For a moment, the two Beastmen simply stared at one another.
Only the faint crackle of dying embers disturbed the silence.
Kaelith knew immediately what the panther meant.
For a moment, the memory returned.
Not as a thought.
As a sensation.
His muscles tightened involuntarily. He remembered the feeling of something burning through every vein, every nerve, every part of him.
The scent of blood.
The taste of iron.
The certainty that his body was coming apart from the inside.
And he confirmed it.
"Yeah. It hurt."
He searched Silas's expression to see whether he already understood what that meant. When the panther remained silent, he continued.
"I've never heard of anyone saying the mate mark hurt."
Silas closed his eyes briefly before crossing the room toward the seating area in front of the fireplace.
The leather armchair creaked softly beneath his weight.
"It felt like acid moving through my veins."
His gaze remained fixed on the firewood stacked inside the hearth.
