VALIK POV
The world was frozen.
Not quiet—held. Like everything had drawn a breath and forgotten how to let it go.
I sat at her side, my hand still inches from hers, afraid that if I touched her too firmly I would break whatever fragile thread was keeping her here. Her chest rose and fell, shallow but steady. I counted each breath without meaning to. One. Two. Three.
Then she made a sound.
It wasn’t graceful. Not dramatic. Just a low, broken groan, like pain dragging itself out of her lungs. My body reacted before my mind did—I leaned forward, every muscle coiled tight.
Her fingers twitched.
I was surprised how little of her pain I felt through the mate bond.
She shifted, barely an inch, and then she grabbed me.
Not searching. Not reaching.
Gripping—sharp and instinctive—as the p
