My hands moved to her shoulders. It was the same heat. Every inch of her body was running degrees above what a human should be, and rising. Then I realized.
The triple bond.
All three claiming frequencies, activated and converged.
Human mates could experience it, but only after claiming. Their biology was different, needing the bond’s activation to trigger what came naturally to lycan females.
Mira had three mates. Three threads, three claims, all sealed to the same mark. And the third had just locked into place tonight.
The full bond was igniting.
My stomach dropped.
Oh, fuck.
“Percy?” Mira’s voice was strained. Her fingers clawed at my arms, pulling me closer. “What’s happening to me?”
I held her face between my hands. Her mismatched eyes, glazed with a fever that hadn’t been there minutes ago, searched mine for an answer I didn’t want to give.
“Mira,” I said. “I think you’re in heat.”
27
— • —
Mira
I was on fire and not in the fun metaphorical way.
Percy killed the engine and was at my door before I could reach for the handle. He lifted me out with one arm, my legs wrapping around his waist on instinct, and carried me toward the porch.
Lucian’s eyes tracked from Percy’s face to mine. The flushed skin, the blown pupils, the way I gripped Percy’s shoulders with fingers that couldn’t decide whether to hold on or tear his shirt off.
“When?” He asked.
“Thirty minutes ago. Maybe less.” Percy set me down on the porch, keeping one arm around my waist when my knees buckled. “Third bond completed.”
Solomon stepped forward. His hand found my forehead, then my cheek, then the pulse point at my neck. My body leaned into the contact, chasing the relief of his touch, and a sound left my throat that should have embarrassed me.
Solomon’s jaw tightened. His eyes met Lucian’s and the confirmation passed between them without a single word.
“Percy said heat.” My voice came out raw. My fingers curled tighter into Percy’s shirt. “Is that what this is? Because it feels worse than what he described.”
Lucian answered, “Your body is responding to all three frequencies activated at once.”
“It won’t stop on its own,” Solomon added quietly. His thumb traced my cheekbone and my spine arched into the contact. “Not until it’s satisfied.”
I processed that. Tried to, anyway.
“So you’re telling me,” I said slowly, “that the cure for the supernatural fever your magical bite gave me is… more of you?”
Percy’s mouth twitched. “When you put it that way...”
“That’s incredibly convenient for you three.”
“We didn’t design the biology,” Lucian said.
“You’re smiling.”
