Xander POV
The call with Claire had ended hours ago, but sleep refused to come.
I lay in my Harvard dorm bed, staring at the ceiling, the mate bond tugging painfully in my chest. Her voice had been thick with tears, exhaustion, and doubt. The pregnancy scare had shaken her more than she let on. The distance, the rumors, the pressure of senior year and Luna responsibilities — it was all crashing down on her while I was stuck here, hundreds of miles away, feeling completely useless.
I hated it.
I hated every second of this separation. The bond was a constant ache, a warm but insistent pull that reminded me she was hurting and I wasn’t there to hold her. I sat up, running a hand through my hair, decision already made.
I wasn’t staying here tonight.
I grabbed my phone and called the pilo
