Chapter Six – Pheromone Party
CHAPTER SIX
Pheromone Party
W hen we enter Johane’s room again, she and the blond human are arguing in low voices. They stop the moment they see us.
The blond looks tense, arms crossed and jaw tight, but Johane seems calm.
When her scent hits me at full force, I bask in the almost euphoric relief of being able to breathe easily. I feel my chest starting to vibrate again, the same sound coming from my brothers.
We need to figure out how this thing works, and how to gain control over it.
"I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced," Johane says, glancing from the blond to us. "This is my friend, Alice Maniok."
Johane glances at her. "Al, these are Shane, Jay and Kory Larsen."
Alice nods stiffly, arms still crossed. "Hi."
She might be pissed, but I’m grateful to her. If it weren’t for her shouting at the MAB officers guarding the gate, we wouldn’t even be here. Still, I’m not sure what to do. I’ve never been in a relationship, never had to deal with a mate’s friend before.
To be honest, none of us has much experience with friendships at all. We’ve always kept to ourselves.
A cold sensation creeps into my chest. I’m starting to realize just how little I know about having a mate. How the hell am I supposed to be a good partner to Johane when I don’t even know what that looks like? What’s going to stop us from fucking this up just out of sheer ignorance?
Thankfully, Jay breaks my train of thought. “Good to see you again, Alice,” he says gently.
She doesn’t respond.
Johane snorts. “Al’s cranky because I called her at six in the morning, freaking out because I was going to miss my match meeting. Crossing five states before lunch isn’t her idea of fun. But she’s usually sweet, I swear.”
“You know I didn’t mind coming, Jo,” Alice snaps. “I just don’t think it’s smart to be alone with three men you barely know, especially when you’re injured.”
So that’s the issue. I get it. Even human women don’t usually stay alone with men they’ve just met, especially not when they’re vulnerable. For a nyra, it’s even stranger. We’re not supposed to do this. Not without her fathers.
Johane’s voice stays calm. “I’ve already explained. They’re my mates, Al. They can’t hurt me; I can feel it. It’s a nyra thing.”
Alice narrows her eyes. "You’re seriously going to play the species card right now?"
“Yes,” Jo replies. “Yes, I am.”
She exhales and runs a hand through her ponytail, her gaze flicking briefly toward us before locking back on her friend again. “Do you have any idea how long I agonized over this? How much I questioned whether I should even go through with the meeting? I almost didn’t. I almost stayed home.”
Panic pierces through me like a needle. I’m so grateful she came.
She pauses, and there’s something raw in her tone now.
“I made the decision and I’m not backing out halfway.
What would be the point of putting myself through all that, coming here, facing this, if I was just going to doubt everything the moment it got real?
I don’t want to live in a state of constant second-guessing anymore. I can’t.”
Alice’s expression hardens. Her mouth flattens, but she stays quiet.
Johane softens slightly. “I’m grateful you came, Al, truly. But I’m okay now. You can go back to Kate and Jayme.”
Alice doesn’t move. When she speaks, her voice is quieter but sharper. “You know I respect your choice, Jo. But I just don’t understand why it has to happen so fast. Why jump into this bond thing? Can’t you take a breath? Get to know them first? Date, like a normal person?”
Jo’s reply is almost a whisper. “I’m not a normal person, Alice.
I’m a nyra. And I know it sounds crazy to you.
I get that. But the moment I caught their scent, something changed.
I don’t think I can be apart from them now.
And I don’t think they can be apart from me.
It’s not about rushing; it’s about recognizing what’s already here. ”
She draws a breath. “No amount of time is going to make this clearer. No slow dating, no waiting period will make the pull go away. If anything, pretending we could resist it would only make it harder. For all of us.”
Alice studies her, glancing at each of us in turn. The silence stretches, tense and reluctant. Then she sighs. “Call me when you’re back at your hotel, okay?” she mutters.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jo says, giving her a sad smile.
Alice leans in, kisses her cheek, and walks out without even glancing at us.
Jo watches the door for a moment before turning to us. “Sorry about that,” she says. “She’s having a hard time with the whole scent-mates thing.”
“That’s fine,” Jay says as we step closer to her bed. “She’s just looking out for you. We can’t fault her for that.” He glances around the room, then adds, “Do you live far? We… we can wait to move forward with the bond until your fathers get here.”
