Simple.
Logical.
Necessary.
“Sten.”
The voice cut through my thoughts.
Deep.
Gravel-edged.
Familiar.
I turned.
The Draugr approached, his presence shifting the air around him in ways most failed to notice. Power clung to him now—different than before.
Quieter.
But no less dangerous.
“Draugr,” I returned.
We did not speak often.
We did not need to.
Shared ancestry carried its own understanding.
He knew what I was.
And I knew what he had nearly become.
Until—my gaze shifted.
Followed the line of his body to where his hand rested.
On her.
A small, dark-haired female—human, but not—stood at his side, her fingers threaded through his like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Like he wasn’t a creature built from hunger and death.
Like he wasn’t—holy shit.
“What the fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
“This is Serena,” he said. “My mate.”
Mate.
The word hit like a strike.
Final.
Irrefutable.
