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I blinked at him, startled by his sudden appearance, by the raw understanding in his gaze."What?"Just when I thought I understood his cryptic nature, he started on something I couldn't quite figure out.

"You ache because they left you empty."He moved toward me with fluid grace, his bare feet silent on the wooden floor.

My breath caught as he drew closer.Unlike the others, he didn't seem afraid to approach me tonight.His eyes devoured me, taking in the nightdress and my bare legs.A flush spread across my cheeks, leaving me feeling suddenly hot.

"They think claiming you would fix the curse," he murmured, circling me slowly, like a predator."But it was never about claiming.It was about offering."

I stepped back, unnerved by the intensity of his gaze, by the weight of meaning in his words."What does that mean?"

His lips curved, slow and dangerous, revealing the edge of teeth that seemed too sharp."You gave your body.Your pleasure.But you didn't take what was offered in return."

"They didn't offer anything," I said, confused."I mean, I guess they offered the bond.I accepted that."

He made a soft sound, almost like laughter, but too sad."They offered everything, little flame.Their pain.Their curse.Their centuries of suffering.Did you reach for it?Did you pull it into yourself?"

I didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know what terrified me more… his words or the soft longing in them.Last night had been about pleasure, about connection, about belonging.I had wanted to bond with them, believing that giving myself to them in body would be enough.

It should have fixed the curse.I hadn’t realized there was more… hadn’t thought about taking their pain, their burden, their suffering into myself as willingly as I had given them my body.

"The offering goes both ways," he continued, stopping just inches from me.I felt the chill radiating from his skin, so different from the burning heat of the others."They must give, but you must also take.Willingly.Knowingly."

"Garrett didn't say anything," I whispered."None of them did."

"They don't know."His fingers brushed my cheek, light as a snowflake, making me shiver."They’ve forgotten the old ways.They think brute force and desire are enough."

"And you remember?"

"I remember everything."His eyes were ancient, endless, filled with secrets no one else had dared to carry."I will follow you into the hollow places," he said."Even if they hide in shame.Even if they run from what we are."

"I don’t know what we are," I admitted, my voice small against the breadth of the night around us.

"Soon, little flame," he whispered, his breath cool against my lips."You will."

He didn’t move for a long moment, his pale eyes boring into mine, ancient and unknowable.I reached for him without thinking, fingers trembling, but he only shook his head once—slow, deliberate."Not yet," he whispered, voice like mist curling around my ears."You are not ready to take what must be given."

"I don't know how," I confessed, my throat tight."Tell me what to do."

"You already know," he said, sadness and certainty woven together."You are afraid to become what they need."

"I don't want to lose myself," I whispered.It was a raw truth, ugly and selfish.

"You won't," he promised.His cold fingers brushed my lips, featherlight."You will become more."

Then he faded before I could reach him, dissolving into shadow like he had never been there at all.Only the lingering heat on my skin told me he was real.Only the thrum of the bond, steady and aching, reminded me that I was not truly alone.

The rest of the night passed in slow, aching silence.The men orbited me without speaking, moving around the cabin and the surrounding woods like ghosts.Kade sharpened his blades until the metal sang, the sound grating and mournful in the heavy air.Leif remained perched in his tree, refusing to climb down, arms tight against his chest like he could hold himself together through sheer will.Evander disappeared into the forest, returning hours later with herbs and roots, his face tight and closed off, offering no explanation.Ronan paced the perimeter of the clearing like a restless shadow, his gray eyes constantly scanning the trees, as if trying to find something he could fight, something he could blame.Cassian tried once, only once, to break the tension, tossing out a joke with a crooked grin.But it fell flat between us like a stone and he retreated without another word.

They avoided each other as much as they avoided me, as if something fragile had cracked between all of us.As if they blamed each other.As if they blamed themselves.Maybe they did.Maybe I did too.

But none of them came inside.None of them reached out to me mentally.None of them touched me.

"I feel you,"I whispered into the bond, voice trembling even though I didn't speak aloud."I know you're there."

A pulse of acknowledgment answered me… seven distinct threads of emotion tightening around my heart.Garrett’s grief.Kade’s silent rage.Leif’s restless yearning.Ronan’s despair.Cassian’s bitter regret.Evander’s steady sorrow.Nikolai’s cold, unyielding devotion.

They heard me.They felt me.But they could not come to me.

I stared into the fire, feeling the bond thrum against my ribs like a second heartbeat.The curse hadn't broken.And I didn't know if it ever would.