Primal Instinct

15- BOND

"The answer is no."

I glared at Lyric over the rim of the mug she'd pressed into my hands. The tea inside smelled medicinal and sharp, but it was warm and my fingers needed something to hold.

"You can't keep me here," I rasped. My throat felt raw. "I have a job. Your brother is already halfway to firing me on a good day. If I don't show up—"

"If you walk into that building smelling like this," Lyric said flatly, "half the unmated males will break their necks getting to you first, and the other half will die trying to stop them. So no, Nai. You're not going to work."

Her mother slid a plate of toast in front of me. The mere thought of food made my stomach roll, but the older woman's look brooked no argument.

"You'll eat," she said. "Even a little. Your body burned through more energy in one night than most humans do in a week."

"I didn't ask for this," I muttered.

"No one ever does." Her gaze softened. "Eat, child."

I took a small bite. It tasted like cardboard and ash, but I forced it down. Another small wave of heat shivered through me but not as vicious as before. Enough to make my toes curl in the rug. My scent spiked in the air; even I could tell. It smelled warm and sweet and embarrassingly wanton.

Lyric flared her nostrils and grimaced. "Yeah, no. You're not leaving this room."

"This isn't fair," I said, hating how small I sounded.

"Welcome to pack life," she said. "Half instinct, half politics, and zero fairness. Before you start your questions again, we'll explain later."

I opened my mouth to argue again but the pain hit before I could. It wasn't as sharp as the waves from yesterday, but it was deep. A heavy pressure low in my belly, radiating out through my hips, up my spine. My muscles clenched, my breath catching.

The mug slipped from my hands, tea sloshing over the table and onto my thighs. I barely felt the heat of it.

Lyric was at my side in an instant. "Another wave?"

I nodded, unable to speak, fingers digging into her arm.

Her mother stood slowly. "It's peaking again. Her body is still calling. The Alpha must be close to the territory. The bond is... listening."

I didn't have the capacity to be offended that my biology apparently didn't consult me about who it "called."

A knock sounded at the door. Three short, insistent raps.

The older woman's eyes narrowed. "Stay with her," she told Lyric. "Don't let her move."

She went to the door, opened it only a crack. "Yes?"

A male voice filtered through. "Gamma said Ms. Carter was ill. Alpha sent me to check on her and deliver some files."

Lyric stiffened. "Who is it?"

"Jace," her mother answered over her shoulder, lips thinning. "Unmated."

Lyric swore under her breath. "Of course it is."

"I'll send the files out with someone else," her mother said through the door. "She's resting."

"She hasn't checked in at all," Jace insisted. "Alpha's starting to—" He broke off.

There was a beat of silence, thick and dangerous. He'd scented me. The air changed, pressure dropping like before a storm. A low, involuntary sound rolled through the hallway—a growl, not loud but so full of instinct it made my skin pebble.

"Nahiry—" Lyric moved fast, trying to pull me toward the bathroom. "Come on, we need to get you away from the door."

My legs didn't want to cooperate. The wave of heat curled through me, making every step feel like wading through fire. The door slammed open. Jace stood in the threshold, chest heaving, eyes already edged with gold. He was handsome in a rough, boyish way. His broad shoulders, dark hair, the kind of crooked smile that probably charmed half the pack.

He wasn't smiling now.

His gaze locked on me, and he inhaled sharply. His pupils blew wide.

"Oh," he said hoarsely. "Oh, fuck."

Lyric's mother stepped between us like a shield. "Out. Now."

He didn't seem to hear her. The wolf in him had crashed to the surface, riding his body like a puppet. He took a step around her without thinking, drawn by scent and instinct alone.

"Stop!" Lyric grabbed his arm, digging in her heels. "You don't want to do this, Jace."

"You don't understand," he gritted out. His voice layered, fractured. "She smells—"

"If you finish that sentence, I will break your nose," Lyric snapped.

He shook her off without meaning to, his attention locked on me. The heat in my body surged again in response, the bond mistaking his proximity for the one it actually wanted. My knees buckled.

I stumbled toward the bathroom, desperate for the cold tile, for the illusion of privacy. I made it into the bathroom and fumbled for the shower controls, turning them to cold. The water roared to life, splashing my arms, my legs, my face. It helped a little—but only at the surface.

