Ronan pov
A guard pulled a woman from the crowd, young, maybe early twenties, wearing a plain brown dress that had seen better days. Dark hair falling loose around her shoulders. Face that would’ve been beautiful if it weren’t so gaunt from hunger.
She kept her head down as the guard brought her forward. Submissive. Trying to be invisible.
But something about her made my attention snap into focus.
*Her,* Edward said immediately. *That’s her. That’s…*
She looked up.
Our eyes met across twenty feet of crowded assembly ground.
And the world stopped.
Everything, the noise, the crowd, the chaos, all of it faded to nothing. There was only her. Only those eyes stared back at me with equal parts terror and recognition.
The mate bond slammed into my chest like a physical blow.
*MINE,* Edw
