Evie spent the morning in her room, avoiding everyone.
Sophie had left breakfast, but the toast sat untouched. Her stomach was in knots, her mind spinning through everything she'd learned.
Every time she thought she'd processed it, another impossible detail would surface and send her spiraling again.
Werewolves. Mate bonds. Claiming.
That last word kept echoing. Nate had mentioned it last night, briefly, before exhaustion had dragged her under. Something about the full moon, about making the bond permanent.
She needed answers. Real ones, not fragments and implications.
But asking meant facing Nate again. Facing those amber eyes that looked at her like she was precious. Like she mattered in ways that went beyond reason or logic.
A knock interrupted her thoughts. Not Sophie's gentle
