What if none of this is real?What if we’re just responding to artificial stimuli designed to make us think we’re bonded?Nadine shook her head.No.This happened too fast.People don’t fall for each other this quickly unless something’s manipulating the process.
This is real,Conall said, sitting up to face her directly.His expression hardened.What you felt, what we shared—it’s real.The mate bond doesn’t lie, Nadine.
Can’t it?She wrapped her arms around her knees.Chimera has neural interface technology.Behavioral modification protocols.How do I know this isn’t just another form of domination?
The possibility hung between them like a loaded weapon—that their entire relationship might be artificial, another tool in Chimera’s arsenal.
Because,Conall said with absolute conviction,I know what artificial feels like.I’ve seen neural manipulation.This isn’t that.
How can you be sure?
Because artificial doesn’t fight back.You spent weeks trying to resist this bond.If it was programmed, you wouldn’t have been able to fight it.He reached for her hand.Manufactured connections don’t come with the kind of conscious choice we both had to make.
The logic was sound, but doubt had taken root in Nadine’s mind, poisoning the contentment she’d felt in his arms.
I don’t even know who I really am anymore.How can I trust feelings that might not even be mine?
Shh.Conall wrapped his arms around her.Focus on the bond.How does it feel right now?
Nadine blinked.The bond is stronger now,she said.After what we just shared, it’s…intense.
It flickered between them like a constant electrical current, carrying awareness of his every emotion.
I know.His thumb brushed across her knuckles.I can feel it too.Your fear, your confusion, your need to run.
The casual intimacy of shared consciousness should have been invasive.Instead, it felt natural—which terrified her more than anything else.
Still…
This is exactly what I was afraid of,she said, standing abruptly.Losing myself in something I can’t control or verify.We need to step back before we make decisions we can’t undo.
Conall watched her pace.You’re not losing yourself.You’re finding a part of yourself you never knew existed.
Or I’m being consumed by biological imperatives that override rational thought.She found her clothes and began dressing with mechanical efficiency.Compromised judgment.Divided loyalties.The kind of emotional entanglement that gets people killed.
Nadine.His voice carried authority, but softer.Look at me.
She turned to face him.The sight of him—golden skin marked by her teeth, dark hair mussed—made the bond pulse with renewed hunger.
But she could feel his emotions bleeding through the connection.His hurt at her withdrawal.His growing certainty that she was going to run.
I’m not going anywhere,she said, recognizing his fear.I’m not running.I just… I need to think.Need to process what this means without the distraction of…
She gestured vaguely at his body, at the rumpled bed.
Without the distraction of actually feeling good for once in your life,he finished.
The observation stung because it was true.For an hour, she’d allowed herself to simply exist in the moment.And it had been terrifying in its perfection.
I’m not built for this,she said quietly.For the kind of trust that mate bonds require.
But you did let it matter.Conall rose from the bed, moving to stand before her without crowding her space.In the storage unit, when you realized what Gregory really was.You could have used that information to hurt me.Instead, you chose to share it honestly.
The memory made her chest tight.She had chosen him in that moment, had trusted him with her pain despite every logical reason to maintain distance.
That was different.
Was it?Or was it exactly the same thing you’re afraid of now?Choosing connection over self-protection?
