“Aren’t you jealous?”
“There’s no place for jealousy in a Triad,” he told her easily.“But I can understand why you’d think so.A Triad is a necessity.Without it, we couldn’t mate.I wouldn’t be able to have you in my life.Think about it; you met Ryan, not me.You’d be his.Not mine.Because of the Triad, you’re mine too.”
“How does that even work though?”she argued softly.“It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense for it to be exactly that way.”He let out a sigh.“We spend as much time searching for our Triad brothers as we do our mates.It takes a lot of trust to join together, and when we do, we’re like a single unit.”
“How do you join together?”
“There’s a ceremony.”He laughed softly.“In fact, you’re in luck.If you stay around, you’ll be able to see one soon.We’ve just had a new Triad form.It’s a time of great celebration in the Pride.”
Crossly, she huffed out, “If I stay around?Like you don’t already know the answer to that.”
He turned to her, his expression stern.“We take nothing for granted where you’re concerned, El.”
“You don’t?”Her voice was small.“I’m scared, Marc.”
“You have no need to be,” he gentled his tone.“You’re perfectly safe here.”
“But I’m not.You’re introducing me into this whole crazy new world.Nothing makes sense anymore.”She turned her face against his arm, hiding the entirety of her expression from him.“Why would you want to share me?”
“It isn’t like that.We’ll all have our bond, and that will be unique to us.”
“But, from what you said, you’ll only sleep with me once every three nights.”
“That’s just how it is,” Marc said quietly.“I know it makes no sense to you, but that’s because you don’t understand our past.Did they explain about the imbalance in our population?”
“They did,” she answered grimly.“But it still doesn’t make it right.”
“Not to you, but to us, a Triad is the best thing you can ever imagine, and it’s more than you even know… the Mother blesses our joining, El.”
“How?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?Look at how at ease you feel with me, when we wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t responded to Ryan online.Each of us has something you need.Something that will fulfill you.I know it’s frightening, and it must seem crazy.But you have to give it time.”
“I just… I don’t understand why I’m not running for the hills.Tonight was crazy, yeah, but what you’ve all told me is crazy too.”
“I know,” he told her.“But time heals all wounds.You’re tired, anxious, and agitated from everything that’s happened.Let us…” He broke off and tried to figure out a way to ease her nerves.“Let us take care of you.We don’t expect anything in return.Just… let us be your friends, and then you’ll see, you’ll come to know how the Triad works.”
Her hand blindly reached out, and knowing she was seeking his, he bridged their fingers.“Okay.But only because you’re right.I wouldn’t have known you if it weren’t for Ryan, and here, now, I feel such a well of peace that I can’t even believe Jamie betrayed me the way he did.
“I couldn’t sleep, not for ages, and then when I did fall off…” She gulped.“I lied.A nightmare woke me.And then I saw you on the floor.You looked so uncomfortable.”A giggle escaped her.“I wasn’t scared though, and I guess I could have been.I didn’t know you.You were a stranger, but I didn’t feel like I had to scream the house down because you were there.
“Then, as I watched you, this compulsion just grew and grew.I had to touch you.To feel you.”
“That’s the bond,” he explained, thrilled by her words.“Tomorrow, when you’re with Trip, the same thing will happen then.And Ryan?He can show you the connection.”
She stiffened a little, her earlier ease dissipating.“I’ve already seen.He showed me.”
“I know.Trip told me.”
“I think that’s the only reason I went with him tonight.Otherwise, I’d have just thought he was after sex.”
“Well,” Marc countered, “he’s no choir boy.None of us are.We all want sex, sweetheart, but we want more first.”
His honesty could have been taken one of two ways.Firstly, with horror.Secondly, with laughter.He was grateful for the latter.She chuckled at him, then blurted out, “It’s probably a good thing you added that because I was starting to worry.You were being too altruistic, and Marc, you guys are too hot for me not to even think about being between the sheets with you.”
He snorted.“That’s good to know.”
