Selene received the note two days after the mate bond had snapped into place.
She was still suffering. Still fighting the bond's constant pull. Still experiencing waves of pain and fever and need that made it nearly impossible to function.
But she was enduring. Surviving. Refusing to give in.
The note was slipped under her door in the servants' quarters. Same as the mysterious message that had led her to the cloaked figure in the garden. But this handwriting was different. Familiar.
"East garden. Midnight. We need to talk. -A"
Alaric. Her brother. Finally making contact after months of silence.
Selene's hands shook as she held the note. Part relief, part anxiety. She needed to talk to him. Needed to tell him about the bond. Needed his advice on what to do.
But another part of her—a part that was growing louder since the cloaked figure's warning—whispered doubt.
"Beware your adopted brother. He isn't who you think he is."
What did that mean? What was Alaric hiding?
