Page 18 of Furever Bound
"The kind that study supernatural phenomena for military applications," he replied, his jaw tightening with obvious anger. "The kind that would see your abilities as weapons to develop rather than gifts to protect."
"And what do you see them as?"
"I see them as part of who you are," he said, reaching across the space between them to cover her hand with his. "Part of what makes you extraordinary."
The moment their skin touched, that familiar electric shock raced through her system, but this time it felt less like surpriseand more like homecoming. Whatever supernatural sensitivity she possessed, it responded to Maddox with recognition that felt cellular, fundamental.
"There it is again," she breathed, studying their joined hands as warmth spread up her arm.
"Connection," he said, his thumb tracing across her knuckles with reverent attention. "Something Elena's clinical data can't measure or explain."
"But you can?"
"I'm beginning to understand it," he admitted, his voice carrying rough honesty that made her lean closer. "Just like I'm beginning to understand that protecting you matters more than protecting secrets."
Sera found herself torn between gratitude for his honesty and terror of the implications.
"What secrets?" she asked, though part of her suspected she wasn't ready for the complete truth.
"Secrets about what I am," he said quietly, his eyes holding depths she was only beginning to recognize. "About what this community really is. About why your abilities responded so strongly to our energy from the moment you arrived."
Before she could ask what he meant about what he was, before she could process the implications of community energy and supernatural compatibility, her phone exploded with notification sounds that shattered the intimate atmosphere like breaking glass.
"What now?" she muttered, glancing at the screen to find her social media accounts flooded with activity.
"The Grimjaw post is going viral on TikTok," she said, her stomach dropping as she read the engagement numbers. "Someone with two million followers shared it. The video has over 300,000 views in the past hour."
Maddox's expression shifted from romantic vulnerability to protective alarm as the implications hit them both simultaneously.
"That's not viral spread," he said grimly, already reaching for his phone to alert the Council. "That's manifestation fuel on a scale we've never dealt with before."
14
MADDOX
The emergency Council meeting convened in Varric's private study rather than the forest glade, the escalating crisis requiring immediate response without regard for traditional protocols. Maddox arrived to find Emmett pacing like a caged predator while Maeve cleaned her weapons with the focused intensity of someone preparing for war.
"How bad?" Varric asked without preamble.
"Catastrophic," Maddox replied, spreading printouts of Sera's viral analytics across the elder's desk. "Three hundred thousand views in four hours. The engagement is feeding manifestation energy faster than anything in our historical records."
"And the human woman?" Elder Bram's pale eyes held the kind of cold calculation that made Maddox's wolf bristle with defensive fury. "How has she responded to supernatural revelation?"
"She's processing the information," he said carefully, omitting the part where Elena had weaponized the revelation to make Sera feel like a dangerous threat rather than valuedcommunity member. "But she's committed to helping resolve the crisis her documentation accidentally triggered."
"Accidentally," Bram repeated with skepticism sharp enough to cut. "You're certain this isn't intentional manifestation designed to draw government attention to our sanctuary?"
The suggestion that Sera might be a deliberate plant triggered Maddox, and only Ember's warning squawk prevented him from responding with the kind of alpha dominance that would derail diplomatic discussion.
"She's not a government operative," he said through gritted teeth. "She's someone whose latent abilities responded to our community energy without understanding what was happening."
"Abilities strong enough to manifest folklore through social media engagement," Maeve observed, her practical intelligence cutting through emotional reactions to focus on tactical realities. "That's not standard psychic sensitivity, Maddox. That's power on a scale that could reshape supernatural community dynamics."
The observation was accurate and terrifying, especially when combined with Elena's interest in documenting Sera's capabilities for organizations that viewed supernatural individuals as research subjects rather than people deserving protection.
"Which is why we need to integrate her properly rather than treating her as a threat to be contained," he argued, his protective instincts demanding he defend his mate's right to belong in their community.
"Integration requires trust," Emmett said, settling into a chair with the careful attention of someone monitoring multiple threat levels simultaneously. "How do we trust someone whose abilities could expose us all if she decides our secrets are worth sharing with her substantial audience?"
