Lyra's POV
Pain woke me before the light did.
It burned through my shoulder, sharp and molten, dragging me up from the darkness I'd fallen into. For a moment, I didn't know where I was only that the air smelled like smoke and pine and something achingly familiar.
Kaelan.
My wolf stirred weakly. Her presence was faint, exhausted, but alive. You're safe, she murmured. He's here.
That voice that bond I wanted to deny it. But I couldn't. Not when the truth pulsed under my skin like a heartbeat.
I forced my eyes open.
The room was dim, lit only by the fire crackling in the hearth. Heavy curtains blocked out the dawn, and the scent of iron and herbs hung thick in the air. I was in the Alpha's quarters.
And Kaelan Draven sat beside the bed.