As much as the urge to sink my teeth into her is almost unbearable, I agree with Jay. We could work with the MAB to delay things. It would be the right thing to do.
Jo’s expression shifts. The smile vanishes, and her face tightens. “No,” she says. “We don’t have to wait.”
The three of us glance at each other, confused. The hum rising from our chests deepens, and she seems to relax a little in response.
The whole thing feels off. I’ve never heard of a nyra’s family being this detached. Maybe her fathers are dead? I want to ask, but I don’t know how. Jay and Shane stay quiet too.
Just as I find the nerve to speak, a nurse walks in carrying Johane’s dinner tray, and we all step back to give her space.
Johane’s expression shifts again, and in a second she looks composed. “Hey, Kelly!” she beams. “Can I ask a favor? Think you could find three chairs for these pretty boys? They’re staying with me until I’m discharged.”
The nurse smiles, placing the tray on Johane’s lap. "Sure, sweetheart." She gives us a quick once-over, then winks at Johane. "Really pretty boys. You lucky dog."
Johane blinks.
I blink.
I’m not used to people being this friendly around me.
When the nurse is gone, Shane tilts his head. "Do you know her?"
"No. Met her this morning. Why?" Johane replies, already poking at her food with a plastic fork.
We exchange a look. Our mate is astonishing.
A few minutes later, the room is so packed with tiny human chairs it’s impossible to move around, but we’re all seated, surrounding her bed, taking whatever chance we get to touch her without getting in her way while she eats.
I casually position my arm over her bed so my right hand brushes her forearm. Jay rests a hand over her left foot, and Shane drapes an arm over her legs.
Our touch is too light. I want to press down, to rub my hand against her skin, but I force myself to stay still.
"How old are you guys?" she asks suddenly.
"Jay and I are twenty-six," I say. "Shane’s twenty-five. You?"
"Twenty-five too." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "So I guess the books were right. Among scent-mates, the nyra’s age is always the arithmetic mean of her aegis."
We all give her blank stares.
"There are books about that?" Shane asks.
"Not just about age," she says. "But there are tons about aegis-nyra bonds. You’ve never read any of them?"
"Uh… no." I didn’t even know that was a thing.
"Huh. I’m surprised," she says. "Dr. Steve Bureau wrote half of them. Since you were part of that douchebag’s program, I figured you might take my crown as the biggest reader of gregalis physiology."
Jay laughs. "Nope. Even if you’d read just one, you’d still be the champion."
We were part of his program, yeah, but we didn’t have much direct contact with Dr. Bureau.
I’ve got complicated feelings about him. His core belief was always the same: gregalis aren’t people, just animals. Dangerous if left unchecked, but useful if controlled.
He built the Artificial Packs Program on the premise that, since gregalis are nothing but biology-driven animals, then he could engineer anything with the right hormone cocktails and enough behavioral conditioning. Packs. Bonds. Loyalty. All of it.
And here’s the cruel part. As strays, we owe him our lives. Without his Program, we’d be dead. But the fact that it worked is what gave his theories weight. We became living proof that he was right. Or at least that’s what a lot of humans believe.
Outside of stray packs, pretty much every aegis despises what Bureau represents. And since we’re the product of his work, they hate us even more.
"Where do you live?" Johane asks, changing the subject.
"Right now? Nowhere," Jay replies. "We lived in Greenster, Pennsylvania, for six years, but now that we’ve found you, we’re being relocated to Great Sky, Connecticut."
"That’s perfect!" she exclaims, eyes bright. "If we find a place halfway between Great Sky and Bridgeport, I could get to the hospital in half an hour, even with traffic."
Her excitement makes me smile. I think I’ve smiled more today than in my entire life. But I don’t get it. Why does she need to get to a hospital fast?
"The hospital?" Jay asks, confused.
Her voice shifts, her eyes filling with something close to panic.
“I... I thought the MAB guys would've told you. When they said the meeting was scheduled, I just... I assumed you knew and were okay with it. I mean... they wouldn’t have scheduled it otherwise, right? Same way they warned me about you being strays before I agreed to the meeting.”
Her agitation hits me straight in the gut. I feel my muscles tightening, like my body’s getting ready for a fight I don’t even know yet. The hum in our chest grows louder, and we all straighten, alert.
Jay’s posture is stiff, but his tone stays gentle. “You don’t need to worry,” he assures her. “Nothing in the world could’ve made us give up meeting you. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”