Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
K ade paused, his hand on the doorknob, and Liam stared at his back. He couldn’t read Kade’s emotions beyond that he felt conflicted.
After a moment, Kade turned, looking sheepish. “I’m sorry, but before we go downstairs, can I… uh…”
He held his hands out, and Liam eyed them. “Can you…?”
“So. You just showered.”
“Yes.” Obviously. It’d been a whole thing.
“But now you don’t… And I kind of… I mean, my wolf sort of needs…”
The realization of what he was asking to do hit Liam. “Oh! The scenting thing? Sure? I guess that’s fine.”
“Sorry,” Kade said again, brushing his hands against the sides of Liam’s neck. His presence leapt forward in Liam’s mind as he stroked downward, avoiding the bite mark. His palms slid firmly over Liam’s shoulders and along his arms.
Liam’s eyelids fluttered closed, and he melted under the caress. God, that felt amazing. Wherever Kade touched, whether bare skin or over clothing, his energy buzzed. The pleasure of the sensation was equaled by Kade’s satisfaction at doing it, at covering Liam with his scent. Even if he couldn’t smell it, everyone else would.
Kade repeated the gesture. He kept his hands to the safest areas possible, but all Liam could imagine was Kade doing this to his entire body. When he tried to push the thought aside, it stayed lodged in his mind, like a—
Nope, he wasn’t going there.
Kade’s hands fell away, and Liam blinked his eyes open, feeling almost drunk. When he’d agreed to this, he hadn’t expected it to have quite this effect on him, for it to make his blood rush and his breath catch.
“Right.” Kade stepped back, the effort it took apparent. “We should…”
“Right. We should.”
There were many things they had to do, and Kade stroking his hands over every inch of Liam’s body was not on that list.
Unfortunately.
Liam exhaled as they left Kade’s room. When he took another breath, Kade’s scent invaded his senses.
It figured. He’d wanted that scent all over him, and now he was getting it in the most torturous way possible. It lingered on him like a cologne, so warm and wholesome.
Wholesome was not a word Liam would have associated with Kade, but somehow, it fit.
Though Kade could stand to be a good deal less wholesome. These next three weeks would have been a lot more enjoyable if he’d been willing to make this a ‘reluctantly bonded with benefits’ situation. Liam could have knocked getting laid off his to-do list. What had happened in the forest didn’t count. And now he wasn’t just dealing with his own sexual frustration; he had Kade’s to contend with as well.
While sharing a bed. Lovely.
Feeling Kade get off through their bond had been strange… and insanely hot. But he’d respect Kade’s wishes and not push for more.
As much fun as ‘more’ would have been.
But instead of having regular and thorough… fun, he had to resign himself to being stuck without sex in a room with entirely too few books. The lone bookshelf had looked more ornamental than anything, with a collection of photobooks and multiple shelves empty except for a few pictures and knickknacks. It was a sad thing begging to be filled with books.
That made Liam think of other things begging to be filled, and he sighed. He’d turn into Aran at this rate.
Kade’s head swiveled toward him, but Liam waved away his concern.
He didn’t like people tiptoeing around him. Being concerned about him. Fussing over him. He was supposed to be the worrier of their group, goddamnit.
Was he in the weirdest situation he’d ever been in? Yes. Yes, he was. Could they do anything about it before the new moon? No. No, they couldn’t. There was no point in people worrying about him. They needed to accept it and move on, as he had. But that didn’t seem to be the case.
Elijah’s expression was anxious as they descended the stairs, and Liam had seen more than enough of that. He grabbed Elijah by the arm and marched him outside.
Elijah glanced at Kade, but for once, he wasn’t growling, too caught off-guard by Liam’s actions.
“Would you stop worrying about me?” Liam asked as the front door closed behind them, and Elijah scoffed.
“You do realize how ridiculous it is for you to say that, right?”
“Oh, shut up.” There was no heat to Liam’s words.
Elijah gestured away from the house, and Liam realized almost everyone inside could hear them.
He followed Elijah down the driveway, and they kept their voices quiet as they walked.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Liam checked in with himself before answering. He’d screwed up yesterday; the least he could do was give Elijah an honest answer. “Physically, I’m healed. Mentally? I don’t know. I can’t say I enjoyed the lack of control over my own body, and I’ll probably need some therapy after this is finished. Are there therapists who deal with spirit possessions?”
Elijah opened his mouth, then closed it, expression torn.
“What?”
Elijah hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“I… I don’t think you were possessed?”
That hit Liam like a backfired spell. It took him a moment to respond, and even then, all he got out was a strangled, “What?”
Of course they’d been possessed. They wouldn’t have done that otherwise.
Elijah grimaced. “I could be wrong. Every spirit acts differently. But the last time? The rot spirit had hooks in Kade. In his brain. I had to remove it from him. But when we found you guys, when I was trapping the lust spirit, it wasn’t in you. Not specifically, not directly. Not the same way the other spirit had infected Kade. It was feeding off you, yes, but it didn’t have hooks in you. I think it was affecting you, not controlling you.”
Liam stared blankly at the forest, his mind refusing to wrap around that idea. The spirit hadn’t possessed them? They’d only been under its influence?
Elijah continued, his voice soft. “Kade said the rot spirit surrounded him, that it filled his lungs, and when it possessed him, he had zero control. He was along for the ride as the spirit used him to do what it wanted. Is that what happened? Did it touch you?”
Liam shook his head, realizing there was truth to Elijah’s words. He hadn’t felt like he was being controlled. Sure, he’d been abnormally fixated on how horny he was. That one emotion had been amplified to an impossible extent. Nothing else had mattered. But his actions had felt so natural, like he’d been meant to do it, not like he was being compelled to do it by an outside force.
The spirits of terror and disorientation had affected them, but they’d fought through those effects and overcome them.
The lust spirit might have removed his self-control and inhibitions about acting on his desires, but it hadn’t put novel thoughts in his head… the bonding and knotting aside.
He swallowed down the lump in his throat. “It didn’t touch us.”
“To be clear, whether it was possessing or affecting you, it’s not your fault. Yours or Kade’s. That shit was powerful. We barely kept it together enough to trap it. Like I said, if I didn’t have the bond with Victor, I don’t think I would have been able to. This was not your fault.”
Liam snorted. “I told Kade the same thing last night. Whether we were possessed or not, I wouldn’t have had sex in the forest under normal circumstances. And for all his dick jokes and bad pickup lines, I doubt Kade would have either. Or, well, he definitely would, but not when he was doing something to protect his pack.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, and Elijah waited for him to continue, concern in his eyes.
“Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine.”
“Don’t pull that ‘I’m fine’ bullshit with me.”
“Seriously. I’m fine . I wouldn’t have chosen any of this, and I do not want a repeat with another spirit affecting me that much. But…” Liam exhaled forcefully, then sped through the next part. “The reason I didn’t realize what was going on sooner was because I’d already thought about him in that way.”
Elijah cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Please don’t judge me. Or tell Aran.”
“Yeah. I’m going to judge you for thinking a shifter is hot. What absolute lunatic would want to fuck a shifter?” Elijah said, voice deadpan.
“I think Elijah from a few months ago would have had some thoughts on the matter.”
“Lies. All lies. There was no priority-rearranging metaphorical shifter dick or anything.”
