Page 64 of The Bookseller and the Alpha (Witch Twins #1)

Calypso

I woke up alone. Again. I had a vague memory that Luc had come to bed at some point in the night.

And he’d wrapped me in his arms. I remembered that much.

I sat up, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

The room was dark, due to the shutters. The clock on my phone said it was nine in the morning.

I stretched, realising that my body felt rested.

Well rested. And a little sore. In a good way.

I’d been fucked against a door. And it had been the hottest thing I’d ever experienced.

“Luc,” I called softly. I couldn’t hear him moving around in the other room, but for a big guy he could move quietly. If he was there, he would hear me. My heart ached a little when I got no response. He was busy. I got it.

But I smiled when I got out of bed and opened the door to the rest of the suite. A covered plate sat on the small dining table, next to a vase with a single rose and a note.

Duty calls. I didn’t want to wake you. I hope you slept well. I’ll see you tonight. If you need anything, the guard outside your door will help you. Yours. Luc.

After the delicious breakfast Luc had left for me and a hot shower, I decided to use my day productively.

The guard outside my door, a Shifter I didn’t recognise, seemed surprised at my request to go to the library, but had been happy enough to take me there.

And I hit the jackpot. Books on Shifter culture and history.

They answered some of my questions. They told me about the Declaration of Intent and how I could choose to reject Luc’s Declaration.

About what would happen to him if I rejected the bond.

I rubbed my chest as I turned the fragile pages.

An ache had begun behind my breastbone sometime during the morning.

Which was explained by the final piece of information I found.

The information about bonding. The book told me that when Shifters found their true mate, they formed a psychic bond.

Luc and I hadn’t formally bonded yet, I hadn’t taken his claiming bite, but it felt to me as if we already had some sort of connection.

The ache in my chest at his absence was a sign of a developing bond.

But there was more. My eyes had widened when I read that Shifters and their bonded mates could sense each other’s feelings and thoughts.

A rush of longing filled my chest. I wanted that.

The connection. I would never be alone again.

But the books also raised questions. Serious ones.

First, there were no records of a Shifter like his Beast. Nothing at all in the books.

Second, my research told me that Shifters normally shifted at puberty, bonding with their inner creature.

Not doing so was dangerous. Very dangerous.

And the longer the shift was denied, the higher the chance that the human side would lose control when the shift finally occurred.

The hairs on my arms lifted as I recalled the battle Luc had fought yesterday.

The battle against his Shifter side, when his Beast tried to wrest control.

Why hadn’t he Shifted when he was younger?

He’d taken a huge risk with his life. If a Shifter’s Beast took control, the Shifter was locked away, potentially indefinitely, until their two halves had achieved balance.

Tonight, Luc was going to answer some questions.