POV: Thelma

I was alive. I could move my fingers, blink my eyes, breathe air into my lungs. But something was terribly, horribly wrong.

Xavier pulled back from our embrace, his face filled with relief and love. I could see the emotion in his eyes, read it in his expression. But I couldn't feel it. Not through the mate bond. Not in my chest where my heart should have been racing with joy.

Nothing.

"Thelma?" Xavier's smile faltered. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

I pressed my hand to my chest, searching for that familiar warmth I'd always felt when he was near. The flutter of excitement. The pull of...