AYLA'S POV
"Kael."
His name left my lips as both command and prayer. He stood before me, broad shoulders taut, chest heaving, and yet his eyes… gods, his eyes. One golden, steady, his wolf's light. The other—black, fathomless, devouring.
The abyss was wearing him like a half-finished mask.
I took a step forward, ignoring the tremor in my legs. He flinched as if I'd struck him, hand raised between us like a warning. Don't, that gesture said. I might not be me.
But I couldn't stop. I wouldn't.
"Look at me," I whispered again, softer this time. "Not the reflection. Not the shadow. Me."
The bond flickered between us, a fragile thread fraying at the edges. It pulsed like a heart I could barely feel.
The abyss tried to crawl into it. I could sense it—slick, insidious tendrils pressing against the tether, trying to mimic my warmth, my love. To blur the lines so Kael couldn't tell us apart.
