotional. The pain of believing she was alone again. That I'd left her to die.
Just like I'd left her three years ago.
"Alph
