The air around us shimmered faintly, charged and restless. The forest was still, quiet except for the whisper of wind through the leaves and the soft thrum beneath my skin…the threads.
I stared down at my wrist. Five silver lines glowed faintly under the moonlight, weaving together in a delicate pulse that moved like breath. Four of them hummed with the familiar energy of my brothers. But the fifth…
That one was new.
It burned differently. Steady. Deep. Like the pulse of a heartbeat I knew by touch.
Talon.
He stood across from me, still and quiet, eyes fixed on the same light tracing across my skin. His expression was unreadable, but I could feel his emotions anyway…the surprise, the weight, the careful fear of what this meant.
“The fifth bond.” I whispered, my voice barely carrying
