Quinton stopped pacing, his expression shifting from shock to something like fear.How bad is it?
It’s…Conall ran both hands through his hair, frustrated beyond words.It’s like having another heartbeat.I can sense her direction, her general emotional state.The physical attraction is…
He trailed off, unable to admit how his body responded to even thinking about her.
This is a disaster,Quinton said flatly.
Tell me something I don’t know.
What are you going to do about it?
And there it was—the question Conall had been avoiding.
The mate bond wasn’t something that could be ignored indefinitely.It would grow stronger.More insistent.Until the pull became unbearable for both parties.
I don’t know,he admitted.Maybe nothing.Maybe it’ll fade if I don’t acknowledge it.
That’s not how mate bonds work.Quinton’s voice carried absolute certainty.They don’t fade.They consume.
They can be denied.
Quinton’s mouth twisted.Not easily.
A chill ran down Conall’s spine despite the warm night air.Then what do you suggest?
Find her.Confront this head-on.Either prove she’s wrong about us, or…He didn’t finish the sentence.
Or what?
Nothing.But his expression said otherwise.
They headed back toward the packhouse, their shared silence heavy with unspoken concerns.Quinton was right about one thing—the mate bond wouldn’t simply disappear.It had been days.Instead of weakening, it had grown stronger.
More insistent.
More impossible to ignore.
Back in their apartment, Conall tried to focus on normal activities.Shower.Food.Review security reports.
But his mind kept wandering to phantom sensations—the memory of her scent, the shock when their eyes had met, the way she’d moved like liquid shadow across the desert terrain.
You’re doing it again,Quinton observed from the kitchen.
Doing what?
That glazed look.Like you’re listening to something I can’t hear.
The mate bond responded.For a moment Conall swore he caught her scent on the night breeze drifting through their open window.Mountain snow.Wild honey.The faintest trace of something uniquely, dangerouslyher.
His wolf lifted its head with sudden alertness.
She’s close,Conall whispered.
What?
Nadine.She’s nearby.He moved to the window, scanning the darkness beyond Sunburst’s main buildings.I can sense her.
That’s impossible.Security would have detected—
