Seraphina's POV
As we passed the assistant healer, the Great Mortimer—the man who usually moves like a ghost in public—abruptly cut his pace.
Before I could process the sudden stop, he dropped a bomb on the entire hallway. "I'm Seraphina's mate."
I froze. My brow hit a hard, angry line.
I opened my mouth to shut him down, but a sudden, searing heat flared at the base of my neck.
Mortimer was doing it. Right there in front of everyone, he was pulling on the mating bond—using that fraying, invisible cord to give my soul a sharp, dominant yank.
The air caught in my throat. Every rebuttal I had was suddenly locked behind a wall of biological instinct.
The assistant stood there, her jaw practically hitting the linoleum. "Wait... the other day you said he wasn't even your boyfriend. You g
