Phoenix’s POV.

“We can’t rush this,” Maggie, Nora’s mother explained to me quietly as Nora and her grandmother Henrietta spread the blanket across the stone muttering prayers. “You have to use self-control, Phoenix. She will relax if you relax. Do you understand? The two of you… even though you haven’t come together yet, you’re connected. You’ve always been. Even though you didn’t know you were mates.”

Maggie’s words sunk into my gut like a ...