“Uh-huh.”
“But are you—”
“ I’m fine . The situation is fucked up. I never would have done it of my own volition. I wouldn’t have even hooked up with him if we’d met in a club. And I absolutely never would have gotten bonded to him.” Liam rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, glancing away from Elijah. “But this morning, I wasn’t affected by the spirit, and when we woke up…” He wasn’t willing to admit he’d wanted to grind against Kade’s dick until they both came. Some of that had to have been the bond, but not all of it.
Elijah’s eyebrows rose again.
“Nothing happened, but I also wasn’t opposed to it happening. I mean, if we have to be bonded, we might as well, right? But he’s against the idea. The situation is messed up, and we’ll have to get through it, but I’m…” Liam trailed off. He couldn’t say fine because Elijah wouldn’t believe him and he wasn’t, not completely. So instead of his default, he said, “Better than I would have thought.”
“That’s as good as can be expected.”
“Plus, can you imagine if it had been Aran?”
“Let’s pray to any and every power listening that we get through this without him ending up in bed with one of the pack.”
They both cringed.
“But you’ll be able to sever this, right?”
Elijah hesitated. “You really want me to do that?”
“Who else would I trust to do it?”
“No, I didn’t mean—” Elijah huffed. “I’ll do it if you want me to. But how are you adjusting to it? It’s intense, isn’t it?”
Liam cocked his head, studying Elijah. “How so?”
“You can’t sense him in your mind?”
“Kind of? He’s there.”
“But you aren’t constantly aware of how he’s feeling? It can be overwhelming how exposed the bond leaves you. There’s no hiding from it. I doubt I could keep a secret from Victor if I wanted to.”
“That’s not what I’m experiencing. I get hints of his emotions when they’re strong. Like right now he’s… restless? Maybe. It’s pretty nebulous. More of a vague impression? Definitely not overwhelming.”
“Oh, no. It’s so much deeper than that. Especially when we touch, I can sense everything Victor’s feeling.”
“Thankfully, it’s not like that.” Liam was more than a little relieved. Sharing himself with someone the way Elijah was describing sounded too intimate. “When we’re touching, I do get more of his emotions, but it’s still a guessing game. The only clear emotion I’ve felt when we aren’t touching is… arousal.”
“Oh.” Elijah looked distressed.
“ I’m fine ,” Liam insisted. “It’s not the first time I’ve been a mistake.”
“ Liam . Don’t start with that shit. You know that’s not true. And it’d break your mother’s heart if she heard you say that.”
Liam grimaced. “I know, I know.”
His parents hadn’t been married when they’d had him. They hadn’t even been of legal drinking age. They’d talked about getting married someday, having kids someday . Liam had happened significantly before that someday had rolled around, before they’d been prepared for it, before they’d created anything remotely close to a stable life. His three younger siblings had been much closer to that someday than he had.
“You happened when you needed to. Don’t ever think anything different. If you’d been closer in age to your siblings, maybe you wouldn’t have been so willing to let me glom onto you.”
“Screw that. I don’t care how many blood siblings I have or what their ages are, you still would have been my brother from the day we met.”
Elijah grinned. “Exactly.”
“Fine. But that doesn’t change the fact that this was a mistake.”
“You honestly don’t feel anything through your bond?”
“Not really. Other than the… you know.” Elijah didn’t need specifics about the shower incident. “But that’s a relief. I don’t want some stranger in my head, feeling everything I do.”
“I wonder why though. When our connection was unbalanced, I didn’t sense Victor’s emotions as much. Maybe that’s the reason? Did you tether yourself to him?”
“Yeah. This is as balanced as it’s getting. It must be the difference between a true and a transactional bond. From what I’ve read about transactional bonds, they sound more like what I’m experiencing than what you are. None of it suggests transactionally bonded pairs have a connection like you and Victor do, and we aren’t freakishly compatible, unlike some people I could name.”
Elijah frowned. “You aren’t interested in him? If you can ignore all the dick jokes, he’s sort of sweet.”
Liam waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve been ignoring dick jokes on a regular basis since the first year of our apprenticeship. But no, I’m not interested.”
Elijah’s frown deepened. He was about to speak, but then he paused before saying, “If you tethered yourself to him, how’s your magic?”
“Oh.” Liam gave a start. He hadn’t tested it. It didn’t feel uncontrolled like Elijah had described his magic when he’d had the pseudo-bond with Victor, but Liam also hadn’t used it for a spell yet.
He gathered his magic and inhaled sharply at how different it felt. Not foreign, but transformed, and beneath it, a pool of energy—deep and powerful—called to him. He ran phantom fingers through that untamed energy. It wanted to pull him in, to sweep through him, leaving him tingling from his fingertips to his toes from how potent and heady it was.
But when he went to channel it, it didn’t flood into him to the extent he’d expected. It was still there, still available to him, but throttled somehow. Limited. Those depths weren’t his to use as he willed.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t use any of it though. He pulled on a thread of that energy and called forth a spark of fire above his palm. It made the tattoos on his arms light up, and the fire that sprang to life wasn’t the tiny flickering flame he’d intended. It was a fireball that had even him jumping back.
He looked at Elijah, surprised.
Elijah laughed. “You should see how bright your eyes are glowing.”
Behind them, the front door slammed open. Kade hurried out onto the porch, his expression panicked. Victor followed at a more sedate pace.
Kade strode down the stairs toward them, and Elijah stepped away from Liam. “I should have known he’d feel that.”
Oh, yeah. Obviously, he would notice Liam pulling on his energy.
“We’re testing his magic,” Elijah explained, not bothering to raise his voice. “There’s no threat.”
Kade was so fixated on Liam, he either didn’t hear or didn’t believe Elijah.
“But while you’re here,” Elijah said, “we should have him test it further. We should make sure he can use your energy without blowing anything up. Otherwise, there could be issues.”
Liam winced, but if he couldn’t channel Kade’s energy without losing control, if his magic was unstable, he’d be a hindrance to the team.
So when Kade neared him, Liam reached out, and Kade’s hand found his.
When they touched, energy rubbed against him, wild but ready to be used. He opened himself up to it, and it filled him so full he gasped. With it came a total awareness of Kade—his body, his mind, their skin pressing together. How that wasn’t enough. How he needed more. Was that his thought or Kade’s? Did it matter? Either way, he was consumed by it, by all that energy, all those sensations. Was this what Elijah was talking about? What he experienced with Victor?
Kade shifted closer to him, his hand coming up to Liam’s neck, his body crowding into him, and Liam shivered, liking the possessive curl of Kade’s hand around his own, that warm scent coming off him.
“Ah, Liam?” Elijah’s voice broke through the fog Liam had gotten lost in. “You might want to use some of that magic before it explodes.”
Liam peeled his eyes open. The trees surrounding them were moving in a breeze caused by the sheer amount of magic he’d channeled. It swirled around him, waiting for his command.
He shook himself. Right. He needed to make something. With so much power available to him, he didn’t want to use fire. That seemed unwise in the middle of a forest when he couldn’t predict how big the spell would be. But there was another thing he wanted to try.
As his friends often reminded him, he was terrible at wards. Would he be better with this level of power?
