Chapter 13: The Vigil

The world had narrowed to the shallow, agonizingly slow rise and fall of Lycan’s chest. The battle had been won, or at least, the sorcerers had been driven back. In the chaotic aftermath, I had refused to leave his side. A strange, unspoken truce had fallen. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing their prince nearly slain, or the raw, undeniable power of the mate bond that had flared like a beacon in his final act, but no one tried to stop me as I helped carry his broken body from the dungeons...