Rowan POV She didn’t move away.That was the first thing I noticed after the tears slowed, after the sharp edge of her breathing began to soften into something less frantic. She stood there, shoulders slightly hunched like she was bracing against something that hadn’t fully passed yet, her gaze unfocused, caught somewhere between here and everything she was trying to hold together.I didn’t reach for her immediately.Every instinct I had told me to.The bond stirred, not urgently, not demanding, but aware in a way that made the distance between us feel more significant than it actually was. It wasn’t pulling me forward. It was waiting.Just like I was.She let out a quiet breath, shaky at the edges, and lifted a hand to wipe at her face, though the tears had already slowed. The motion felt more like something to do than something necessary.“I’m sorry,” she said softly.The words landed wrong.“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” I said.She shook her head slightly, her hand d
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