Page 23 of Furever Bound
"I'm a shapeshifter, Sera," he said simply, the admission carrying weight that transformed casual supernatural discussion into personal revelation. "A wolf shifter, specifically. Most of this community is supernatural in some way—shifters, witches, fae-blooded, psychically gifted humans like yourself."
The clinical way he delivered information that should have shattered her worldview somehow made it easier to process, though her mind struggled to adjust fundamental assumptions about everyone she'd met.
"Shapeshifter," she repeated slowly, studying his face for signs of deception and finding only vulnerable honesty. "You can actually transform into a wolf."
His piercing blue eyes holding depths she was finally beginning to understand. "The enhanced senses, the protective instincts, the way touching you feels like completion—it's all connected to supernatural nature I was trying to explain gradually."
"Gradually," she said, glancing around the café full of people who had apparently been hiding supernatural abilities since she arrived. "How gradually?"
"Too gradually, it turns out," Maddox admitted with self-deprecating humor. "Elena's interference and the manifestation crisis forced revelations I wanted to introduce more carefully."
Through the window, Grimjaw's impatient shriek reminded them that personal revelations were taking place during active supernatural threat, but Sera found herself torn between processing impossible information and dealing with immediate danger.
"So the mate bond," she said, testing the concept against her growing understanding of supernatural reality, "that's why the Council is protecting me instead of treating me as a threat?"
"That's why I'm protecting you," Maddox corrected, his possessive intensity making her pulse race with recognition that felt cellular, fundamental. "The Council is protecting you because community law recognizes mate bonds as sacred, and harming someone's mate constitutes an act of war."
Outside, Grimjaw's prowling intensified as if the creature sensed shifting energy patterns that threatened its current purpose, but inside the café's protective glow, Sera found herself contemplating decisions that could transform her entire existence.
18
MADDOX
The power returned to Hollow Oak just as dawn broke over the mountains, sending Grimjaw retreating into shadow with the frustrated howl of something whose hunting time had ended. Maddox watched the creature dissolve into mist through The Griddle & Grind's windows, but his relief was tempered by understanding that daylight offered only temporary reprieve, not permanent solution.
"It'll be back tonight," Emmett observed, lowering his crossbow as the immediate threat dissipated. "Stronger, more substantial, with another day's worth of social media engagement feeding it power."
"Unless we implement narrative restructuring before then," Maddox replied, though his attention remained focused on Sera's pale face as she processed everything she'd learned about supernatural reality, mate bonds, and her own pivotal role in their community crisis.
"Narrative restructuring requires community consensus," Maeve pointed out. "Which means full Council approval for integration, not just emergency protection protocols and it can’t happen in 24 hours."
Sera looked up from her contemplation of the empty mug Twyla had provided, her hazel eyes reflecting complicated emotions that protective tenderness.
"I need some air," she said quietly. "Some space to process everything that's happened. Alone."
The request to be alone struck his possessive instincts, especially when the mating process required intimacy and connection rather than solitary reflection. But forcing proximity before she was ready could damage trust they'd spent days building.
"The inn's compromised," he said instead, offering practical considerations rather than emotional demands. "Elena's federal colleagues will be monitoring it for intelligence gathering. You'll need somewhere else to stay."
"She can use the guest room at my place," Twyla offered with maternal warmth that suggested she understood the complexity of supernatural relationship development. "Protected space, private enough for thinking, close enough for safety."
"Actually," Sera said, her voice carrying the kind of determined decision-making that meant she'd reached conclusions during her quiet contemplation, "I'd like to stay with you, Maddox. If the offer stands."
The simple statement sent satisfaction racing through his wolf with intensity.
"The offer stands," he said, careful to keep his voice level despite the way his entire nervous system responded to her acceptance. "But you should understand what you're agreeing to."
"I'm agreeing to trust someone who's been honest with me about impossible things," she replied, meeting his gaze. "I'm agreeing to belong somewhere, even if that somewhere includes shapeshifters and manifestation crises and federal investigators who want to weaponize my abilities."
"And the mate bond?" The question escaped before he could consider whether this was the appropriate time or place for such personal discussion.
"And the mate bond," she confirmed, color rising in her cheeks. "I felt the connection from the beginning, even before I understood what it meant. My body recognized you before my mind caught up. I just need help… understanding."
The admission that she'd experienced mate recognition as strongly as he had sent possessive satisfaction flooding through his system, though his rational mind recognized that acceptance and understanding were just the beginning of what they needed to build together.
"Sera," he began, then stopped as his phone buzzed with an urgent message from Varric.
"Emergency Council meeting in one hour," he read aloud. "Elena's federal colleagues are demanding access to manifestation site and documentation of all supernatural residents involved in crisis response."