Kade moved with him as he knelt, and Liam pressed a palm against the ground like he’d seen Elijah do a dozen times or more. Then he called up a ward, the best he could manage, pouring magic and energy into it. It was tempting to use every last drop, but he restrained himself.
The ward snapped into place between him and Elijah.
Liam stood, swaying from the magic he’d used. Kade’s hand fell from his neck to his waist, steadying him, and Liam leaned into his touch. Arousal sparked inside him, but he tried to calm himself, tried to regulate his breathing.
Elijah placed a hand against the barrier and studied the ward, amusement and curiosity written on his face. “This isn’t bad. It’s fairly strong.” He focused on it, his gaze getting distant as he sensed the threads, his mouth opening in a small gasp, but then he pulled his hand away, his expression shuttering. He shot a look at Victor before turning to Liam. “I wouldn’t have guessed you were capable of making this.”
“Thanks,” Liam said dryly, though he had to agree. Terrible at wards or not, this one was decent.
Regretfully, he dropped the barrier. Releasing Kade’s energy was even harder.
After he did, he caught Elijah sending Victor another look and Victor’s near imperceptible head tilt in return—the perfect communication of two people so closely linked that they knew each other’s every thought. But Liam was unable to follow.
Elijah’s next question was hesitant. “So… can you control it?”
Liam had almost lost himself in it. If Elijah hadn’t been there to jar him out of it, what would have happened? All he’d wanted to do was crawl into Kade, to get closer to him, to feel more of that energy.
“It’s intoxicating,” Elijah admitted, reading Liam’s uncertainty. “As shitty as it was to have my magic acting up for a month, it helped me get used to Victor’s energy. Once I was tethered to him properly, everything fell into place. I didn’t have to fight to control it; I could just welcome and accept it. I don’t know how I would have handled having immediate control over that level of power, and I’d rather not have you out in the forest until you’re certain you won’t get overwhelmed by it.”
Elijah wasn’t outright saying it, but Liam could read between the lines. He and Kade were a liability they couldn’t afford. None of them wanted a repeat of yesterday.
“My strong suit has always been research.”
“That’s probably for the best. Miles, Aran, and I can wrangle the worst of the spirits, and you can find out what they are.”
Liam nodded. It was what it was. He refused to drag down his team.
“Good thing I packed so many books,” he said with a humorless laugh. “Hopefully I can finally figure out how to destroy them too.”
It was too bad Miles and Aran hadn’t brought his books yesterday, but the plan had been to capture the spirits during the day, then do research in the evenings at the apartment. It made sense to leave most of the books at the shop, and considering how twitchy Kade became when people got close to him, being alone in the shop might ease his nerves. Or his wolf’s nerves? Liam wasn’t sure which.
They decided to grab breakfast before heading to the shop and had finished eating when Victor looked in the direction of the main road and said, “Miles and Aran just passed through the wards.”
A few minutes later, they met them in front of the house. On the way out, Liam hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. He'd packed the codex so he could make sigils as needed.
Aran pulled up, and he and Miles got out of his car. He went to tuck his keys into his pocket, and a jolt of surprise flashed in Liam’s head.
Liam glanced over at Kade, who was staring at Aran.
“Is that a DickHunt keychain?”
What was DickHunt? And what did that have to do with the weird little eggplant Aran had on his keychain?
“You know DickHunt?” An unholy light glittered in Aran’s eyes.
“Dude, who doesn’t? They’re legends!”
“Fuck yeah, they are.”
Liam exchanged a look with an equally confused Elijah.
“Are you on the forums?” Aran asked.
“Of fucking course. You?”
“Damn right I am. I’m MagicalHWood.”
“ Dude . No way. I’m KnottyWolf69!”
They proceeded to bro-hug each other, complete with back slaps.
Liam couldn’t get past ‘KnottyWolf69.’ That was Kade’s screen name on some forum? Jesus fucking Christ.
Kade looped an arm around Aran’s shoulders and turned toward them. “This bastard and I have been friends for years! I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve gotten off together.”
The number of what ? That didn’t sound friendly. Liam frowned. “You know each other… online?”
“Yeah. We met on the MateHub forums.”
Aran nodded solemnly. “Richard Knotz. The love of my life. Making people come together around the world.”
Elijah slapped a hand to his face. “I tried to keep them apart, but it was too late. All my efforts were for nothing!”
Kade grinned, his arm still slung around Aran. Which was not bothering Liam. Not in the slightest. Kade could touch whoever he wanted.
“I’ve always wondered. What does the H stand for?”
“Ecchi. It’s slang. Comes from hentai.”
“ Nice .”
Liam didn’t see how that was nice.
“Have you watched their latest scene? The one announcing Hunter’s merch?” Kade was all but bouncing with excitement.
“Do you even need to ask? Watched and preordered. That’s how I spent my night in the hotel on my way up here. It was so fucking hot.”
Liam’s mouth was hanging open, but he couldn’t bring himself to shut it. What the hell? Were they talking about videos on a porn site like they were a popular TV show?
“Right? Richard was about ready to kno—”
“OKAY,” Elijah said, cutting through their conversation. “We’ve got a lot to do today. So. We should do that.”
Liam agreed wholeheartedly. Anything would be better than standing around, listening to Kade and Aran discuss porn.
They executed some overly complicated handshake like they’d done it a thousand times before.
Kade pointed at Aran. “We’re talking later.”
It was one hundred percent bro energy, not even slightly flirty, but Liam didn’t want to think about them getting off together. Or talking about it.
“Please, no,” Elijah muttered under his breath.
Still confused, Liam followed Kade to his car. “Be careful,” he called to his friends.
Aran gave him a dramatic thumbs-up. “Will do, Li-mom! As fun as it sounds, I promise to avoid getting knotted in the forest.”
Liam sighed and got in Kade’s car. What did he expect?
As Kade pulled out onto the road, he glanced over. “So… Li-mom?”
Liam let out another sigh. “I’ve been told I worry too much. Apparently that makes me the group mom. But Elijah will work so hard he forgets to eat, and Aran will go home with any guy with an above-average dick, and Miles? Like Elijah said, Miles needs to be protected at all costs. He’s too sweet for this world.”
Kade chuckled. “And here I thought I had it bad taking care of an alpha who’s too repressed and self-sacrificing for his own good.”
“Elijah will keep him from getting too sacrificial.”
“And Victor will make sure Elijah has plenty to eat. I can’t guarantee it’ll always be a balanced meal though.”
Liam shot him a flat look.
“Ass,” Kade said, as if that required clarification. “I’m talking about Elijah eating—”
“YEP. Got it. Thanks.” That was not an image Liam cared to have in his head.
They settled into silence. Liam hadn’t realized how long the drive was when he and his friends had made it the previous morning, but a day later, it seemed to stretch on forever.
He gazed out the window and tried to think of it the way Elijah would. He was their best researcher; there was no question about that. If anyone was going to find out what was happening, it would be him. As much as he didn’t like it, maybe this was where he needed to be. This was what he needed to do.
And Elijah was right. He had to get comfortable using Kade’s energy before they could safely work in a potentially volatile situation.
