Grace
I know the moment I feel it that something has gone wrong.
The bond snaps into place without ceremony, without grandeur, without even the decency of warning me first. One moment I'm crossing the courtyard, head high, thoughts already bent toward strategy and inheritance, and the next, my breath catches hard in my chest.
Heat floods my veins as the most delicious scent fills my nostrils. My heart stutters, and I am hit with a need that I have never felt before.
My mate is here.
I turn instinctively, already preparing myself for the sight of him. I expected him to be tall, powerful, and unmistakably worthy. Someone the pack would bow to beside me. Someone who would strengthen my claim, not complicate it.
My eyes land on him, and my world fractures.
He's standing
