"What does that mean, 'marked'?" The knot in her stomach tightened into something cold and hard.
Raikar's jaw worked silently for a moment before he answered. "My mate mark. I accidentally gave you a partial mate mark when I climaxed. I didn't even realize—I was so lost in the moment, my panther was so close to the surface."
"Okay, well, it's just a mark, right?" Even as she said it, Jade knew from his expression that it wasn't that simple.
"No. Not exactly."
She sat up, pulling the sheet around herself like armor. "You need to start explaining what's going on here. Now."
Raikar mirrored her movement, sitting up and turning to face her with that controlled intensity that made Jade want to either fight or flee.
"Jade, you are my fated mate. There's a mate bond between us, and by me accidentally giving you my partial mate mark, the bond has now been half-completed."
The words hit her like physical blows. "What does that mean exactly?"
"We're now bound together—partially. You'll start to feel my emotions through the bond, similar to how you feel your own. And I'll be able to feel yours."
No, no, no.
Panic exploded in her chest as she scrambled off the bed, reaching for her discarded clothes with shaking hands. "I didn't agree to that." Her voice came out sharper than she'd intended, edged with fear that made Jade want to lash out. "I thought we were just having sex, not—not becoming supernaturally bound together."
The thought of him being able to feel her emotions, to sense her fears and vulnerabilities, was terrifying beyond measure. She'd spent her entire adult life perfecting the art of emotional self-sufficiency, building walls that kept everyone at a safedistance. Now this man—this alien shifter she'd known for barely two days—could feel everything she tried so desperately to hide?
"I can't hide from you now, can I?" The question came out as an accusation as she yanked her shirt over her head.
Raikar stood as well, pulling on his shorts with movements that seemed carefully controlled. "It's going to be fine. You don't have to agree to anything—you can still walk away. The bond isn't fully completed yet."
"I don't think walking away is going to be as easy as you make it sound." Jade's hands trembled as she fought with her pants. "If I can feel your emotions and you can feel mine, distance isn't going to change that, is it?"
His silence was answer enough.
"Right," she continued, her voice climbing toward hysteria. "In fact, distance will probably make this mate bond thing push back harder and leave me feeling an ache when you're not around."
Before she could stop herself, the words tumbled out. "Which is just great, because before this partial bond, I was already feeling an ache when you weren't around. So what—it's just going to feel ten times worse now?"
The admission hung in the air like a confession she hadn't meant to make. Raikar's eyes flashed with something that looked suspiciously like satisfaction, and she wanted to punch him for it.
"You felt an ache before we had sex?" His voice was carefully neutral, but she could sense the male satisfaction lurking beneath the surface.
"Yes." The word came out clipped and resentful.
Despite the gravity of the moment, she caught the slight upturn of his lips—not quite a smile, but close enough to make her want to throw something at his head. He was pleased. Ofcourse he was pleased. This was probably exactly what he'd wanted from the beginning.
"I need air." She headed toward the door, but his voice stopped her.
"You can't leave my home right now, but I can give you space." His tone had shifted back into that authoritative register that made her spine stiffen with automatic rebellion. "I need to get to a council meeting anyway. It'll give you time to process everything."
"I'm going to need more than a few hours to process this monumental change in my life." The sarcasm in her voice could have cut glass.
Raikar looked like he wanted to say something more—something that would probably make this whole situation even more complicated—but all he managed was another apology. "I'm sorry, Jade. I truly am."
Then he was gone, leaving her alone in the guest room that still smelled like sex and lavender and the wild, untamed scent that was purely him.
Jade threw herself back onto the rumpled bed, staring up at the ceiling as the full magnitude of her situation crashed over her like a tidal wave.
How the hell am I supposed to handle this?
She was bound—partially bound—to a man she barely knew, on an alien planet, in a world where she understood nothing. The independence she'd fought so hard to maintain, the emotional walls she'd spent decades building, had been shattered in the space of a single afternoon.