He took out his phone and wrote an email to the head librarian, explaining that his family emergency would take longer to handle than he’d expected. Initially, he’d taken a week and a half off, so he requested an extension. Since he worked on his own most days, doing a project that wasn’t a high priority, it wouldn’t be an issue. While the librarians thought archiving the library was a decent idea, they didn’t think it was critical. Most of them were in their late sixties or older, so it wasn’t too surprising. It had irritated him before, but it might play to his benefit. At worst, he’d run out of vacation time and have to go unpaid for a few weeks.
Well, no. At worst, someone would decide his tiny office would make a wonderful storage room, and he’d have to excavate it from mountains of boxes to reach his desk and scanner. But he’d deal with that.
Plus, he hadn’t taken a day off in the year he’d been working there. He had some time saved up.
While he waited for the reply, he studied Kade. Wind whipped through the open windows, stirring his loose hair. His jaw was clenched, and his knuckles were white on the wheel. There was a murmur in Liam he couldn’t identify, but looking at Kade, it was obvious. He was frustrated about getting benched. Liam enjoyed research; he doubted Kade was the type to spend hours of his free time combing through books on some obscure topic for fun.
“There’s a workspace on the second floor above the shop,” Liam said. “We can take occasional breaks from researching so I can practice using your energy, if you’re okay with that.”
Some of the tension bled out of Kade’s shoulders. “If that’ll get us out there helping again, whatever you need.”
Once they were in Elijah’s apartment, Liam headed over to the books Aran and Miles had piled up while emptying his suitcases to gather his things. All it took was a glance to make him wince. He loved his friends, but they needed to learn how to organize books.
“What’s wrong?” Kade asked.
“No, it’s nothing. They just mixed the books from my suitcases and backpack together.”
“And that’s… bad?”
“The ones in the suitcases were sorted by overarching topics—summoning, exorcism, and the like—and then subtopics. They’re still mostly by topic, but the subtopics got disorganized. And the ones in my backpack are for my personal research on mage history, in case there’s downtime, so those should be separate. But it’s okay. It’ll only take a minute to sort out.”
“You brought… research? For downtime… during your research?”
“Of course. What else would I read?”
Kade’s brow furrowed like he’d spoken a foreign language, and Liam suppressed the urge to justify himself. Instead, he selected a few books that dealt with the types and classifications of spirits, avoiding the ones about possession, and passed them over to Kade.
With a resigned expression, Kade took them, then glanced around the apartment. He gestured to the closed windows. “It’s stuffy in here. Do you mind if I open those?”
It wasn’t stuffy at all, but Liam doubted that was the real issue. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
Kade opened the windows, then walked to the small kitchen table, sat down, and dove in.
Liam had the books organized in no time, though he did wish he had shelves for them, but that wasn’t happening.
With that finished, he had one more thing to take care of before he got down to business figuring out what these damn spirits were.
On his laptop, he pulled up the notes he’d taken while researching bonds when Elijah’s magic was acting up. He knew what was written there, but wanted to confirm he hadn’t missed anything. He skimmed the document until he hit the relevant section.
Severing Shifter Bonds
RARELY DONE
Requires a mage to sever the bond.
A bonded mage cannot sever their own bond like they could sever a tether.
Most recorded instances performed by pack mages.
Familiarity with using shifter energy and working with pack bonds is highly advisable.
Also advisable the mage is strong, particularly in the case of long-established bonds, or bonds involving pack alphas or betas.
MUST happen on a new moon.
Diminished lunar energy makes the bond more susceptible to mage intervention.
Traces of the bond may remain if attempted outside the conjunction phase.
Ritual graded adept level with high intensity and basic complexity.
While it has straightforward instructions and minimal variations, it does require significant amounts of energy manipulation and concentration.
Ritual should never be interrupted. One book warns of “profound consequences,” though the exact nature is unclear. (Incomplete bond severing? Lingering effects? Death or injury? Making the bond impossible to sever?)
Ritual requires minimal preparation and supplies.
The bonded pair must be in close proximity to each other and the mage. Touching skin is required.
A diluted tincture of wolfsbane can be taken by the bonded pair to further dampen the energy that sustains the bond. Ratio of 1:20 or weaker suggested by most sources to ensure it only temporarily sickens the shifters. (Not required.)
See following page for full ritual details.
Major side effects seem limited.
Temporary disorientation and confusion appear most common.
Dissolving the bond is irreversible.
Cannot be reestablished once severed.
However, bonds with others are possible. This does appear to be rare though.
So, regardless of their desires, they were stuck with this bond for three weeks.
He reread the ritual. Elijah could do it. It wouldn’t even require that much magic.
Liam had left his plane ticket open-ended because he hadn’t known how long it would take to clean up the mess with the spirits, but hopefully that would be over by then and he could head home the day after the new moon.
His gaze caught on one of the bullet points. “ Major side effects seem limited .” Kade had made it sound like there could be a great deal of pain involved. None of Liam’s research had indicated anything of the sort.
“Hey,” he said. Kade’s relief was palpable as he looked up from the book. “You mentioned that severing shifter bonds can be painful?”
Kade appeared less thrilled about the topic. “I think it depends on the bond itself, like how deep it is. There are MateHub stars who do transactional bonds so they can film knotting scenes, but most never do those contracts more than once. I’m assuming that’s because breaking the bond after a few dozen scenes is too painful for it to be worth the money. It’s part of the reason Richard Knotz is such a legend. He did it over a dozen times. But he’s the exception, not the rule.”
“That seems like a logical theory. Are there other side effects?”
“It’s not a topic we commonly discuss, so everything I’ve heard is rumor at best. There are stories that float around. They say severing a well-established, wanted bond is painful to the point of death, and after a bond is severed, there can be residual pain from a phantom bond. There’s a period of adjustment too. You need to relearn how to be yourself as an individual. It’s like a mourning period similar to what you’d have if your mate died.”
That tracked with what Elijah had explained that morning. It wasn’t what Liam was feeling, but then, Kade had said their bond was shallow.
Liam started typing.
“What are you writing?”
“I’m updating my notes on severing bonds.”
Kade’s panic stabbed at him, intense enough that he whipped his head up in surprise.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.”
“Oh.” Liam blinked at his half-finished bullet point.
Can cause pain, even de
He swallowed. “You think a mage would use that against you?”
Kade shrugged, his discomfort apparent.
“They’d need to be close to a bonded pair, on a new moon, with the intention of harming them. No mage would do that.”
Kade looked away, then back. “Entire packs were wiped out by mages.”
“But that was retaliation for the abductions.”
“ Entire packs . Including children. I’m not claiming the abductions weren’t fucked up and wrong, or that most of the pack wasn’t complicit, but children ?”
That was valid. Almost no one’s hands had been clean during that period of their history, but Liam could never condone slaughtering children in the name of revenge.
He hit backspace until the bullet point was deleted. The notes were his, and he had no intention of sharing them outside his closest friends, but he could understand Kade’s concern. “I won’t write it down, but I do appreciate you giving me a heads-up about it.”
Something eased in Kade’s presence. The stiff line of his shoulders relaxed.
Liam’s phone chimed, and he opened the notification.
Miles
First spirit of the day: Nausea. Sigil, please?
There appears to be reception here, and we're out of the spirit's area of influence, so we're resting for a bit.
If you need me, I'll be vomiting up everything I've ever eaten.
Liam winced and grabbed his sigil codex.
“What’d they find?”
“Nausea, apparently.”
Kade pulled a face. “Kinda glad we avoided that one.”
