The night Elara came back, the bond screamed.
Lila woke with her hand clutched over her belly, breath tearing from her chest as if she had been dragged out of deep water. The den was dark, the fire burned low, and Caleb was not beside her.
She knew that before she opened her eyes.
The bond pulled—sharp, wrong, fractured—like something had been twisted just enough to hurt without breaking.
Stay calm, she told herself.
For the babies.
For herself.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed slowly, testing her balance. A dull ache sat low in her abdomen, unfamiliar and unsettling. She pressed her palm there again, grounding herself in the steady warmth she usually felt.
Tonight, it wavered.
Outside, the territory lay quiet beneath the moon. Too quiet.
No patrol steps. No murmured v
