"You don't have to stand alone. I am the storm at your back, I've got you."
ALARIC'S POV
The bond was no longer a whisper in my chest; it was a storm, tearing me open from the inside out. A tempest I could not cage, could not silence.
And when the door flew wide and Elias stood there, naked and burning, I knew restraint would be the hardest war I had ever fought. Sleep does not easily come these days. When it did, it came like stone hard and heavy, pulling me under so completely it was like death. I was in that place, submerged in darkness, when Vayne's growl shattered the quiet. It was not the usual impatient rumble. This one was sharp, guttural, cutting through me like steel dragged across bone.
"Wake up."
