Aurenya’s POV
The bond answered.
Not like before.
Not like pain or pull.
This time—it responded.
Like it had been spoken to in a language it understood perfectly.
Rhydan felt it immediately.
His arms tightened around me. “Aurenya… don’t move.”
But I wasn’t moving.
I couldn’t.
Because something inside me had shifted its attention outward.
Toward the children.
Toward them.
Draven noticed it too.
His expression hardened. “It’s redirecting.”
Kaelor’s eyes narrowed. “To the twins?”
Draven nodded once.
Outside—
the presence stilled.
The c***k in the door stopped spreading.
Like everything was listening again.
Then—
Arinya’s voice cut through the bond sharply.
“I said no.”
Aurenya’s POV
The sound hit me like a jolt.
Not because she spoke.
But because the bond echoed it.
