GABRIEL
The garden was silent again, but the air still vibrated with the ghost of that golden spark. I stood in the snow, my skin steaming as the last of the wolf retreated into the marrow of my bones. Shifting back was always a slow burn of agony, a thousand needles of fire stitching my humanity back together, but tonight, I didn't feel the pain.
I only felt her.
The connection—the tether—had finally snapped into place. It wasn't just a one-way street anymore. I could feel Emma’s pulse through the soles of my feet. I could taste the sharp, metallic tang of her shock and, beneath it, the honey-sweet hum of her acceptance. She hadn't run. She had touched the beast and looked for the man.
It was the most intoxicating drug I had ever tasted. It was a roar of triumph in my soul that made t
