The bond did not return.
That was what finally broke him.
Kaden stood at the edge of the training grounds long after the pack had dispersed, fists clenched at his sides, chest rising and falling like he had just come out of battle. The night air bit into his skin, sharp with frost and pine, but it did nothing to cool the wildfire tearing through his veins.
The last flare he’d felt earlier—violent, scorching—had not been relief.
It had been alarm.
Another presence had brushed the remnants of his bond to Aria, ancient and wrong, leaving behind a taste of ash and silver that set his wolf howling. It wasn’t dominance. It wasn’t a challenge.
It was a claim.
And then—nothing.
Silence.
No echo of her breath. No pulse of her emotions. No thread to follow.
Just distance so vast it felt li
