Page 14 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

KNOX

“Enough,” Cyrus barked, his own power tearing mine apart and forcing me to bow my head in submission to him. “We weren’t going to leave her for dead. I’m going to assume Jundar will ask for more warriors. Tell him we want more healing water for Whil to refine in exchange.”

“Yes, alpha,” Lucius said, still kneeling.

“Good. Now—” Cyrus turned to Whil who, because she wasn’t a shifter, hadn’t been affected by my or Cyrus’s power. “Walk with us. We need to talk.”

Without waiting for her response, he strode down the main street toward the center of New Town.

She quirked a sculpted golden eyebrow, her attention sliding to me then the woman — Oh yeah, she knew the truth — then rushed to fall into step beside him.

Bishop hurried to walk on Cyrus’s other side, and I pushed ahead, trying to get them to hurry up. The sooner we dealt with the bond, the sooner I’d be free. But the urge to stay by the woman’s side, to shift, to take her from my brother churned inside me, and I kept slowing, drawn to her whether I wanted to be or not.

“You should probably be talking with Nova instead of me. She’s the party planner,” Whil snickered once we were out of earshot from Lucius. “It can be a surprise party for the rest of the pack.” She burst out laughing. “I don’t think anyone bet that you’d be the first of the alpha’s sons to mate.”

This isn’t funny, I snarled as we reached the main square in New Town and took the lead, bounding up a narrow side street with shallow steps leading up to the Old Town wall. The last thing I wanted was to march past the dozen pubs and restaurants lining Main Street while having this conversation. Even if only my brothers and Whil could hear my side of the conversation, people could figure out the truth from Whil’s responses. I don’t want a party. I want it broken.

“You what?” Whil missed the first step and stumbled up the next three.

Cyrus grabbed her arm before she fell, helping her right herself. “Is that something you can do?”

“Why would you make the bond if you don’t want it?” she asked.

Because I didn’t make it. I rushed up the stairs and around the corner, but my wolf jerked me to a stop and the frozen chain in my chest strained to draw me back to her. We couldn’t see her anymore, we needed to go back.

No. We could wait. Bishop would catch up soon enough.

But damn it. We didn’t want to wait on anything. She was ours and we needed to seal the bond and properly claim her.

For the love of ? —!

There was no way in hell we were claiming her. Even if we wanted to, she was in no condition to have sex.

Which, jeez, wasn’t the point.

Bishop, with his precious, unwanted cargo, rounded the corner and the pressure in my chest eased.

“We don’t know what happened,” he said. “We found her near death and when Knox picked her up, she initiated the mating bond. I don’t even think she was conscious.”

“I didn’t think it was possible to initiate that kind of bond while unconscious.” Whil laid a hand on the woman’s forehead. “At least certainly not for shifters.”

“But it is for other races?” Cyrus asked.

“Angels have no control over their mating bonds. No words, no conscious thought. It could be with a complete stranger they’ve never met, and they could be barely alive, and the bond would still form,” Whil explained as we rounded another corner and reached the road that followed the Old Town wall around the original town. “But she’s clearly not an angel.”

“Are we sure?” Cyrus asked. “Her essence says she’s one of us, but it’s weak. Could she be a half-breed?”

“Not with an angel,” Whil said. “Even if the portals to this realm were unlocked and the beings from the Realm of Celestial Light decided to pay us a visit, angels can only procreate with other angels. There are no half-breeds. And even if one of her parents was something else, you’re either born a shifter or you’re not. There’s no in between.”

I don’t care what she is, I snapped as we reached the main gate to Old Town and hurried up the road to our home. I o nly care that this fucking bond is broken.

“Watch your tone,” Cyrus growled in warning, his power rolling off him. Whil was a revered member of our community and had been so for almost a thousand years — despite the fact that she still looked about thirty. With her ability to weave raw magical energy into spells, she could have easily taken over the pack at any time, but instead, chose to just be a councilor, offering her wisdom and abilities when asked.

My wolf whined at Cyrus’s power and the woman whimpered, sending more churning desperate need twisting inside me.

Bishop’s worry increased as well, and for a second all the emotions and need were too much. The road was too narrow, the walls of the buildings on either side of me too high. I needed space. I had to get out of there, but the bond wouldn’t let me leave her side. I was going to suffocate from the pressure.

“We have to do something,” Bishop said.

We reached the courtyard in front of our residence, the grand, three-story fortress only visible against the shadow of the mountain because of the lights at the main doors and in a dozen of the windows. Home. Except the thought of going inside made my chest tight. I had to stay out here, regain my mental equilibrium. And somehow, my wolf actually agreed with me.

Except if Whil could break the bond right away?—

“I don’t know if it’s possible to break the bond. I need to do some reading,” Whil mused, shattering what little hope I had that this mess would be fixed immediately. “I also need to talk to her…” She drew the word out as if expecting one of us to give her a name. When we didn’t supply her with one, she shrugged. “She might have a clue about what happened. If she wasn’t conscious during the bonding, then maybe there was something else going on and it isn’t a true bond. It might not be as permanent as it looks.”

“You mean there might be a way to break it?” Bishop asked.

“If it’s a false mating bond, maybe,” Whil said, “but I’ll need more information.”

“I want to talk to her first,” Cyrus said, pulling open the front door and holding it for Whil. “We don’t know if she’s dangerous. For all we know she’s connected to that wave of power.”

Whil’s expression turned grim. “That’s something else I need to think about.”

Figure out how to break the bond first, I said, managing to stay outside despite the pressure closing in around me.

I didn’t care how important that lightning and power were, I was losing my mind. There was too much pressure from too many things, and I was going to lose control over one of them. I didn’t want to risk that one thing being my need to resist the compulsion to seal the bond. Sealing it gave it strength and then all possibility of breaking it would be lost whether it was a fake bond or not.