ORION
Rhys had been completely silent for two hours. Not a word, not a joke, not even one of his usual running commentaries on the world around us. Just… quiet. He felt diminished, like a fire that had burned steadily for years had suddenly been reduced to embers. I could feel him, but the part of him connected to Sky, the part woven into permanence by our completed mating, was gone in a way that made its absence deafening.
It wasn't crippling me, though. That's important. The Silver Thornbloom had hit Sky, had hit Lyra, and the impact had rippled through the bond to Rhys and Zayn like an earth tremor. Not the full force, but enough. Enough to make Rhys go quiet. Enough for me to walk the packhouse corridors feeling like something vital had been slightly, but irrevocably, misplaced.
Zev
