The adrenaline of the confrontation had faded, leaving a heavy, pulsing silence in its wake. The Great Hall was empty now, the torches flickering low in their brackets as the rest of the pack settled into the night. But as Silas led me back toward our suite, the air between us felt charged with a different kind of electricity—something raw, primal, and impossible to ignore.
Every time his hand brushed against mine, a jolt of heat traveled up my arm, settling deep in my chest. Through the bond, I could feel his heartbeat—a frantic, heavy thud that mirrored my own.
“You’re thinking too loud,” his voice echoed in my mind, dark and gravelly.
I looked up at him, my breath hitching. He wasn't looking at me; his eyes were fixed straight ahead, his jaw so tight I thought it might shatter. But t
