Page 96 of Unveiled

“When you touched the mark. When you said the vow.” Adrian exhaled shakily. “It changed the tether. It braided something between us.”

Connor’s pulse thundered in his ears.

Adrian’s voice softened. “You can feel it too, can’t you? Your mark tells you the same.”

Connor looked away. He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

Later—minutes, hours, he couldn’t tell—Adrian sat on Connor’s bed with his knees pulled to his chest. He didn’t remember moving there. He didn’t remember Connor lifting him either. But he remembered the heaviness in his limbs, the whisper of frost along the windows, and the weight of the castle itself holding its breath.

Xiathen arrived quietly, robes trailing, eyes full of winter. “Adrian,” he said gently. “May I?”

He nodded. Xiathen extended one hand over the mark, careful not to touch, and his pupils widened. Adrian felt the air shift. And then Xiathen gasped.

Connor crossed the room in an instant. “What?”

Xiathen stepped back as though burned. “The mark is no longer only the Council’s.”

Connor bristled. “Meaning?”

Xiathen’s gaze flicked between him. “Part of it belongs to you. Your mark has become more.”

Adrian went still. “Explain,” Connor insisted.

“The vow,” Xiathen whispered. “Words spoken at the edge of a rend. Spoken with intent. Spoken three times.” He trembled. “You did not merely defy the Council. You bound yourself to him at a metaphysical level.”

Adrian’s stomach dropped. “Bound?”

“Not ownership,” Xiathen said quickly. “Protection. But also a conduit.”

Connor stiffened. “Meaning?”

“The Council can’t pull Adrian without pulling him through you.”

Adrian whispered, “Connor, I didn’t want—”

“I know,” Connor said quickly. “I know.”

Xiathen bowed their head. “You have defied the Council. The price of refusal will echo.”

As if summoned by the words, the castle walls groaned. Xiathen turned their head toward the window. “The valley is changing.”

***

Connor

Connor didn’t sleep.

Adrian lay against him, half on the pillow, half curled against Connor’s shoulder, his breath ghosting in uneven intervals. Connor didn’t dare move. He didn’t dare close his eyes. Outside, the night had begun to hum. And every now and then, Adrian shivered as the mark flickered beneath his skin.

Connor tightened his hold, pulling Adrian closer, anchoring him with touch and will. Adrian made a soft sound, somewhere between relief and unconsciousness, and settled. Connor’s wolf pressed hard into the moment.

Mine to protect.

The vow thrummed between them. A live wire Connor felt in his bones. It terrified and steadied him. Without thinking, he pressed his lips to Adrian’s hair. The scent of frost, fear, and stubbornness filled him.

Outside the window, the moon flickered as though something passed in front of it. Connor didn’t look. Because he knew if he looked, he might see a shape too tall, too thin, too patient standing in the snow.

Waiting.