The silence of the night was broken only by the steady rhythm of my footsteps as I walked away from the packhouse. The weight of the battle still lingered in the air, and I could feel it in my bones, the tension that hadn’t yet fully dissipated. But it wasn’t the fight that had my mind in turmoil. It was the growing bond with Caius.
I had been trying to ignore it, to push away the pull of the mate bond. But it was no use. Every time I was near him, my resolve crumbled a little more. I had spent my life as the stoic warrior, the one who kept his emotions locked away, but Caius had undone all of that with a single glance. And now, no matter how much I tried to fight it, the truth was undeniable.
I was mated to a werebear.
I stopped at the edge of the forest, my hands balling into fists as
