Our bond sings, and Dame wipes a fist under his eyes as he grips the back of my neck.
“If you’re wrong, I’ll kill you,” he says.
“Deal.”
Kitty grips my hand, resting her head on my shoulder as she hums for me one last time.
Her voice lifts, slow and smooth, and I’m grateful for the distraction as Dame starts to weed through the bonds.
It starts in my stomach, the burning sting of threads snapping. Like cutting piano chords, every severed note echoes in my mind, growing louder as Dame moves through them. One after another after another. Slowly at first, then more urgently as I bear down in pain.
Each cut is agonizing. A hot blade sawing through tendon and cauterizing the ends, never to be renewed. But I’ve felt worse every time I see Iris clinging to a hope that isn’t there. And at least this pain has a purpose.
Dame saves our thread for last. It was always the strongest among them, and I wince as his power bears down on it.
I know he feels it the same as I do when he groans, a guttural sound deep in his chest. There are tears on his face as I pry my eyes open, but with a nod, he strikes through it, tearing us apart, fracturing my soul.
For a while, there is nothing. And we all sit with bated breath as we wait.
The more time ticks by, the more agitated they become. But I’m not worried.
Kitty clings tighter, and her voice quiets as she holds me, but the pain is slowly replaced by a single golden thread.
Someone gasps, and my eyes fly open.
“Iris?”
Her face is twisted with pain as she blinks, but she’s breathing, and she’s looking at me. And that’s enough.
I run my hands over her face, clearing the blood from her brow and pushing her hair out of her eyes, watching as the black bands begin to fade and Covington’s power over her is dissolved, replaced by the bond of my wolf.
“Hi, baby…”
She winces, bleary-eyed, as she struggles to sit up.
“Don’t,” I say. “Don’t move. I’ve got you.”
“W-what happened?”
Her voice is hoarse, and the wolf rises as if called upon by name.
Protect.
“It doesn’t matter. You feel okay?”
She nods.
“Weird…” she croaks.
“Weird how?”
“Like…”
She swallows hard, gathering her voice to get the words out, but it takes her a moment to find them.
I’m not sure I have the words to describe it either. But if I had to, I’d say it feels like my heart is beating for the very first time.
“Like I can breathe again,” she says finally.
