KIERAN’S POV
The word ‘mate’ hung between us like a blade balanced on its tip.
I went rigid, my spine snapping straight as if my mother had pressed a thumb into a fresh cut. The water bottle groaned in my fist, plastic straining beneath my grip.
I didn’t answer her right away.
Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because everything I could say felt like a betrayal of Sera—of the promise I’d made her not to tell anyone about the bond until she was ready.
My mother watched me with a gaze too sharp to be fooled by silence. She had always been able to read the spaces between words, the hesitation before a breath.
Being raised by her meant learning early that omission was just another form of confession.
“You’ve denied far more convincingly in the past,” she said, proving my point. “This time, you’re not even trying.”
I set the bottle down harder than necessary and turned away, pacing the length of the gym in restless strides.
