Bound to Four Alphas
The bond in my chest lurches violently, four familiar heartbeats suddenly joined by a fifth, not Selene's mother's, not the mysterious threat still darkening the sky outside, but Wren's own pulse, hammering in perfect, terrible rhythm alongside mine.
And beneath that, faint but unmistakable, I feel something new begin to stir, something that doesn't match any rhythm I've felt tonight, not Jodan's steady control, not Riven's restless fury, not Lucien's quicksilver energy, not Eryx's calm, not even Wren's frightened, hopeful pulse now tangled with mine.
A sixth heartbeat.
Belonging to someone standing directly outside the chapel's shattered doors, close enough now that I can hear the distinct,