The cocoon hovered in the air above the opening, suspended by coils of glowing roots that twisted around its surface like protective vines. It pulsed faintly, slow and steady, like a heartbeat muffled beneath layers of metal and living wood.
The pulse hit my chest in the same rhythm.
My breath hitched. “It is alive.”
Jack stepped in front of me immediately, blocking my line of sight. His shoulders bristled, every muscle in his back tensing as his wolf rose beneath his skin. “You are not going near that thing.”
But it was too late for that warning.
I already felt it.
A pull at the edge of my aura. A soft hum under my ribs that responded every time the cocoon pulsed. It was not violent like the recall signal. It was almost gentle. Familiar.
Too familiar.
The cocoon brightened as if s
