Chapter Five – Holy Fuck #2
My hand twitches with the urge to touch her, and I don’t fight it.
I lift it slowly and place it gently against her face.
Her skin is warm and soft against my palm.
And suddenly, I’m hyper-aware of the calluses at the base of my thumb and along the lower edge of my hand, rough patches earned from years of handling, gripping and reloading my gun.
But she doesn’t seem to mind, because when she opens her eyes, she smiles at me.
And this is it. That’s the moment.
This is my person. My nyra.
The one I’ll touch for the rest of my life. The lily scent that’ll weave itself into our nest.
Shane moves last, and he’s the boldest. He leans down slowly, almost reverently, and presses his lips to her forehead with infinite tenderness.
For a moment, we all breathe together, four heartbeats in sync for the first time.
When I lower my hand and Shane straightens, all three of us just stand there, wearing the same stunned smile, until she speaks again. “I’ll probably be discharged tonight. Can you guys stay with me? If you do, Alice can go home.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” I say firmly.
And I mean it. I don’t care what the rules say. I don’t care what her family thinks. I don’t care what the MAB decides.
We’re not leaving her.
Not now. Not ever.
“Thanks,” she sighs. “I feel bad. Alice has a four-year-old and lives five hours away. And we might as well use the time to get to know each other.”
Shane’s already halfway to the door. “Want me to call her for you?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
As soon as he opens the door, Commander Eneas and the three lieutenants walk in. The Commander’s eyes go straight to Johane’s head resting against Jay’s stomach, and his mouth twitches, amused. She sits up quickly, pulling back.
“Can we close this meeting?” he asks. “Or do you need more time?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “We can close the meeting. But they’ve agreed to stay with me, so my friend can go home.”
If he’s surprised, he hides it well. “Fair enough,” he says, pulling out a card. “I’ll leave you my office number. Call me when you’ve reached a decision.”
“Oh, I already have,” she replies. “This pack is mine.”
Just like that, she just claims us before we’ve even met her fathers. I can’t feel my legs. Or my arms. My whole body’s lit up. The hum in my chest is so loud I can barely hear anything else.
I’m hers.
We’re hers.
And she’s ours.
The Commander hides it fast, but I saw it. She caught him off guard. Our nyra is that powerful.
“That’s excellent news,” he says, turning to me. “In that case, there are a few things we need to discuss. I’ll need you three with me.”
He glances at Johane. “It won’t take long. Afterward, they’ll return, and you can let your friend go.”
She nods. The Commander and the lieutenants turn to leave, but we don’t move. I don’t want to go, nor do my brothers.
The Commander’s voice calls back from the hallway. “The sooner we go, the sooner you can come back, officers.”
I finally force my legs to move and step out the door after him. The blond human rushes into Johane’s room the second we clear the doorway.
We follow Commander Eneas down the corridor to an empty office at the end.
Before entering Johane’s room, I never realized how hard breathing had always been for me. But now, after being close to her, I’m painfully aware of the constriction creeping back into my lungs the second her scent fades from reach.
The Commander takes a seat behind a vacant doctor’s desk. There are only two chairs across from him. Shane and I sit. Jay stands beside me.
“Congratulations to all of you,” he says, surprisingly warm.
“Tomorrow, you and your mate will have a formal meeting at the MAB to confirm your decision to bond. That’s when we’ll begin your transfer paperwork to Special Ops.
A medical team will be present to supervise the bite and provide aftercare for your nyra. ”
It doesn’t feel real. My brain hasn’t caught up.
The Commander’s tone shifts, more matter-of-fact now. “Think of this as an informal briefing. I want to make sure you understand what comes next. How much do you know about the bonding process and rank ascension?”
I glance at Jay, and he answers for us, steady as always. “We know the basics. The physical bond is completed when we bite our nyra. That triggers changes in her body. Those changes, in turn, trigger changes in ours.”
“Correct,” the commander nods. “Once the bite happens, the changes will begin, but they won’t happen overnight.
They take place over the first year of bonding.
In most cases I’ve seen, packs who bond with Prime nyras reach Tier-Two in about three or four months.
Tier-One usually comes between seven and eight. ”
He leans back slightly. “You’ll undergo monthly bloodwork and physical evaluations. Once you hit Tier-Two, you’ll be assigned to a garrison and begin Special Ops training. Until then, you’ll be temporarily assigned to a police department.”
The idea of going back to a police station should piss me off. But it doesn’t. I don’t care where they put us, if we go home to her after our shift, I’ll take it.
Eneas watches us for a moment, probably waiting for complaints.
When none come, he continues. “It’s policy to assign newly mated packs as close as possible to the nyra’s original residence.
Helps minimize relocation stress. It’s not always doable, but you’re in luck: our most undermanned garrison is in Great Sky, Connecticut, which I think suits your mate. ”
I realize I don’t even know where Johane lives. I glance at my brothers, and the same thought is flickering in their eyes.
Then the commander adds, casually, “Especially considering her unusual circumstances.”
I tense. Shane leans forward slightly, but the commander doesn’t explain. Just keeps going.
“You’ll be informed which Great Sky PD you’re assigned to while awaiting Tier-Two. Do you need a few days’ leave to tie up things in Greenster before relocating?”
“No,” I say without hesitation. “There’s nothing left for us in Greenster.”
He raises a brow, catching the subtext: we weren’t planning to go back, no matter how today turned out.
“Very well. After confirming your bond with your nyra tomorrow, you’re cleared to relocate to Connecticut. You’ll receive one week of paid leave and a relocation grant to help you settle in.”
Then his tone softens. “Normally, when nyras come from outside D.C. for a match meeting at the MAB, they stay in the housing unit we provide, along with their pack of fathers. But your nyra came to D.C. alone.
“For that reason, she was placed in a civilian hotel. We decided this was safer than housing an unbonded nyra alone in the MAB facility. But the hotel isn’t equipped for a full pack, so she’s welcome to stay with you at the housing unit until departure.”
He pauses. “Any questions?”
Yeah. I have a million. Starting with how the hell did her family let her come here alone? Nyras don’t travel unaccompanied. Especially not to meet a pack of potential mates. But more than anything, I want this over so we can get back to her.
So I lie. “No, sir.”
“Then you’re dismissed. Go back to your nyra.”