I heard the scramble behind me. Lyric's panicked voice. Her mother's stern one. Jace's ragged breathing. Then he was in the doorway. He stepped inside, fully clothed, water soaking into his shirt and jeans. He didn't seem to notice. His eyes had gone more gold than brown, the wolf in him fully awake.

"Don't," Lyric said from behind him, voice sharp. "Jace. Listen to me. You need to leave. Right now."

"She's in pain," he growled, gaze never leaving me. "Can't you smell that?"

He moved closer, drawn by the scent I hated myself for giving off. My body responded automatically, a desperate, instinctive cry for relief, even as my mind recoiled.

"Jace," I whispered. "Stop."

He froze at the sound of my voice, chest heaving. He looked torn between the boy I'd seen joking in the halls at work and the predator currently pulling his strings.

"I can help," he said. "That's what the bond wants. It's what we're meant to do."

"You are not her mate," Lyric's mother snapped. "And you know better than to go near an Alpha's bond-scent. Stand down."

"Then why is she calling me?" His words were desperate, almost anguished. "Why can I feel it?"

Because my bond is clearly broken and stupid, I thought wildly. Because the person I want is too far away and you're just close enough to trigger it. He stepped into the spray fully now, water plastering his shirt to his body. He was close. Too close. I pressed back against the tile, trying to melt into it.

The heat inside me twisted tighter, confused, frantic. My body knew he wasn't right, but it was desperate enough to reach for anything.

Jace lifted a hand, slowly, fingers shaking as he reached toward my arm. "Just let me—"

A sound ripped through the air, so deep it seemed to vibrate in my teeth. A growl, but not like Jace's. This one made the walls feel smaller. Jace's hand faltered.

Lyric's eyes unfocused for a split second, then snapped wide. "s**t," she breathed. "I had no choice, Nai. I had to call him. He felt you all the way from the ridge."

The door to the suite slammed open. A heartbeat later, the bathroom doorway filled with him.

Trenton.

No jacket. No tie. Shirt half-unbuttoned, sleeves shoved up, veins standing out along his forearms. His chest rose and fell in heavy, measured breaths that weren't controlled at all. His eyes glowed silver, no brown left, the beast in him fully awake and in charge.

He took in the scene in a single glance. Me, soaked and shaking in the shower. Jace, dripping, too close. Lyric and her mother, straining to pull him back. The sound that left his chest was not human.

He crossed the room faster than I thought. One second Jace was standing in front of me, the next he was pinned to the opposite wall, Trenton's hand wrapped around his throat.

"She's mine," someone else snarled through Trenton's mouth, voice layered and ancient. "You touched what isn't yours."

Jace choked, fingers clawing at the hand holding him. His feet barely touched the floor. "Alpha—I swear—I didn't—"

"You smelled her," he growled. His fangs were visible now, longer, the gold on his bottom grill shifting with them in ways that should've been impossible. "You followed her scent. You entered the heat of my mate."

What the f**k is he? The word mate hit me like a blow. My heart stuttered. The heat inside me roared, answering by moaning.

"Nahiry," Lyric whispered, voice shaking. "Don't move. Don't say anything."

Her mother stepped forward. "Trenton. You'll kill him."

Silver eyes snapped to her, feral. "He should've known better."

Lyric caught his arm. "She doesn't know what's happening. You're scaring her."

That made him look at me. For a moment, both of them were there. The beast in his possessive fury and the man's horror at himself. They collided in his gaze, a war fought in one pair of eyes.

He inhaled and froze. He smelled me properly then—heat and fear and confused want, all tangled together in the air. His grip on Jace tightened, then loosened. He released the younger wolf so suddenly that Jace collapsed to the floor, gasping.

"Get out," Trenton said, voice still distorted. "All of you. Now."

No one argued this time. Lyric and her mother pulled Jace up and half-dragged him out of the bathroom, out of the suite. The door closed behind them, final and heavy.

The room went quiet. I stood under the cooling spray, drenched, shaking, heart pounding against my ribs like it wanted out. He stood at the edge of the shower, chest heaving, eyes still too bright.

His voice, when he spoke, belonged to both of them.

"Mine."