And through the bond, I sent him everything I had.
Not words—Stone couldn't process words anymore. But feelings. Images. The sense of safety I'd felt curled up with James in our tent in Denali. The warmth of Neal's hand holding mine. The peace of Cal's presence, steady and calm. All the moments in my life when I'd felt protected. Anchored. Like I belonged somewhere.
This,I pushed through the bond.This is what I want to give you. Not pain. Not control. Just this.
Stone's teeth pressed harder against my throat.
I'm not leaving,I sent.I'm not fighting. I'm just here. I'm just staying.
His whole body was shaking now. I could feel it—the war happening inside him. The feral instinct to bite down, to end the threat, to make himself safe the only way he knew how.
And underneath it, something else.
Something small and broken and terrified.
Something that wanted so badly to stop fighting.
Let go,I sent through the bond.You don't have to fight anymore. You can let go.
The teeth at my throat trembled.
I'll catch you,I promised.I'll be here. You won't fall alone.
A sound escaped him—something between a whine and a growl, torn from somewhere deep in his chest. His jaws loosened. Not releasing me. But not closing either.
Slowly—so slowly—I raised my hand.
He flinched when my fingers touched his fur. I felt the shock of it through the bond—physical contact, gentle contact, something he hadn't experienced in years. Maybe longer.
I didn't pull away.
I slid my hand up his neck. Through the coarse, matted fur. Over the ridge of his skull. Feeling the heat of him. The life of him. The impossible, desperate realness of this creature who had been dying behind a barrier while I sat helpless on the other side.
"I've got you," I said out loud. My voice cracked. "I've got you. You're okay. You're safe."
The bond between uspulled.
Not gently. Not gradually. It was like something had been holding it back—a dam, a wall, something Stone had built with every ounce of his will—and suddenly it shattered.
The completion hit me like a wave.
I gasped. My knees buckled. The only thing holding me up was Stone's weight against my chest, and even that was failing because something was happening to him too. I could feel it through the bond—the connection locking into place, stabilizing, becoming real in a way it hadn't been before.
And then the pain started.
Not my pain—his. Flooding through the bond like water through a broken dam. Years of it. Lifetimes of it. Terror and violence and helpless, howling grief for everything he'd lost. I couldn't separate his memories from his emotions—they came together in a tangle of images and sensations. Cold rooms. Restraints. Faces he couldn't remember but hated anyway. Themoment when human stopped feeling safe and wolf became the only refuge left.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on.
I'm here,I sent, even though I didn't know if he could receive it anymore.I'm here. You're not alone. I've got you.
Stone's body was changing.
I felt it before I saw it—the shift in muscle and bone, the sickening sensation of something being remade. He was fighting it. Even now, even with the bond completed, he was fighting the shift with everything he had left. I felt his terror spike—human was where they hurt him, human was where he'd been weak, human was where everything had gone wrong.
"It's okay," I whispered into his fur. "It's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise. I promise."
The shift continued. Agonizing. Slow. Nothing like the fluid transformations I'd seen from James or Cal. This was a war—Stone's feral self clawing against the humanity trying to surface, neither side willing to surrender.