“Same. Not upset I only have to make the sigil for it.”
Liam
Here you go.
Get some electrolytes if you did throw up.
And remember to be careful!
He sent Miles the sigil and got a thumbs-up in reply.
Now that he thought about it, this could work out well. If he were in the forest, there might not be enough reception for him to make sigils for everyone as they went. But this way, they could identify one or two, get to a place with reception, and he could make the sigils straight away.
Maybe he wasn’t benched after all.
With that settled, he picked out half a dozen books, then dropped into the second chair at the table.
He cracked open An Exorcist’s Guide to Evil Entities he just didn’t see much use in blowing things up.
“And creating spells,” Kade said.
“What?”
“Exploding things and making spells. Or sigils, or whatever.”
“Yes, but only creating and modifying them. I’m not great at doing them. When we were apprentices, Elijah and I would brainstorm together. I’d create the spells, but he was the one who could do them. We made a good team. I’d figure out the theory, and he’d handle the practical stuff. He has the impressive repertoire of spells he can use.”
Ever since Liam had begun using magic, the spark of inspiration to create something new had been intuitive to him. It required knowing how pieces needed to fit together and balance each other out, but he couldn’t always do the spells he created.
“And research,” Kade added.
“Anyone can do research.”
Kade leveled a disbelieving look at him. “I was five seconds away from smothering myself with a two-hundred-year-old book.”
“I didn’t say everyone would enjoy it.”
Kade snorted. “And reading in multiple languages.”
“Of course. That’s a given. How else would I research properly?”
“Sure. You’re only good at explosions. We’ll ignore the creating spells, researching, and speaking, what? A dozen languages?”
“Ten,” Liam grumbled. “And most of them are magical or dead, so I can’t actually speak them.”
“I guess if it’s only ten…”
“All the other guys know at least two.”
“Two, ten. Very similar numbers, what with them starting with T and having three letters.”
“How did you know I spoke another language?”
“The third book you were reading. It was written in… runes?”
He hadn’t realized Kade had been paying attention. “Ancient Germanic.”
“Ah, yeah. Who isn’t fluent in that by the end of grade school?”
“Fine. I don’t just blow things up. Happy?”
“Extremely. Now I want to see you blow some shit up. Also, I should get bonus points for not making the obvious joke when you said you’re excellent at warming people up.”
Liam grinned and shook his head, then focused on the candles.
“I’m going to try to use my magic without drawing on your energy. That way, I can get a feel for the new baseline level of power at my disposal.”
Taking a breath, Liam accessed his magic, attempting to keep the amount he channeled to a minimum.
He zeroed in on the center candle and snapped his fingers… then flinched back, cursing, as a massive fireball billowed over the candles. The entire row was alight, though the middle few had been half-melted from the heat.
“I… I was kidding about you exploding things,” Kade said, staring at the candles.
“I wasn’t, but I didn’t think it’d be that big.”
“That’s what he said.”
Liam did not laugh at that. Not even a little. That wasn’t his brand of humor. “Once I’ve had some practice, I’ll be able to handle it better.”
Kade leered at him, and Liam rolled his eyes. Yeah, he’d heard it.
“Is this the whole metaphorical shifter dick thing you were talking about yesterday?”
Liam groaned. “I knew I’d regret telling you that. But essentially, yes. Your big metaphorical shifter dick has stretched my channels wide open, and I have to adjust to its girth before we use it for anything fun. And if you tell any of the guys I said that, your metaphorical dick will be the only one you have.”
“Understood.” Kade failed spectacularly at the somber tone he was attempting.
It took three more tries until Liam could light a single candle without producing a fireball.
Kade clapped.
“Okay,” Liam said. “Now the difficult part. Let’s see what happens when I—”
“Take my massive meta—”
“ Energy .”
Kade snickered, and Liam’s lips twitched with something that was not a smile.
“One of the first exercises mages learn to do is meditate with our magic. We hold it and get the feel of it, try to notice everything we can about it, be as aware of it as we can be. So I’ll attempt to channel a thread of your energy and meditate with it.”
“Did Victor and Elijah need to do that?”
“No. Like Elijah mentioned this morning, he had a month’s worth of problems with his magic because of Victor’s energy. After all that, it’s easy for him, but I’ve been thrown into the deep end, haven’t used shifter energy for over a year, and have never been great at the practical use of magic. Don’t get me wrong, I will outperform Elijah on any theoretical test you give us, and I’ll run circles around him when it comes to creating spells. But it’s going to be harder for me to get used to your energy. That said, it won’t take me a month as long as we’re practicing.”
“Fair enough. Whatever you need.”
Liam held out his hand, and Kade took it. The connections between them opened wider, and Liam sucked in a breath, his eyes sliding shut.
Fuck, that was good.
Kade’s energy flooded into him, a rush of endorphins like nothing he’d experienced before. The few occasions he’d used shifter energy as an apprentice, it had been with older shifters—low in the pack hierarchy, low in energy. It’d taken work to connect to them. But this? This was easy .
This was being filled impossibly full as energy coursed through his body. He wasn’t actively using it yet, just letting the intoxicating rush sweep through him. He shifted his weight where he sat, his clothes rubbing against his skin—too harsh and restrictive, his pants too tight.
When was the last time he’d been this turned on by magic? It wasn’t uncommon for mages to get aroused when channeling, especially when they first experimented with large amounts of magic and powerful spells. They eventually got used to it.
He wasn’t used to this. He let out a shaky exhale, more of a sigh than anything.
Kade’s presence was a bright fire, blazing lust in an endless feedback loop, want and need spiraling deeper and deeper inside Liam.
He felt pulled toward Kade, their bond demanding he get closer.
A low rumble built in Kade’s chest, and it tempted Liam to crawl into his lap, to press against him, to feel that sound vibrate into his body.
Liam’s eyes drifted open, and he found Kade staring at him, his wolf making itself known in an amber flash. He looked ready to spring forward and pin Liam down, like Liam was his prey. If the energy and magic zinging through his system hadn’t gotten Liam hard, that gaze would have.
Kade growled, leaning closer. He inhaled deeply, his eyelids hooded, his teeth showing in a predatory approximation of a smile.
Their lust entwined, and Liam shivered, fixating on Kade’s mouth. They hadn’t kissed in the forest. There’d been nothing intimate about what they’d done. It figured he’d somehow gotten bonded without kissing the guy first. That was not the proper order of operations. They should rectify that.
Liam wet his lips, and Kade’s eyes tracked the motion. His expression was ravenous enough that it made Liam want to lay himself out like a feast to be devoured.
Kade moved closer still. Greedy hands pulled Liam in. Kade’s breath was hot against his skin as he brought his nose to his neck, another pleased rumble thrumming through him.
In Liam’s pocket, his phone buzzed multiple times in rapid succession.
He jerked away from Kade. The sudden loss of all that energy hit him like a punch. Winded, he dug for his phone, refusing to look at Kade.
There were four messages from Aran.
Aran
RASHES.
UGH.
EVEN MY DAMN BALLS ITCH.
I take it back. Getting knotted would be so much better than this.
Liam’s cheeks burned, and he angled the phone so Kade couldn’t see the screen.
He got up and adjusted himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kade do the same.
“What is it this time?” Kade’s voice was rough, stroking along Liam’s spine.
