The chains were killing me.
Not quickly. Luna wouldn't grant that mercy. Slowly. Incrementally. With each tear that fell, with each sob that escaped, with each visible sign of how much I cared.
The binding around my throat tightened another fraction. My vision started to blur at the edges. Lungs burning for air that wouldn't come.
I was suffocating. Strangled by my own emotions. By love made into weapon exactly as Luna had promised.
Through the haze, I saw Astro's ash-form beginning to glow. The feather working some transformation I couldn't understand. But too slow. Too weak. Too scattered to help.
Then I felt something through our bond. Through the blood oath that connected us even when he was more ash than wolf.
Not words. Just desperate feeling. Plea made into sensation.
Don't cry. Please don't cry. The chains feed on tears.
