I wake with a start, my eyes snapping open. My skin feels strangely cool, and there isn’t a ball of tension clawing at my core. Although my heats usually last two or three days, it feels like it’s coming to an early end.
Around me, my alphas are still sleeping. Calder’s on my left, Riven’s curled at my feet, and Ezra is asleep in a cushy bean bag in the corner. Hale’s still wrapped around me on my other side. We must have dozed off still locked together.
Hale stirs at my side as I roll over to face him. He’s wide awake instantly. “Are you okay, Kady?”
I hold my hands up in front of my face and flex my fingers. “I feel…” I can’t put it into words.
Something’s different.
Underneath my skin, there’s a light tingling sensation. A rush of emotions courses through me—mild panic, confusion, and a fuzzy feeling that I really like. It’s more than emotions, it’s a warmth. The same feeling I get when wrapped in a hug and my worries melt away.
Hale’s forehead wrinkles as he sits up, resulting in Calder groaning on my other side as he throws the blankets off him.
“What’s the deal?” Calder grumbles. “Do you realize it’s only 7am?”
“Keep it down over there,” Ezra mutters from his spot.
Riven rouses too. He sits up, raking his hand through his messy blonde hair and beaming at me. “Morning, Kady.”
It’s easy to see who is a morning person and who isn’t. However, it’s still Hale who has my full attention.
“Can you…?” Hale’s words get caught in his throat. “Can you feel what I’m feeling? Because I think I can feel you.”
As soon as he says it, everything seems to click into place. The new presence in the back of my head feels kind and familiar, yet I also feel a stab in my skull from a flood of concern and confusion that mirrors my own.
My mouth falls open in shock. “It c-can’t be. Can it?”
Riven looks between the two of us. “What’s happening?”
“Is something wrong?” Calder sits up. “What is it?”
Hale raises his hand to his neck to stroke the two small crescent moon marks where my teeth sunk into his flesh hours before.
I raise a trembling hand to my mouth. “How is this even possible?”
“Is someone going to tell us what’s going on?” Ezra approaches the bed, wearing only loose-fitting pajama pants. “You’re starting to scare me.”
Even the sight of Ezra’s sexy torso can’t distract me right now. How do we begin to explain what’s happening to the others?
“Are you sure you didn’t…?” I quickly scan my body for any sign of bite marks. I know Hale held back when I begged him to claim me, but maybe he somehow broke the skin without realizing it? That’s the only rational explanation.
Hale shakes his head quickly. “Of course, I didn’t.”
“Hello?” Calder waves a hand in front of Hale’s face. “Talk to us.”
“I canfeelKady.” Hale presses his palms to his eyes.
“What do you mean ‘feel her?’” Calder frowns. “Of course, you can feel her, you’re right next to her.”
“Not like that.” Hale scratches his chin, expression dazed. “I can feel her emotions.”
Ezra catches on quicker, his dark eyebrows lowering. “You mean, like a bond?”
“Maybe? I mean, I think so.” I chew my inner cheek. “This is how Faye described it when she bonded with the Silverwood Pack.”
Calder narrows his eyes at Hale in accusation. “When did you bite her?”
“I didn’t!” Hale holds up his hands. “I swear!”