Liam cleared his throat as he walked over to his bag. “Rashes.”
“That lust spirit keeps getting more appealing.”
“Aran said the same thing.” Liam got to work making the sigil. The prickly lines and pieces fell into place as he flipped through the codex. He then took a picture of the sketch and sent it.
Liam
Has the rash gone away?
Should I pick up some ointment for you?
Let me know!
He took longer than necessary to close his book and notebook, but he needed to collect himself.
“Okay.” He sat next to Kade again. “Touching is a bad idea. At least for the time being.”
“It doesn’t feel like a bad idea, but yeah. I regret that we can’t take advantage of this. Does magic always affect you like that? How do you ever get any work done?”
“To a much lesser extent, yes. Your first advanced spells can be really embarrassing, but you get used to it, and we’ll get used to this. Also, concentration is required for magic. When doing spells and rituals, we have to focus on the task at hand. That keeps us from thinking about—”
“Other things that could be at hand?”
“Yeah. That.”
Liam channeled a tiny thread of his magic and summoned a ball of fire. He held it, staring into the flame, trying to sense his magic and decide what to do next.
“Isn’t that hot? When Elijah does it, it’s more like a ball of light, but you’re holding fire. Actual fire. How are you not getting burned?”
“Oh, no. I can’t get burned by my own fire. Unless something goes seriously sideways. And my fire affinity helps protect me from fire in general. It redirects the heat around me.”
“That explains your resistance to my hotness.”
Liam scoffed, then paused. “Wait. Technically, you have some of my magic in you. There’s an exchange, even if you can’t use it like a mage would. I wonder…”
He held out the flame to Kade.
Kade stared at him, incredulous, but Liam kept his hand there, waiting for him.
After another suspicious look, Kade tentatively reached out until his fingers brushed the flame. His eyes widened, and he ran his hand through it.
“It’s… it’s warm, but it’s not painful.”
Liam had to smile at Kade’s shell-shocked reaction. He tilted his hand, dumping the flame into Kade’s. Kade blinked at it, stunned. It dimmed, but stayed alight.
Now that surprised Liam. He’d assumed it’d extinguish after a second or two, that Kade wouldn’t have enough magic in his system to sustain it, but traces of Liam’s magic plus Kade’s energy seemed to be sufficient.
An idea popped into his head, and he was too curious not to give it a try. He centered himself, then pushed his magic into Kade through their connection, reversing the tether. The flame flared before it stabilized.
Kade looked up at him, a hint of orange coloring his irises. “Did you just feed me some of your metaphorical mage dick?”
Liam couldn’t stop himself from snickering. “Maybe just the tip.”
“Fuck, if that’s how the tip feels…” Kade bounced the flame in his hand, testing the weight of it, though it had no true mass. “Here. Catch.”
He lobbed the ball of fire at Liam.
“Jesus fucking Christ. DON’T THROW FIRE.” Liam scrambled, but managed to catch it, the tiniest wisp of a flame clinging to his fingertips. It latched on to his magic and grew until it returned to its original size.
A grin spread across Liam’s face. “I have an idea.”
He didn’t need to say anything else; Kade was already scooting a few arms’ lengths away.
Liam considered how to do this. “Okay, I think if I keep feeding you my magic, this will work.”
“Bring it on. Give me more of that mage dick of yours.”
This was what he got for bringing up Aran’s ridiculous theory.
He carefully fed magic through the tether. Kade pressed his eyes shut, his head tilting from side to side, a hum escaping his lips. “That’s… that’s such a strange sensation. Like your magic is filling me up. I want…” He swallowed. “Can you give me more?”
It would have been impossible not to. Liam pushed more magic into him and got a breathy groan as a reward.
“Damn.” Kade shifted his weight like he couldn’t help himself. “That’s… that’s so good. Kind of tingling from the inside out. Is this how you feel when you’re using my energy? Fuck me. I’ve taken massive dicks that haven’t filled me this full.”
And that was not a mental image Liam needed when he wasn’t allowed to get himself off for three weeks.
Kade shook himself. “As much as I regret saying this, if we want to accomplish anything other than me coming in my pants, let’s stick to just the tip.”
Liam eased back the magic he was transferring, and Kade cracked his neck. He could not have been comfortable with the way he was straining his jeans. Liam’s dick gave a throb of sympathy.
“Okay, that’s definitely something I’ll have to remember for the future,” Kade said, giving Liam a rueful look. “So, any and all practicing with magic is going to be a constant state of blue balls, isn’t it?”
“Seems like it.”
“Fun times. Let’s go. Throw that fire at me.”
Liam had practically forgotten the ball of fire he was holding. To do this, he’d need to keep channeling a stream of magic into Kade while maintaining the fireball until Kade caught it. Then his magic in Kade’s system should sustain it. It’d take concentration, but he could do that—theoretically.
He tossed the fireball gently toward Kade. It fizzled out halfway there.
Liam readjusted his magic, then tried again. The ball got farther, but still didn’t make it.
“Shouldn’t you be using more of my energy? I can’t sense you pulling on it.”
Kade was right; Liam was avoiding it.
Relaxing, he let Kade’s energy fill him. It was so distracting that it made it challenging to continue feeding magic to Kade, to balance the flow.
There was a give and take. A little of his magic in exchange for a little of Kade’s energy. It took some tweaking, but then it clicked. Their connections balanced out—energy flowing into him, magic flowing into Kade. The same way it did when they were touching, but not as overwhelming.
He stared at Kade, seeing his own wonder reflected back.
“Are we… did we achieve simultaneous metaphorical dick penetration? A metaphysical sixty-nine?” Kade asked.
“I… I think we did?”
And fuck, did it feel good. But he could handle this. He got too much energy when they touched, but this small, tempered exchange was more controlled. Larger spells were still out of the question, but this gave him something to practice with, and it might help him learn how to control the connection between them better. He could build up a tolerance to using Kade’s energy.
He lobbed a fireball at Kade. It dimmed halfway between them, and Liam’s breath hitched. The seconds stretched out, but when Kade caught the ball, it rekindled to a steady flame.
Kade grinned at it, then looked at Liam, raising one eyebrow in question. Liam nodded, and Kade threw the fireball back.
It wasn’t always smooth; sometimes it almost went out as they passed it, but with each throw, it became easier, the fire feeding off Liam’s magic, then Kade’s energy in turns.
Liam’s phone chimed, and the balanced connection between them teetered, the flame guttering out. But they’d kept it up for a full ten minutes without either of them trying to screw each other or Liam losing control of his magic. That was one hell of an improvement.
Liam opened the group chat.
Elijah
Allergies. The hay fever, sneezing kind, not the throat closing up food allergy kind, if that matters.
Liam flipped through the codex, debating whether it mattered. Were all allergies allergies, or were there different kinds? While he pondered that, he sent a message of his own.
Liam
Have you ever given some of your magic to Victor?
Elijah
There's a natural transfer anytime I use Victor's energy.
The bond and tether seem to balance out, and he ends up with some of my magic.
Liam
How about intentionally?
Elijah
Oh, yeah. If you want a real wild time, transfer magic into him with your fingers as you're stretching him open.
Liam
What?
No.
There is no stretching happening.
There will be no stretching happening.
