The pain began before sunrise.
Raya woke with a sharp heat spreading across her shoulder, the same place where Drail’s rejection had once carved humiliation into her skin. For a moment she thought she was still dreaming, yet the burn intensified, crawling from collarbone to spine as though a hidden brand had been pressed against her flesh.
She inhaled sharply and sat upright in the bed.
Derek woke instantly. Jax followed a second later, both alert before their eyes fully opened. They had learned the language of her breathing, and this breath was wrong.
“What is it,” Derek asked, already reaching for her.
She pressed her hand to her shoulder and felt the heat through her palm. The scar was invisible most days, faded into memory rather than skin, yet now it felt alive.
“It burns,” she
