or the weight of another day to settle in my chest. It was my eighteenth birthday, but it felt like

inevitable disaster. I could already feel the weight of the pack's expectations, of the whispers that followed me every

would join her for a run in the woods. A small thing, but it was a reminder that not every

nd. As I walked toward the clearing where we usually met, I tried to focus on the simple pleasure of being in nature, of the wind brushing against my

everything. The bond was supposed to fade once he rejected me, right? That's what every

leaves. Bea was already there, stretching her legs as she waite

er voice full of warmth. "You rea

"Let's see if I ca

only sounds being the rhythm of our footsteps and the occasional chirp of a bird. The bond was still ther

jolt of energy that made me stumble, as if the world had shifted beneath my

er voice laced with co

. It was him. Nicolai. I could feel him like a wave crashing over me,

ith mine. I felt my heart race, my pulse quicken. His presence was like a storm, someth

body going rigid. "What

hat was happening, what I was feeling. The bond was pulling at me har

ething in his gaze that made my chest tighten. The bond, still as strong as ever, flared bet

s came. The bond was too loud, too over

from me," Nicolai's voice cut thr

had known he would be cold, but hearing it like that, heari

understand. I thought you rejected me. I thought the

h of something unreadable passing through hi

ond," he said, his v

ward him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I wanted to scream, to demand answer

caught in the invisible thread between us, and I felt the s

s narrowing at Nicolai. "Wha

ession hardening. "Stay out of this," h

ked like she was about to snap back at him, but I reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping he

I whispered, my voice barely audible

, his fists at his sides. Then, as if it took every

The pack doesn't need someone like you. Es

else he had said. Banishment. He was

ammered. "You

e nothing but a reminder of a mistake I never wanted to make in the first place. On

uld feel the bond, the pull toward him, but his words, his rejection

than to think I co