Chapter 15. What Stirs Inside

Kaelen left Martha’s garden with long, deliberate strides, each step carrying him farther from Mira, but never far enough. The dirt path wound through trees dappled in waning light, the air crisp with the promise of nightfall, but his thoughts remained anchored to the girl kneeling among the pear trees, sunlight catching in her braid, the hem of her sundress stained with soil.

The image wouldn’t leave him: Mira lifting her dress just enough to reveal the healed skin of her calf. Smooth. Unmarked. Human bodies didn’t heal like that. Not in two days. Not without scars. And not with that kind of energy thrumming beneath the skin.

‘That wasn’t human,’ Sylas rumbled from deep within his chest. ‘Not even close. You know what that means.’

“It means nothing,” Kaelen muttered, pushing his hands deep into his coat pockets. “Coincidence. Maybe Martha’s remedies work better than they look.”

Sylas barked a laugh, harsh and wolfish. ‘You lie poorly, Alpha.