Chapter 35. The Moonless Bond

The morning air in the East Wing was sharper than usual, like it had teeth.

Aria opened the window before the sun finished rising. She no longer bothered with caution. If they wanted to watch her, let them. Let them see she hadn’t burned in the night. Let them wonder why she hadn’t broken.

No one spoke of the sealed room.

No one needed to.

The seer avoided her gaze now. Even the guards at the edge of the corridor shifted subtly when she passed—not with suspicion, but hesitation. A woman who survived a bond-call should be in chains or a grave.

Aria was in neither.

Instead, she wore a high-collared black coat stitched with fading wolf runes—one of Kaid’s old castoffs, found in the corner of her wardrobe. The sleeves were too long. The scent of him clung faintly to the collar.

She didn’t know if she hated that or wanted more of it.

That unsettled her most of all.

Because she should feel the tether.

The bond that the wolves whi