Timothy's POV
The morning of my mating ceremony dawns cold and clear. I wake up on the couch in my apartment, still wearing yesterday's clothes, with a hangover that feels like divine punishment.
My phone shows three missed calls from my mother and a text from Ethan. "Church rehearsal in two hours. Don't be late."
I drag myself to the shower and stand under water hot enough to burn. It doesn't help. Nothing helps. Kael has retreated so far into my consciousness that I feel partially dead, like half of me is already gone.
The rehearsal is at the Frostfang Grand Hall, a massive venue that my father had decorated within an inch of its life. White roses everywhere, silver ribbons, ice sculptures.
*******
"There you are." Mom appears the second I walk in, her face tight with stress. "Wher
