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Lukas didn’t have to tell Aiden he knew what happened; from his guilty expression, Aiden knew he was aware of it.

Aiden threw his hands up in a placating gesture. “I have absolutely no intention of interfering if you both are bonding and want to be together.” Aiden raked a hand through his hair. “The only reason I even considered pursuing Blaire is because I thought you didn’t want to be with her.” He sighed and looked at Lukas with sincerity in his eyes. “You’re my best friend, Lukas. I’d never take something like that away from you, or even try to.”

Lukas finally relaxed, but he paced around the grass before turning toward Aiden with a glare. “Blaire is mine, and I’m not going to let her go. Not for you, not for anyone.”

He turned and stomped toward the building, done with the conversation, and not wanting to address the real reason he knew Aiden dragged him out there.

Aiden patted him on the back as they went back through the doors into the empty hallway where Riley and Blaire were waiting at the lockers. “You know, I’m happy to hear you both are finally beginning to bond. I am. I want you to be happy, but you need to be more careful with her if she’s left that weak from sharing blood while she’s still a human. They’re fragile.”

Blaire whirled around abruptly, obviously overhearing what Aiden said. Her mouth hung open in shock.

Lukas groaned and ran his hand down his face. He did not want this confrontation. He knew this was what Aiden wanted to talk about.

“We have not shared blood, and I never plan to… ever,” Blaire said emphatically, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Aiden. “And if you must know, I’m on my period. It’s bad. Thank you for helping with my anemia, but can we please move on now?”

Aiden rubbed his neck.

“Oh, and for the record, I have no intentions of being anything other than a human. I mean, ‘still a human’? Always a human, thank ya very much,” Blaire huffed, her dialect slipping into a thicker Southern accent.

Lukas had come to realize that only happened when she was angry or out of sorts.

“Shit. I read the whole situation wrong…” Aiden said, spearing his fingers through his messy hair.

Lukas said nothing, staring at Blaire. His entire body screamed at him, but he couldn’t say anything. He wouldn’t demand she sacrifice her humanity, but it hurt that she would outright reject him this way when the only way they could become one as a bonded pair involved the exchange of blood.

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes tight before opening them to glare at Blaire, pushing past her and storming down the hall.

Blaire winced as the door slammed at the end of the hallway.

“What is with him today?” she asked quietly.

Riley put her hand on Blaire’s arm with a serious look on her face. “If you are even remotely considering being bonded to Lukas, you do know that sharing blood is part of it, right? The longer you go without bonding, the harder it will be.” She sighed. “Do you feel it yet?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you felt the physical ache to be near him yet? I asked my mom about it… I didn’t tell her anything about you personally. I’m not making that mistake again. I just told her I’d made friends with the human student at the university, and you were having trouble with your pairing.”

Blaire smiled. Riley felt remorse for spilling her guts to both Aiden and Lukas about what she’d been through, and Blaire appreciated she was trying to help without overstepping.

“She told me about some of the negative effects pairs experience when they haven’t sealed their bond.”

Aiden slumped back against the locker and rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable as he muttered, “Lukas must be dying inside…”

Riley raised her eyebrow at him.

“Considering how I feel, and I’m not even her pair…” He cut his eyes at Riley. “I’m sure you already know; everyone else seems to.” he said with a sigh.

She looked down and nodded.

Blaire lowered her head and sighed. “Yeah… something is different. I find myself wanting to be closer to him, to touch him more. I want him to touch me… and when he has,”—she blushed—“it’s like someone lights a wildfire inside me.”

Aiden closed his eyes and shifted uncomfortably.

Blaire felt bad admitting it in front of him, knowing how he felt, but she couldn’t lie to him. She couldn’t lie to herself. Her body completely belonged to Lukas, and it began to feel like her heart was in danger of belonging to him too, between the comfort he brought her and how much she ached to soothe his discomfort today.

“Well, for Vasirian, it’s apparently even worse because we also have to fend off our thirst because we naturally crave blood, right? And supposedly, the blood of our Korrena is potent to our senses and it can cause us to physically feel pain from the cravings. You won’t feel anything like that, obviously, because you’re a human.” Riley paused and looked upward in thought before adding, “…welll, other than the taste of the Korrena blood.”

Aiden raised his brow. “What do you mean by that?”