invisible, shaky connection that had stretched between Elena and her Alpha just snapped, leaving her feeling empty and confused. The lively feeling of the Great Hal

d her palms were sweaty as she squeezed them

r wolf that felt so different from the cold, awful feeling in Elena's stomach, mak

al in a world that had just spun off its center. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Or... well, maybe the Alpha?" Maya's eyes got a little wider as she

hat it was. Fate, in its weird and often mean way, had finally done its thing, linking her soul to the most powerful, most respected, and

had wal

was the strength of the bond, the total surprise of it hitting him in a crowded room, too much? Overwhelming? Maybe he just needed a minute to think about the shock, like she did. Hope, weak but s

inside Elena. "Like, really looked. Not just looking around like he usually

take a deep breath, trying to look calm even though she felt far from it. Inside, her thoughts were racing. He felt it. I kno

etables, and berry tarts – but it all tasted like nothing. Her focus, her whole being, was stuck on the heavy oak door Fenric had disappeared through. Every time it creaked open, her he

s stretched into an hour, each one feeling like forever. Then almost two. Doubt, cold and sharp like ice, started to creep into her fragile hope, poking at it. What if she had imagined how intense it was? What if just being noticed by the Alpha had made her instincts go crazy, making up a bond that wasn't really there? What if the conne

her shiny silver dress glowing in the candlelight. Lyra was everything Elena wasn't: confident, well-born, smart, and stunningly beautiful. Was she the

n a terrible mistake, just her being nervous and wanting something so

stopped for a moment, his strong presence immediately getting everyone's attention, his eyes scanning the room again with that unsettling intensity. Elena's breath caught,

started walking towards her, his long, determined steps covering the distance quickly, his boots quiet on the stone floor. There was no mistaking what he was doing now. The air

edles, cold night air, and something that was just him on his clothes. He was even more imposing up close, his strong presence making you wan

erately looking for any sign of the recognition, the shared shock, the undeniable bond that had

The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, making the frantic, terrified beat

nd totally missing the warmth she had irrationally wanted, the

ealer's apprentice?" It wasn't really a questio

ick nod, her throat sudden

yed locked on hers, hard and completely determined. The last, weak bits of her desperate

derstanding of what fate intended, perhaps. Something that shouldn't have happened." He paused, letting his carefully chosen words sink into the s

oon Pack, do not acknowledge any mate b