Lucian POV
Today is the third day of Selene going into heat.
She said, when it first began, it was subtle. Like a warmth beneath her skin. And then came a restlessness she could not explain.
I had thought it was exhaustion at first, the result of caring for everyone else while neglecting herself, as she so often did. But the warmth had grown, spreading like a slow-burning flame, until it consumed everything.
The third night did not announce itself with urgency.
It arrived like a breath held too long and finally released, slow and inevitable, settling over the pack and into my bones with a quiet certainty that this was the end of a sacred cycle. Selene's heat had burned fiercely these past days, reshaping not only her body but the bond between us, refining it into something stronger, deeper, and undeniably permanent. Now, on its final night, the heat no longer felt like a consuming fire. It felt like a calling.
Rhydian stirred before I did.
