POV: Lyra

The letter arrived on a Tuesday.

I was sitting in the garden when Jaden found me. He was holding a plain white envelope in his hand and his face was carefully blank, the way it always was when he was trying not to show what he felt.

"This came for you," he said.

I took it.

I knew what it was before I opened it. I had been counting the days in my head since the separation was filed. Twenty-eight days. Four weeks. One month.

The cooling-off period was over.

I unfolded the paper and read the words I had been waiting for.

Luna Lyra,

The mate bond...