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“The energy I feel when we touch…” I said, nearly panting after his kiss literally stole my breath away. “That’s the mating bond, isn’t it?”

A look of concern crossed Elias’s features. “Yes. And I’m sorry for that. I thought maybe because you were human, you wouldn’t feel the bond – that you wouldn’t have to suffer through it like I did, knowing that your mate was right in front of you and you couldn’t have them. But you did feel it. At least, little pieces of it.”

“The first time we shook hands, I felt it,” I admitted. “And every single time after. I can’t feel your pain or your emotions like you said you can with mine, but the energy is unmistakable.” I leaned forward and slowly, gently brushed my lips against his, as if that would prove I could feel the ecstasy of it like I knew he could.

I pulled away. “Can you explain the mating bond to me? How does it fully set, and what happens when it does?”

Elias frowned. “Along with superhuman speed, strength, and senses, and the ability to shift into a wolf, lycans were also blessed with beingable to physically see and feel a mating bond. The gods might destine other creatures and humans to be together too, but only lycans can actually see and feel the magic of it, and are affected by it. I guess if the bond is strong enough, a non-lycan can feel it through the lycan. Like you have with me.”

I only nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

“Once the bond is set, I imagine you’ll be able to feel a numbed version of my emotions and pain like I do yours. But I will feel everything you feel. As the lycan, everything I can sense with the bond now will only amplify. I’ll be able to feel every injury, every emotion, like it’s my own, even more so than I already do.”

I gulped. “And…how does the bond set?”

Elias’s honey-eyes stared into mine with such intensity, my heartbeat quickened. “To complete the bond – set it in place eternally – we would have to…make love.”

I think my whole body stiffened in that moment as I processed his words. “Oh,” was all I said, until another thought came up. “So the bond is always between a man and a woman?”

Elias shook his head as he smiled. “No, I’ve seen it go other ways. It’s not the act of sex itself that sets the bond, but the intimacy of it.”

I stared right back into his golden eyes with the same intensity he gave me. “That’s why you didn’t want to make love to me in the mountain,” I accused.

He sighed, then nodded. “Believe me, I wanted to. Badly. But I didn’t want to seal a bond you didn’t even know existed. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“Why not just tell me what you were? Tell me everything?”

Elias ran a hand through his hair – something I noticed he often did when he was agitated. “I was afraid if I told you the truth, you would leave. Which you have every right to do.” Elias pulled himself away, creating space between us that had me suddenly shivering. “Ishould have let you go. I should have told you what I was and let you go back home where you’re safe. But I’m selfish, Aura. I didn’t want to be without you. I’d rather hold on to you with a partial bond than to have you break it.”

I cocked my head. “I…I can break it?”

Sadness filled his heart. I didn’t need a mating bond to notice it. “Yes. You are not lycan, so it would be much easier for you. You can reject the bond before it sets.”

An uneasy feeling hit me. “What would happen?”

He shuffled uncomfortably, masking any emotions from reaching his face. “I may suffer physical repercussions, but they will heal.”

“And the mental ones?”

He was silent for a long time. Too long.

“Elias?”

“I would survive.”

I could tell he wasn’t sure he believed it. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure I would survive either. I loved this man, bond or no bond.

Another long silence hit, both of us looking away as we were lost in our own thoughts. Then Elias spoke.

“Aura…you should sever the bond.”

I whirled my head in his direction. “Excuse me?”

“You may think you developed feelings for me, but maybe that’s just the bond talking. If you sever it, you can think clearly. You can be without me, and live the rest of your life safely.”

“No.”

“Aura, please…think about it.”