Chapter 308: Emptiness (Ryder's POV)

(Ryder’s POV)

The clearing was bathed in sunlight, a perfect backdrop for what had just happened. The marking. The moment we had all been building toward for so long. Finally, it was done. Kate had marked me and Tyler, and we had marked her. I should have felt complete. I should have felt content. And I did, but there was something else... Something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

It wasn’t the marking itself. That had felt incredible, like some kind of supernatural charge that flowed through me the second her teeth sank into my skin. The warmth, the connection, the euphoria, it was more than I could ever have anticipated. But then, after the initial surge faded, something else settled in its place.

It was a hollow feeling, like an empty pit somewhere deep inside me. I tried to ignore it, standing there with Kate and Tyler, trying to feel what they were feeling. But that emptiness wouldn’t go away, no matter how much I smiled or kissed Kate or held her close. The bond between us wa