Aran
Excuse me? I came to ask for a sigil for headaches, but instead, what's this? I'd like more information. What exactly are you stretching?
Liam
THERE IS NO STRETCHING HAPPENING!
He should have sent that message privately, not in the group chat.
Aran
It sounds like there should be.
Liam
I meant through the tether, Elijah.
Reversing the connection and feeding him your magic.
Elijah
Ooh. I'd never thought of that. We'll give it a try.
Liam
Uh.
Wait until tonight.
In your bedroom.
Aran
I definitely need more details now. Why am I just hearing about this?
Miles
I did NOT need to know any of that.
Sigil for air pollution, please.
And one that will make me forget what I just read.
Liam made the three sigils and sent them over.
Liam
Here you go.
Be careful when you're catching them!
I don't want any of you hurt.
Aran
Always, Li-mom. You enjoy that stretching! And tell us the details later!
Miles
Or don't.
Liam
Yeah, don't is good.
He turned to find Kade watching him.
“Allergies, headaches, and air pollution.”
“And which of those three was making you blush?”
“Uh. Shall we try again?”
Kade shot him a knowing look but dropped the subject, scooting another arm’s length away. “Let’s do this.”
They practiced for the better part of an hour, working their way farther apart, occasionally stopping so Liam could make a sigil.
Liam found Kade remarkably easy to talk to, even with the dick jokes and offhanded flirting.
“You and Elijah are close?” Kade asked, tossing the fireball.
Liam caught it, then threw it back. “He’s basically my brother. I’ve got a younger brother and two younger sisters, too, but they’re much younger. Elijah and I have been pretty inseparable since we met.”
“Must have been weird moving so far from him then.”
“Yeah. During our apprenticeship, we lived together. I still have moments when I want to tell him something and then remember I have to do it via message instead of yelling at him from the other room. So as shitty as these circumstances are, I’m glad I get to see him.
“I’d assumed someday Elijah would move out to the East Coast too. To a bigger city there, since that’s where the highest concentration of magic shops are located. Clearly that’s not happening now, but I’m glad he’s so content out here, even if it does mean he won’t be moving near me.”
“You could move out here.”
“That’s never happening.”
Kade nearly missed the fireball, but snagged it on his fingertips. “Why not?”
“I’ve got the archive to get up and running, and then there’s my research on magical history. Neither of those are things I can do out here. But what about you? Elijah told me you and Victor are close? I believe he said you’re four years older than Victor?”
“Five,” Kade corrected quickly. “And yes. He’s also like a brother to me. Though a younger, ‘pain in my ass because he’s so stupid sometimes’ brother.”
“So… a brother? Aren’t they supposed to be pains in the ass, whether they’re blood or otherwise?”
“Fair point. It is in the job description.”
“That it is.” Liam caught the fireball and let it extinguish, then reluctantly released Kade’s energy, trembling as it left his body.
He took a second to assess himself. He was mildly turned on, but not in danger of ripping Kade’s clothes off. His magic felt stable. Kade’s presence in his mind was still distant and unreadable. Not bad for their first practice session.
“Okay. It’s been over an hour. We should get back to researching.”
Kade groaned. “I was afraid you’d say that.” But he dutifully trailed after Liam up the stairs to the apartment.
Lady was already there, perched on the books, waiting for them. She hadn’t been inside when they’d left. It was creepy how she did that.
Liam had to assume she’d chosen the pile of books for his personal research as her throne out of spite, plotting to shed as much fur on them as possible.
She glared at them as they took their seats at the kitchen table, but before they could start reading, Liam’s phone rang. He pulled it out and cursed when he read the name on the screen.
“You alright there?” Kade asked.
“It’s my mom.”
“Oh, you should get that. Guess we’ll have to take a break.”
Liam shook his head, but he was grinning. “Fine. Just don’t make any noise.”
He went over to sit on the bed, his back against the wall so there was zero chance of Kade wandering into the frame, then answered the video call.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hello.” She peered around.
“They aren’t here,” Liam said before she could ask.
“Aw, I was hoping to catch all four of my adult boys at once. Where is everyone?”
“They’re out, but I wanted to get some reading done, so I’m staying here.”
Across the room, Kade cocked an eyebrow, but Liam ignored him. He’d explain later. There was no way in hell he was telling his mom what was actually happening. She’d fly out there and try to defeat the spirits single-handedly for daring to mess with her boys.
“And have you met Elijah’s shifter yet?”
“We have. Victor seems very nice.”
Bridget poked her head into view. “Hey, Liam!” She waved as she walked past. But then she froze. Slowly, she turned to squint at the screen. She leaned in, getting closer, her eyes wide. “What’s that on your neck?”
Liam’s hand flew up, his stomach sinking as he realized the bite mark was peeking out over the collar of his sweater.
His gaze locked with Kade’s, panic echoing in equal measures through their bond.
Oh fuck. He hadn’t checked if it was showing before he answered.
“Wait. It’s not what it looks like. I can explain.”
She shrieked. “OH MY GOD. ARE YOU BONDED TO A HOT ALPHA SHIFTER TOO? DO YOU HAVE A TRUE BOND LIKE ELIJAH?”
His mom pulled the phone out of Bridget’s grasp. He had no idea how her expression managed to be shocked, hopeful, worried, and demanding answers all at once.
“Liam?” The threat of his middle name loomed in the air.
Liam winced. “I can explain. It’s temporary for a project we’re doing. Nothing to worry about. It’s just until the new moon.”
His mom frowned. “Was that really necessary?”
“OH MY GOD! Do you have an arranged bond? No, no! Those are the BEST BONDS. Listen! He secretly loves you and yearns for you because YOU ARE HIS FATED MATE, but he doesn’t know how to—”
His mom covered Bridget’s mouth with her hand.
He risked a glance at Kade, only to find him frozen in place, eyebrows at his hairline.
“Who is this shifter?” his mom demanded. “I want to meet him.”
“It’s temporary, Mom. You don’t need to do that.”
“I will be the judge of who I do and don’t need to meet. And if you’re bonded to a shifter, temporarily or not, I need to meet him.”
“Aaahh…” Liam looked at Kade, who shrugged. “Okay. Hold on.”
He muted the video call. “If you say anything inappropriate, so help me, I will make a fur hat out of you.”
Kade walked over and sat next to him. “Your sister, or whoever that was, might be more of a threat as far as saying inappropriate things.”
Liam couldn’t argue with him on that. He unmuted the call and held the phone to include Kade in the shot. “This is—”
“OH MY GOD, HE IS SO HO—” His mom’s hand cut off the rest of Bridget’s sentence, but she still managed to mumble, “He’s kinda old though.”
“Kade,” Liam finished. “He’s Victor’s second.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Kade said.
His mom was having none of it. “And what are your intentions with my son?”
“Ah…” Kade’s gaze darted to Liam. “Liam is helping our pack, and he, uh, needed access to my energy. So we’re bonded, but just for a few weeks.”
Well, that wasn’t a lie. Liam had to give him credit for that. He didn’t like lying to his mother. Not telling her everything, sure, but he always tried to avoid flat-out lying.
“Wait.” Bridget knocked away their mom’s hand. “That means you and my brother had… EW. GROSS. I don’t wanna think about my brother doing that .”
