Chapter SEVEN-KIAN

The morning sun hasn’t even peeked over the trees yet, but I’m already awake.

Wide awake. And not in the good way.

I’ve got everything I ever wanted right here in my arms.

My mate.

My heart.

My home.

And still, my fucking brain is being a dick.

Dragging up old ghosts, tearing open old scars that should’ve healed by now—but never quite did.

She shifts against me, soft skin brushing mine, and the second I feel her warm breath on my chest, I exhale for the first time in what feels like hours.

“Wanna tell me?”

Her voice is pure honey, a balm against the ache I didn’t even know was bleeding out of me.

“Just thinking,” I murmur, brushing her hair back from her face. “About the past.”

“I’d like to know about it,” she whispers, placing a kiss right over my heart.

That kiss? It anchors me. Grounds me like only she can.

“Well,” I sigh. “You know I didn’t grow up in a Herd. Not with other Shifters like me.”

Her brows draw together in concern, but she says nothing. Just listens.