The night after our bond was sealed, I didn’t sleep.

I didn’t need to.

The mate mark still pulsed against my shoulder like a second heartbeat. My power felt… different now. Not raw. Not scattered.

Focused.

When I moved, the light in me moved with purpose.

When I breathed, Ember breathed with me.

Leon was beside me, already awake, and looking at me with that quiet steadiness on which I had come to depend more than on air.

Again you are glowing, he whispered.

“Good,” I whispered. “Because we don’t have time to rest.”

Silverclaw War Hall

The great hall had been cleared for strategy.

Maps sprawled across a central...