Not just her heartbeat against my chest, buther. Her pain, yes—still there, still overwhelming—but also her strength. Her stubborn refusal to let go, to slip away into that darkness pulling at her.
The bond spreads through me like wildfire, and I feel it reaching out, connecting to the other marks on her neck. Raven's bond flares bright, then Nikolai's. Three threads weaving together, strengthening each other.
She's fighting.
This fierce little omega is still fucking fighting.
But it's still not enough.
I pull back, licking blood from my lips, and the reality hits me like a sledgehammer.
We need more.
I lift my gaze to Knight, and the massive alpha has backed himself against the far wall, his frame trying to make itself small.
Impossible, but he's trying.
His stark white hair hangs over his face, hiding everything except one scarred blue eye locked on Cosima, his human hand pressed over his ruined mouth. He looks so human and vulnerable without his mask, even knowing what's been beneath it this entire time.
"She needs you," Raven says quietly, moving to stand beside the giant alpha. "You know this. You can feel it through your bond."
Knight shakes his head violently, a rough sound escaping him that might be a whimper if it came from anyone else.
"You have to try," I say, forcing steel into my voice even though my hands are shaking. "The bond you share… it's special. Shit that shouldn't even be possible."
"She dreams of you," Azarel adds hoarsely from across the dungeon, and everyone turns to stare at him. His eyes remain fixed on Knight, his expression raw with both pain and acceptance. "She's been dreaming of you her entire life. You're not the monster she feared. You're the mate she was searching for. Trust yourself the way she trusts you."
The words clearly cost him. I can see it in the darkening of his eyes, the way his jaw works.
Shit. Maybe he really does love her.
Knight moves forward slowly, each step deliberate, like he's walking to his own execution. When he reaches Cosima's side, he kneels with a care that seems impossible for someone so massive. His entire body shudders as he lowers himself over her, dwarfing her.
She's small compared to me.
Compared toKnight…
He could tear her head off with a single bite.
And, somehow, he has to hit her scent gland, not her fucking arteries.
We all tense.
Knight's exposed jaws open wide, the ruined muscles stretching with the motion, revealing razor-sharp teeth designed to rend and tear flesh. His breath ghosts across Cosima's throat, and I see her skin pebble with goosebumps even in her unconscious state.
My own skin prickles at the sight, my hair standing on end. I clench my jaw. All I can do is fucking pray.
Please, for the love of every god that cares, be gentle.
His long tongue curls out through his parted teeth, lapping the blood from Cosima's neck as he moves closer. He moves so slowly I can barely tell he's moving at all, his hair falling around them like a curtain. I can't even see what's happening anymore.
Then Cosima's entire body goes rigid.
A choked sound escapes her throat—not quite a scream, more like all the air being forced from her lungs at once.
Blood pours from her throat.
"Fuck—" Nikolai lurches forward.
