CURSED LYCAN
Six months later.
The café smelled like coffee and fresh bread. Normal. Safe. The kind of place where people complained about traffic instead of fighting for their lives.
Sera sat by the window, watching Emma play with other kids in the park across the street. Her niece was laughing. Actually laughing. The sound still made Sera's chest tight.
"She's doing well."
Sera didn't turn. She'd felt Kael approaching through the blood bond before he'd entered the café. That connection was permanent now. Always there. Always steady.
She'd gotten used to it. More than used to it.
"The therapist says she's processing the trauma in healthy ways," Sera said as Kael sat down. "No nightmares for three weeks."
"That's good." He looked different in daylight. In normal clothes. Almost human. Except for those silver eyes. Those would always mark him as other.
He slid a folder across the table. "Found another one. Abandoned facility in Montana. Same symbols as Valeria's operation."