Liam was too distracted by the supremely unhappy expression on his mother’s face to respond.
“So. Kade.” Oh god. She didn’t even know Kade’s middle name, and it still hung like a threat over them. “You’re the type to do a transactional bond for the sake of power? Do bonds mean nothing to you?”
Liam opened his mouth to defend Kade somehow. Before he could get a word out, Kade was speaking.
“A true bond is a fate one such as myself can only dare to aspire to. For as the moon casts its silvery glow upon tranquil waters, so does a true bond cast its luminous radiance upon the lives of those blessed enough to bathe in its glorious effulgence.”
…What?
Both his mother and sister sat up straighter. They traded a look, a truly disturbing amount of agreement passing between them, then leaned in, staring at Kade with a rabid glint in their eyes.
“I have heard it told a true bond is the music of the soul,” his mom intoned.
Kade nodded gravely. “It is a symphony resonating in harmonious accord, where the strings of affection are plucked by the masterful hands of fate itself, a delicate melody of emotions, the ethereal cadence of two souls perfectly entwined.”
Liam looked between the phone and Kade. His mother and sister were almost clinging to each other, their expressions growing more manic.
“Such a wondrous joining of the souls shall surely spring forth effortlessly,” his mother said.
What the hell were they talking about?
Kade shook his head. “A rose does not bloom overnight. Its roots must delve deep into the soil of trust, drawing sustenance from the wellspring of understanding. Like the petals of a rare and exquisite flower unfurling to the kiss of the sun, a true bond blossoms under the nurturing light of genuine affection.”
“A rose may hold fast to its thorns, guarding its fragrant heart.”
“But a careful hand may navigate those defenses, discovering the tenderness within, embracing both barriers and blossoms.” Kade responded without hesitation, the words a long-winded shibboleth that had his mother and sister nodding approvingly, though they left Liam even more confused.
His mother let out a relieved sigh. “I’m so glad Liam is bonded to someone with such good taste.”
“Temporarily,” Liam said. “ Temporarily bonded to.”
No one was listening to him.
“I’m looking forward to meeting you when we visit, Kade. We were planning sometime after the holidays, but I think we’re going to have to make it sooner. Or, could you make it out here? I know it’ll be difficult for Elijah to get his Victor away from your pack, but we’d love to have you for the weekend. We’ll pay for your travel, dear.”
What was happening? Why was his mother talking to Kade as if he were family?
“DAD,” Bridget yelled, “ANDREA, FINLEY. LIAM GOT MATED TO A SHIFTER TOO. COME MEET HIM. HE’S TOTALLY HOT BUT KINDA OLD. LIKE, THIRTY OR SOMETHING GROSS.”
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose.
That caused as much chaos as he’d been afraid it would. His other two siblings spilled into the room, followed by his father.
Liam introduced them to Kade. “It’s temporary,” he stressed.
“That’s what you said when you rescued Alexandria. It was ‘temporary’ until we found her owner, but somehow that ‘temporary’ lasted ten years. And now you’ve got yourself a wolf.”
Kade leaned in and, under his breath, asked, “Did she just compare me to a stray dog or something?”
“Yep.” Why was this his life? Why was his family like this? Was this his punishment for teasing Elijah?
At least the rest of his family weren’t as bad as his mom and Bridget. His brother seemed unimpressed, but that was the age he was at. His father was as calm as ever, and his youngest sister mainly seemed bewildered. She cocked her head.
“Does this mean you’re a wolf shifter now? That’s how werewolves happen in movies. They bite people.”
“No,” Bridget said. “This isn’t that kind of biting. When they bond, they have to—”
His mother’s hand was over her mouth again, and not a moment too soon. Bridget glared, disgruntled, and Liam knew Andrea would be getting an earful the next time they were alone. He just hoped he didn’t end up with three people in his family obsessed with romance novels.
“Ah,” Kade said, a hint of nerves in his tone. “That’s a different bite. Alphas have to do it while intending to turn the person into a shifter. It requires a lot of the alpha’s energy and is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved, so it’s rarely done anymore. And it doesn’t work on mages because of your magic. Only humans.”
Liam’s phone flashed with a message from Elijah.
“Sorry, guys. Elijah’s trying to get a hold of me. We need to go.”
He wasn’t remotely sorry.
“Okay,” his mother said. “But next time, I expect to see all of you. Elijah’s Victor, too. And, Kade, I hope to meet you in person soon.”
“You too, Mrs. Batiste.”
“Mom,” she corrected.
“OKAY, MOM, GOTTA GO BYE.” Liam ended the call and slumped back, covering his face with a hand. “I’m so sorry.”
Kade laughed. “They seem sweet. Should I call my parents so we can see how that goes?”
“Oh god. Was that not enough for you? Are you trying to kill me?” Liam paused. “Hold on. Your parents? Aren’t they in the pack?”
He felt like an ass for not asking sooner, but he supposed if they had been in the pack, he would have met them last night.
“Ah. No. My mother’s originally from the East Coast. They rejoined her pack a few years ago. Victor’s father and mine are brothers, but they never got along. So when Victor’s father started getting power hungry, my parents decided it’d be better to be elsewhere. But I couldn’t leave Victor to face that shit alone, so I stayed behind.”
“Where on the East Coast?”
“Near Boston.”
“That’s close to the library.”
Kade stood. “If I’m ever out there visiting them, you’ll have to show me around.”
“Sure,” Liam said offhandedly, but there was a more pressing issue to discuss. “Why did you suddenly sound like some overwritten romance novel?”
Kade froze, then gave him a cheeky grin. “You caught me. I’m the shifter version of Fabio. You can see my hair blowing in the wind, my ripped shirt displaying my rippling abs, on dozens of manchest covers.”
“Man… chest… covers?”
Kade glanced around, his eyes landing on the piles of books on the table. He groaned. “You know, the thing none of your books have. Thank your family for me. They momentarily made me forget the mind-numbing research that’s in my future.”
“Would it help if the grimoires had… manchests on them?”
“It’d give me something pretty to look at.”
Liam wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said, “Let’s get back to it.”
He checked Elijah’s message and sent him a sigil for jealousy, then settled in at the table.
They got through a few more books before Kade cheerfully volunteered to grab lunch.
As soon as he was gone, Liam pulled out his phone.
Liam
Aran, I need your help.
He then outlined what he wanted Aran to do that evening, and if he snickered while he was typing it up, well, no one was there to hear him.
Except Lady, who would judge him either way.
Five minutes later, Aran replied with a string of laughing emojis.
Aran
ON IT. Oh, man. Bonded Liam is FUN Liam. You never would have thought of this before.
Miles
We're stopping for lunch, and Aran is rubbing his hands together with glee.
Liam, you've unleashed a monster.
Liam
I refuse to admit I'm excited to see the chaos he's about to cause.
He was still chuckling to himself when Kade returned with their food. Kade narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but he’d have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
“Let’s eat so we can do more research.”
Kade groaned. “Oh, awesome .”
They made it through a little less than a suitcase of books before it was time to head back to the pack house for dinner. That was two suitcases down with no answers. Liam tucked a few books into his bag but left the rest. Kade did seem more relaxed with them alone, and the workroom was perfect for practicing.
Hopefully they’d have better luck tomorrow, but even if it didn’t pan out, he still had something to look forward to.