Page 328 of Primal Bonds

Adric made himself give Dion a tight nod. “I’ll make sure my people know.”

“You do that,” was the grim reply.

Zuri opened the door, but Dion stayed where he was after ordering Davi to wait in the hall. To Adric he said, “Tell your man to leave.”

Adric nodded at Zuri. “Okay,” he said when the door closed behind him. “Talk.”

“The room is soundproof?”

“Yeah.” He folded his arms over his chest, ignoring the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Dion took a step closer. “Stay the fuck away from my sister. She’s not for you.”

It was what Adric had told himself for years, but he bristled. “That’s up to her, isn’t it?”

A muscle jumped in Dion’s jaw. He drew a breath through his teeth. When he spoke, his tone was irritatingly reasonable.

“She’s young. I know you’re not that much older than her, but you grew up in a whole different world than she did. She’s sheltered.” The corner of his mouth tipped up wryly. “A little spoiled. I did my best, but when my parents disappeared, she was only six. For months, she woke up crying for her mama. Begging me to let her help search for them. I…it broke something in me.”

Adric pictured a small Rosana crying for her mama and swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you wouldn’t mean to hurt her. I’ve been watching you. You’ve done a good job with your clan, and Deus knows, that wasn’t easy. Tiago tells me that quartz factory you’re trying to get off the ground just might be genius.”

Adric’s mouth fell open. Praise from the Rock Run alpha? The world must be ending. For some damn reason, he got a lump in his throat.

“Get to the point,” he said gruffly.

“Even if you could make a safe home for her here in Baltimore, it wouldn’t work. River fada have to live near fresh water—a river, a lake. She needs to be able to shift, to swim as her dolphin. Yeah, you have the Inner Harbor, but that’s a cesspool of human shit and trash. She couldn’t stay in it long.”

A dull ringing filled Adric’s ears. He uncrossed his arms. “Got it. Stay away from Rosana.”

“Thank you. And I mean it. I know there’s…something between you. But this is for the best. You’ll see.”

Adric jerked his chin.

Dion gazed at him for another heartbeat, and then inclined his head. “Peace to you and yours.”

“Yeah. Peace. But Dion?”

“Sim?”

“For the record, I was planning on staying away anyway.”

The other alpha turned to leave, and then hesitated. “I’m sorry. But you know I’m right.”

For answer, Adric reached past him to open the door.

Zuri was waiting to escort the men off the premises. Not causing trouble, just sending a message that they were in Baltimore fada territory.

Adric sank down on one of the metal chairs vacated by the poker players and waited for Zuri to return. The dull ringing was joined by a suffocating sensation in his chest. Like his heart was being wrung out. Crushed.

She’s mine.

He dropped his head into his hands. No. She’s not yours, and she never will be.

Rosana couldn’t live with him, and there was no way in hell the Baltimore alpha could move to Rock Run. The very idea made his lips peel in a humorless smile.

Zuri returned, closing the door behind him. He set his hands on the table. “The wolf was Luc, wasn’t it?”

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