The pain faded… but the silence that followed was louder than any scream I’d ever heard.

I could still feel the bond snapping inside me like a torn thread of fate. My knees were buried in dirt and blood, my breathing ragged, but for the first time in what felt like forever… my chest was light.

Empty.

Free.

Ryan lay on the ground a few feet away, trembling. His claws were halfway out, his eyes burning a soft blue that was quickly fading into nothingness. The mark of the bond was ...