Sindy
Sleep never came.
The room was dark and quiet, but it didn’t feel peaceful. The air was heavy, filled with the smell of woodsmoke and wolf musk drifting in from the courtyard below. I lay in bed, eyes shut tight, trying to force myself to rest. I turned again and again under the blankets, hoping that if I moved enough, my thoughts would stop.
But they didn’t.
Because I could still feel it.
The rhythm.
The bond.
Him.
Every strike, every step, every breath we had shared in the fighting circle replayed in my body like a song I couldn’t turn off. It was like my muscles remembered him, like my skin still carried the heat of his presence. I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw my own skin just to escape the feeling.
I had fought for my life. I had fought for my pride. I had fought t
