The suggestion hit like a bomb detonating between them.Through their connection, Quinton felt Conall’s world tilt sideways as he considered the horrifying possibility that his most fundamental instincts had been compromised.
No,Conall said, but uncertainty bled through the denial.The bond feels real.It is real.
How would you know?You’ve never had a mate bond before.None of us have.Quinton pressed his advantage, hating himself for the weapon he was wielding but desperate enough to use it anyway.What if Chimera can manufacture that connection?What if she’s not just an asset but the perfect asset—designed specifically to compromise pack enforcers through artificial mate bonds?
Conall went very still, the twin bond carrying cascades of doubt and horrified realization.The possibility that everything he was feeling might be false, that his growing attachment to Nadine could be the result of neural manipulation rather than biological destiny.
That’s…Conall’s voice cracked slightly.That’s impossible.
Is it?We’ve seen what they can do with memory suppression, behavioral modification.We’ve already found evidence of systematic infiltration going back decades—I assume you found even moretoday.Quinton moved closer, pressing his advantage while his brother’s defenses were down.What’s one more tool in their arsenal?
The silence stretched between them as Conall’s growing uncertainty, the way doubt was undermining everything he thought he knew about his feelings for Nadine, leaked through the twin bond to Quinton.
It should have felt like victory.
Should have brought relief that his brother was finally questioning the connection that threatened to tear them apart.
Instead, it felt like cruelty.
But necessary cruelty.Someone had to protect Conall from making choices that would destroy everything they’d built together.
You warned me about this,Conall said finally, his voice hollow.About not falling for her act.I should have listened.
The words confirmed that Quinton’s concerns were justified, that his brother was finally seeing sense.
And yet they made something cold and sick settle in his stomach.
Con, I—
You were right.Conall’s laugh held no humor.Jesus, I can’t believe how completely I bought into it.The perfect victim, the mysterious enemy, the convenient attraction that just happened to develop at exactly the right moment to compromise my judgment.
Through the twin bond, Quinton felt his brother’s emotions shift from uncertainty to something harder, more bitter.Self-recrimination mixed with anger—at Nadine for deceiving him, at himself for being so easily manipulated.
At Quinton for being right.
Maybe you should talk to Dr.Chen,Quinton suggested.Have him run scans, see if you have any evidence of neural interface technology.
Yeah.Conall nodded, but something in his expression remained distant.Yeah, I’ll do that.
The conversation should have ended there.Problem identified, solution proposed, twins reunited against a common threat.The natural order was restored.
But the undercurrents running through the Stewart brothers’ twin bond suggested nothing had been resolved.
Conall’s hurt ran deeper than artificial manipulation, touched places Quinton suspected even sophisticated technology couldn’t reach.
And Quinton’s own emotions remained tangled—relief mixed with guilt, satisfaction undermined by the growing certainty that he’d just destroyed something that might have been genuine.
You never minded my girlfriends before,Conall said suddenly, the observation cutting through Quinton’s internal conflict.
The comment caught him off guard.What?
All the women I’ve dated over the years.Jessica Kripke, Vivian Blackwood from the Ruby Ridge Pack, that human girl from Albuquerque—you never had a problem with any of them.
Quinton felt heat crawl up his neck.Because none of them wanted to kill us both.
Is that really why?Or is it because none of them threatened to come between us?
The question hit closer to home than Quinton wanted to admit.
