Zoe POV

My breath catches. My heart pounds so hard I think it might break through my ribs.

'No. No, this cannot be happening.'

"Iris," I whisper through our link. "Please tell me this is some kind of joke."

"I cannot," she whispers back, and I hear the shock in her voice too. "This is real. He is our mate."

I do not know why we are both whispering. Maybe because the situation feels too impossible to say out loud.

"How? How can this be?" My thoughts spiral. ...