Page 224 of Feralheart

“What did we just do?” Lyndie’s voice shook.

I didn’t have an answer.

Satisfaction bled through the bond with Selira. We made pack.

Across the meadow, every awake elite had turned toward us. They’d seen the light and felt the magic. They knew we’d done something.

Fen traced his thumb across my knuckles before releasing me.

I found my own fear reflected back in his gaze. We’d painted a target on ourselves. But we’d also done something no one had tried before.

I pressed my palms together, and they did not tremble.

This felt like something my mother would’ve done.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

ERADIN

The bond settled into my bones like a second skeleton.

I could subtly feel all of them. Reece’s shallow breathing. Lyndie’s racing pulse. Fen’s heartbeat matching mine so closely I couldn’t tell which rhythm was whose.

Pack, Selira said. Real pack. Should’ve made long ago.

It was too much and not enough all at once.

“I can feel where you are,” Reece said slowly. “Even with my eyes closed, I’d know where all of you are standing.”

Lyndie’s hand lifted toward her throat, her fingers splaying wide. “It’s like you’re all living inside my chest.”

Reece paled as he looked at me. “I feel your grief like it’s mine. Is that what you’re carrying all the time?”

I couldn’t drag in a breath.

“I didn’t know this would happen,” I said. “I knew my magic was moving, and I let it do what was needed. I thought it would be… I don’t know what I thought.” I looked at my hands. The red lines had faded to their usual faint glow, and they’d disappeared from my friends’ arms and hands completely.

“What does this mean for us?” Lyndie asked.

“I don’t know yet.”

“We chose this,” Fen said, but his jaw was tight.

“We should rest,” I said. “The last trial could start at any time.”

I took three steps toward my tent, but the bond yanked, a hand reaching into my chest and pulling me backward. I stumbled, catching myself on a tent pole.

Across the fire, Lyndie had frozen mid-step, her hand still pressed to her throat.

“Is it supposed to hurt when we separate?” Reece asked.

“I don’t know.” Fen shook his head. “I’ve never bound myself to three other people before.”

The pull eased when we settled closer, forming a loose circle around the dying fire. Close enough that the invisible hooks in my chest stopped trying to drag me back.

Exhaustion hit harder than the strangeness. This had drained me more than previous uses of my magic.

Will fade, Selira said.