“What can I do?” I demand.
“Keep talking to her. The mate bond might be silent, but love...” Elena’s hands never stop moving as she works. “Love transcends magic, Alpha. If anything can reach her now, it’s that.”
I bury my face in her neck, pressing my lips to her mark. “Come back to me, little seer,” I whisper. “Don’t you fucking dare leave me.”
And then I feel it.
Not a sound, but ashift—in the world, in the air, inme. My control slips.
Power floods my veins. My claws punch through my fingertips. Bones groan beneath my skin as my wolf surges forward, frantic and enraged. The shift is coming whether I want it or not. Without her grounding me, the bond spirals and I can’t stop it.
I throw my head back and roar, the sound ripping through the den like a storm.
“Ryker!” Elias reaches for me, but I bare my teeth. Too late. I’m going feral.
My beast rises, snarling, shaking with the need to tear something apart. It smells her blood, her fading magic, and wants to make the world burn. My vision darkens at the edges.
Kitara.
But just before the shift takes me completely?—
She breathes.
A single, gasping inhale, ragged and wet, like a soul dragged back through fire.
My heart stops. The bond flares—flickering, faint but there.
“Kitara?” I whisper, brushing my knuckles across her cheek. Her fingers twitch. Her lashes flutter. Then her eyes crack open, and I nearly collapse with relief.
They’re unfocused but open.
“Alpha, move,” Elena orders, gently bumping me out of the way. She mixed a putrid smelling poultice, thick as tar. I know the smell well—it’s a salve infused with nightshade, ash, wolfsbane, and a concoction of other herbs all designed to draw the silver from the skin. She holds up a knife but I take it from her.
“No, I’ll do it.” I make tiny slice in my mate’s skin. Elena follows the glide of my knife with her fingers, gently applying the thick salve. Kitara stares unseeing at the ceiling, her breathing shallow but steady.
It takes but a minute for the salve to begin its work, drawing the silver from Kitara’s blood. It boils beneath her skin, bubbling to the surface like poison pushed through a sieve. It beads like mercury before it’s brushed away by Elena with careful, gloved hands.
I hold Kitara’s head in my lap, running my fingers through her hair as I watch the silver flow.
Slowly, painfully, my mate begins to stir. Her breathing slows and deepens. Her body stiffens, then relaxes as she blinks, her gaze snapping into focus.
“Ryker.”
Relief assaults me. Her voice is weak, thready. But it’sher.
“I’m here,” I breathe, crushing a kiss to her temple, to her cheek, to the shell of her ear. I don’t even care that I’m shaking. “You’re safe, Kitara. You came back to me.”
Her fingers curl against my chest as if she needs to feel me beneath her skin.
“I heard you,” she whispers, hoarse. “I got lost… and then I heard your voice.”
Elena exhales sharply. “She’s stabilizing. Her vitals are climbing.” She turns away to dispose of the silver-soaked cloths, giving us space.
I cradle Kitara closer, pressing my forehead to hers. “You scared the shit out of me,” I murmur, my throat raw. “You almost died.”
She blinks slowly, her brows knitting. “You were going to shift.”
“I wasalreadyshifting,” I admit, voice tight. “I couldn’t feel you. It was like... my soul just—” I stop, swallowing hard. “You’re the only thing that keeps me sane.”
