The fire in his chambers had burned low, its embers pulsing in the quiet. Celeste hadn’t looked at him again since she’d told him she wouldn’t, couldn’t, feel the bond.
Silas stayed where he was, seated on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping slightly beneath his weight. Every steady rise and fall of her chest reassured his wolf that she was breathing, here, safe. But her words gnawed at him.
It wasn’t rejection, not truly. Her voice hadn’t carried the sharp finality of it. But it was a boundary, and one she’d built with stone and steel.
His wolf paced in his head, restless. She knows. She feels it. She’s ours.
“She’s broken,” Silas murmured under his breath, careful not to wake her. “And we won’t be the ones to push her over the edge.”
His wolf’s growl was soft, agitated. Then f
