**LANDON**
I wake before the alarm, not because my body is rested, but because the bond tells me Cheyenne is already awake.
It is not a sharp pull or a flare of emotion, just a steady awareness, the sense of someone holding themselves very still on the other end of a connection that usually breathes more freely. I lie there for a moment with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling, listening to the quiet of the room and the faint sounds of the packhouse beginning to stir, and I know before I move that whatever today is, it will not be simple.
I get up anyway.
I shower, letting the water run hot, standing under it longer than necessary as if routine might anchor me if I repeat it precisely enough. I shave carefully, rinse the blade, check my reflection, brush my teeth, and straighten my co
