Regina POV
The lobby felt too small.
It was the same space she’d stood in every day for years — the same polished floors, the same warm lighting, the same steady hum of quiet conversation — but now it felt like the air had thickened, pressing against her skin with a strange, electric tension she couldn’t escape.
Regina stared down at the computer screen without seeing it, her fingers hovering uselessly over the keyboard.
Her heart still hadn’t settled.
The moment Aldric walked through the doors replayed in her mind with startling clarity — the way her breath had caught before she even consciously recognized him, the sudden rush of warmth that had exploded through her chest the instant their eyes met.
And then—
The bond.
It had snapped into place with a force so undeniable she’d nea
