Hours have passed, and I feel like I'm losing my mind.
We're all in mine and Kieran's room, like staying together might somehow anchor him to me. Cameran sits beside me on the bed, close enough that our shoulders touch, her knee bouncing with barely contained energy. Callen and Mayla are curled together on the sofa, speaking in low voices about politics and pack business, trying to sound calm, trying to sound normal. Melanie sits across from them in the armchair, knees hugged to her chest, quiet and pale, eyes flicking to the door every few seconds.
Time stretches. Crawls.
Hours have gone by.
They should be back by now.
The thought coils tighter and tighter in my chest until it's hard to breathe. My nerves are screaming, my skin too tight, my heart beating wrong. I try to tell myself I'm overreacting. That Kieran is strong. That Cade is with him. That he's done this a thousand times before.
But the bond won't let me lie.
'Something's wrong,' Emma whispers uneasily, pacing inside me. 'I don't like this.'
"I don't think—"
I gasp.
My body jerks upright on the bed as the sigil on my chest flares to life, blazing white-hot beneath my skin. Pain spears through me—sharp, sudden, unbearable. I hiss, clutching at my head as pressure crashes behind my eyes, like something is trying to tear its way out.
"Sam!" Cameran is instantly beside me, hands gripping my arms, eyes wide with fear. "What's wrong?"
I shake, breath coming fast and shallow. "Something's wrong," I whisper, panic clawing up my throat. Louder now. "Something's wrong."
I slide off the bed, pacing like a caged animal, every step jittery and desperate. My heart is racing, my chest burning, the bond screaming in a way I've never felt before.
"Why aren't they back yet?" I demand, voice breaking. "Why haven't they mindlinked? I can feel it—something's wrong."
"Samantha," Mayla starts gently, rising from the sofa. "You're just worried—"
"No!" I snap, spinning toward her. "I feel it, May!"
My voice shakes, but there's something else under it now—power, raw and sharp. "There's something wrong! Why aren't they back? Why haven't they reached out yet?"
"Sam," Callen says carefully, stepping forward, palms out. "They're probably busy. We don't want to distract them in the middle of—"
"Mindlink them."
The room goes still.
"What?" Callen blinks.
"Mindlink them," I repeat, my voice trembling with fury. "Now."
"Saman—"
"NOW!"
The word explodes out of me.
A spark of my aura slips free before I can stop it—cold, ancient, crushing. The air thickens. Callen and Mayla stiffen where they stand, breaths hitching. Melanie sucks in a sharp breath.
I catch my reflection in the mirror.
My eyes are burning—silver-white flames licking through my pupils.
'Careful', Emma growls, tense and bristling. 'You're bleeding power.'
"I—" I swallow hard, trying to pull it back, trying to breathe. "I can't—Something is off."
Melanie straightens abruptly. "Okay," she says quickly. "I'll mindlink one of the twins."
She closes her eyes.
Seconds stretch into eternity.
Her lips part slightly, like she's about to smile. "See? They're on their way back. The battle ended and—"
She stops.
The smile falls off her face.
Her eyes widen, horror blooming there so fast it makes my stomach drop.
"What?" I step toward her, heart in my throat. "What is it?"
Everyone is on their feet now. The room feels too small, too tight, like it's closing in on us.
She cuts the mindlink, hands shaking.
Tears gather in her eyes.
"Fucking hell, Melanie," Cameran snaps, fear bleeding into anger. "Spit it the fuck out."
"They're—" Melanie swallows, voice cracking. "They're two minutes away from the pack hospital."
I stare at her, my mind refusing to connect the dots. Waiting. Begging.
"It's Kieran," she whispers.
The world stops.
"He's been badly injured."
I can't breathe.
"They said…" Her voice breaks completely. "They said he won't make it."
Something inside me shatters.
I don't hear the gasps. I don't hear Cameran swear or Callen curse or Mayla choke back a sob. I don't feel the floor under my feet or the walls around me.
All I feel is the bond screaming—raw, torn, bleeding.
'No,' Emma howls inside me, feral and panicked. 'No, no, no—RUN.'
I don't think.
I run.
I tear out of the room, down the halls, lungs burning, tears blinding me. My chest feels like it's collapsing in on itself, every step agony, every breath a sob.
Kieran.
I knew it.
I felt it.
I run faster.
Goddess, please.
Please.
The doors to the pack hospital burst open under my hands.
The smell hits me first—blood. Too much blood. Thick and metallic, choking the air. My heart slams so hard it hurts as I stumble inside, eyes frantic, searching—
A stretcher.