Elara POV:
Morning comes quietly.
The kind that doesn't announce itself so much as arrive. pale sunlight creeping across stone, cool air slipping through the open space, the pack still suspended in that half-dreaming lull before the day fully claims it. My favourite time of day.
I wake before the knock that never comes.
The bond hums low beneath my skin, not tugging, not insistent, simply there. Something I’m beginning to grow accustomed to, yet this time it feels more awake, but still waiting.
By the time I step outside, the courtyard is mostly empty. Dew clings to the grass, the air sharp and clean. One figure stands near the outer path, arms folded loosely as he looks toward the tree line beyond the buildings.
Caelan.
He turns the moment he senses me. Of course he does.
"You're
