Beside me, Luke’s nostrils flare, then his face slowly pans in my direction. He takes me in, his gaze moving from my head to my feet and back up again. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I shoot him a nervous grin, all teeth and awkwardness, as boulders crash together in my stomach and a shudder moves down my back. “Julien’s brother called it the mating frenzy.”
He blinks at me. “So the stories are true? Alpha Matisse really is your fated mate?”
I chuckle, half-hysterically, then close my eyes and release a slow breath. I need to get control of myself. If the triumvirate is pissed about me almost shifting in front of one person, I can’t imagine they’d be happy about me shifting in the middle of a busy street.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Huh.” He studies my face. “Do I need to… do something?”
Another strained laugh escapes my mouth. “Nope. It comes in waves. The only thing to do is to wait for it to pass, or get me to Julien.”
“Wait for it to pass?” He cocks his head to the side, curious. “How long will that take?”
“No fucking clue,” I squeak out as another spike of agony pokes at the base of my neck.
Two blocks down, a bus turns onto the street we’re on and chugs toward us. Luke’s gaze goes from the approaching public transportation to me.
“Might as well,” I say, answering his unasked question.
“But what about…” He gestures at me.
“The whole frenzy thing?” I shrug. “I don’t know how long it will last and it’s probably best for us to get as far away from the hotel as possible, then regroup or whatever.”
“I guess.” He still looks unsure, but when the bus pulls to a stop in front of the bench with a hiss of its brakes, he links his arm with mine and tugs me to my feet. He leads me on to the bus and then to an empty seat near the back. I slide over toward the window and he sits beside me, facing forward with his brow furrowed in thought.
It’s a good five minutes—me suffering in quiet agony and him in absolute silence—before he speaks again. “Isn’t the frenzy supposed to go away once you’ve been claimed and the bond has been finalized?” he asks in a low voice.
I open my mouth to respond, then pause. What if this is some kind of setup to get me to admit that Julien hasn’t claimed me yet? Rossi could have—
No. That’s stupid. All Rossi had to do to check my claimed status was to look at my neck. There would be no point in going through this whole production just to get me to admit the mating bond hasn’t been completed. Unless there’s some sort of weird strategy behind it…
Ugh. I rub at my temples. I’m getting a little paranoid.
“Julien hasn’t claimed me yet,” I say finally. If this is some kind of trap, I don’t have the mental power to deal with it right now. “Things have been a little hectic today.”
Luke’s eyes widen. “I thought that kind of thing was supposed to happen immediately? How have you resisted the bond?”
I snort. “I just met the guy this morning. He’s hot and nice and his brother seems pretty cool, but I barely know him.”
“But you’re fated mates…”
“Yeah,” I say. “But that’s biology, not psychology. It doesn’t mean I can’t still have doubts.” I think back over the brief time I’ve gotten to spend with Julien. “Or that I used to anyway.”
A sudden stab of longing shoots through me. More than the mating frenzy, it’s a longing for Julien to be safe and whole and out of danger. I can’t lose him. Not like this. Not when I’ve just found him and am finally willing to admit to myself exactly how much I want him.
Eyes burning, I bury my nose in the fabric of Julien’s shirt, inhaling deeply and letting his scent fill my nostrils. A wave of calm washes over me and most of the pain in my spine recedes.
Nice trick. Why didn’t I think of doing that before?
I breathe out in relief as my muscles relax and I tilt my head back to rest on the back of the seat.
“So, where are we going?” asks Luke.
That’s a good question. The club is out. I’m pretty sure Drew would call the cops on me if I showed up there again after what happened this morning.
“My apartment,” I say after a long silence. Rossi and his goons know where I live—lived?—but they probably wouldn’t expect me to go back there. That is, if Rossi is even still pursuing me at this point. If nothing else, I can grab some pants that fit and some food. The latter of which I’ll definitely need before I start scouring the city for my mate.
