Will they stare at me like I’m their savior? Like I’m the very reason for their existence?

“It will be okay.”

Lazar stands above me. The sun plays off his marble-skin, the pale whiteness gleaming so brilliantly in front of me. His words are telepathed calmly, but the taut intensity of his emotions flow through the Bond.

I canfeelhow smart he is. Lazar is the brains of the triad, and he’s the one that the other two go to for council, or to handle…delicatetasks like these.

Despite the evenness of his words, and the non-threatening approach toward me, I know Lazar still has the mating rage lurking beneath his surface. His aura still feels like spring – of verdant leaves and grass – but beneath the topsoil dig writhing roots that want to plant themselves firmly inside my mind.

It will be okay.

“How can you say that?” I demand. “When I first met you, I didn’t even know I’d beBondedto you. I wasn’t ready for this!”

Lazer sits down in front of me. My legs are shaking, and if I wasn’t sitting on the duffel bag, I know my knees would give out beneath me.

Completely naked, Lazar sits cross-legged in front of me. His flaccid cock is still bigger than what a human might be endowed with. His cock is merely sleeping – and is always on the verge of waking up, just for me.

Lazar has no shame in his nakedness, or in making his desire for me obvious.

As we sit across from each other, Lazar opens his big nostrils and drinks in a lungful of air – of the scent of my freshly showered body. He drinks the smell of me in like nectar.

“When I first smelled you, Natali,” Lazar closes his eyes, savoring the taste of me, “when I caught your scent for the first time, I felt youmightbe the one… But, I couldn’t believe it for sure, not until it was confirmed for certain.”

He gulps.

“We didn’t ask for this either, Natali – but we consider it a blessing, not a curse.” He reaches out a huge hand. “Don’t be afraid, Natali. We’re yours, now –forever.”

We’re yours.

Brennan might be the designated leader of this triad, but now I have a power over all three of them.

Theyneedme. I am their life’s purpose.

But I shake my head. I’m not ready for this responsibility.

“That’s what I’m scared of, Lazar,” I shrink my hand from his. “You three barely know me – and yet you’d instantly tell me that you’remine? Like Iownyou? I didn’t ask for that, Lazar!”

The towering Aurelian’s face is serious. He looks at me with intense, green eyes.

Those eyes used to be slate-grey, like those of every other Aurelian. Seeing their vivid colors – a changeIbrought about in him – makes me nervous.

I have the power to literally change lives – most notably, my own.

Lazar nods, as if feeling my resolve harden.

“You didn’t ask for this, Natali – but webeggedfor this. We’re Aurelians. This is our way. I prayed for the chance to encounter you every night of my life. So did Brennan, and Otho. You are our veryreasonfor existing.”

That doesn’t reassure me – it just makes memoreterrified. I can feel his absolute adoration for me flowing through the Bond, but I don’t know what to make of it.

Is this love?

Is this obsession?

Or is this just their biology?Forcingthem to feel something for me?

The man in front of me is gorgeous. He’s marbled perfection, and I never could have imagined a man as beautiful as that dedicating the rest of his eternity to me.

But none of his physical beauty can change the fact that he is virtually a stranger to me.