***Dustin’s POV***
He shouldn’t have returned. He knew it even as his feet carried him back up the stairs, down the corridor, toward the door he’d sworn to leave closed.
But the bond pulled like a chain around his throat, dragging him closer, each step tightening until it hurt to breathe.
Her scent seeped through the cracks of the door before he even reached it—wild and clean, like rain on pine. It tangled in his lungs, made his wolf howl with need.
The spell fought back, hissing in his ear. Weakness. Lock her away. End this before she ruins you.
But when his hand touched the door, he froze. The magic woven into the latch trembled, threads vibrating like a web disturbed. His brows furrowed. She had touched it—tested it. And the wards, strong as they were, had bent beneath her presence
