Chapter 28 · Choose Me Wide Awake

The blood hit the stone and everything inside me lurched sideways.

I felt it like a hook through my ribs. The bond flared hot and silver under my skin, spreading from the bite on my neck down to my fingertips. Ryan's blood. The altar. The blood moon splitting the sky open like a wound.

Kade's hand locked around my wrist. "Lena. Don't move."

"What the hell is happening?" My voice came out thin. The air tasted like copper and smoke.

"The bond's awake." His grip tightened. "All the way awake."

I could feel it now. Not the pull I'd been fighting for weeks. This was different. It wasn't dragging me toward him. It was offering. Like a door I could open or slam shut. My choice.

Ryan was on the ground ten feet away, clutching his side where Theron's claws had torn through. He wasn't looking at me. Wasn't asking for anything. He'd taken that hit and then turned his face away like he didn't want credit for it.

Theron was gone. Just gone.