Lyra
Killian hadn’t said a word since the clearing. Not when we walked back through the silent crowd, not when we returned to his quarters, not even when I reached for his hand. His silence was not the silence of distance but of thought… a storm brewing behind his eyes.
He sat on the edge of the bed now, rubbing a hand over his face, exhaustion weighing on his shoulders. I could feel his bond pulling tight, filled with questions, with the instinct to protect and the fear of not understanding what he was protecting.
I watched him for a long moment. Then I touched his shoulder lightly. “Sleep, Killian.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. Not with…”
But Elyndra rose within me, silver and sure. I whispered the words older than this pack, and the weight of them slipped into the air like a lullab
