Page 74 of Strays
The officers nod. They scan the yard once more, then head back to their cruisers.
I stand there, stunned.
I think this might be the first time in history an aegis knocks out a human and doesn’t end up in handcuffs.
I look at Fontes. “Thank you,” I say.
He just nods.
On Pack-to-Nyra Dependency in Bonded Gregalis Units
Excerpt from Emergent Divergence: The Evolutionary Path of Homo Gregalis by Dr. Steve Bureau, Ph.D. (4th ed., West Kempton Institute Press)
While aegis provide the nyra with physical protection and reproductive compatibility, it is the nyra who stabilizes the physiological baseline of the pack. When she is calm, the pack is calm. When she is distressed, the system destabilizes.
This level of dependency is most extreme in scent-bonded packs, where neurochemical entrainment is nearly total. In such units, bonded aegis often exhibit involuntary behavioral responses to nyra distress: compulsive monitoring behavior and even temporary loss of executive function until her equilibrium is restored. These responses appear automatic and can override tactical priorities.
Some have argued that scent-bonding represents an ideal of interdependence. I would argue the opposite. It is a biological fragility masquerading as cohesion. Although the system functions efficiently under ideal conditions, it lacks resilience. Nyra illness, injury, or emotional disruption quickly propagates through the pack.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Pack Rules
Ionly realize Jo hasn’t said a word to us after everything went down when we’re finally alone.
Fontes left with Sônia right after the cops pulled out, and Mike and Hugh followed a few minutes later. Jenna stayed a little longer, asked Jo if she wanted to talk or help clean up, but Jo just thanked her and sent her on her way.
As soon as Jenna took off, Jo walked straight into the house without a word, and we followed.
She’s on the couch when we catch up, knees pulled tight to her chest, arms wrapped around them, eyes fixed ahead.
Her scent is sharp and sour, wrong in a way I’ve never felt. We’re already on edge from everything, but the moment it reaches us, it’s like pouring gas on a fire.
When she sees Jay, she finally speaks. “How could you do that?” she asks.
We all look at her, confused. She heard everything that guy said. She saw him stumbling toward her, drunk and unpredictable. We thought — hell, I thought — she understood.
When none of us answer, she raises her voice, still locked on Jay. “You know what people already think about aegis: that you’re unstable, dangerous, not safe to be around. Ever since they found out what I am, I’ve been trying to show them they’re wrong. That we’re normal. That we can be trusted. And you still chose to prove them right?”
I’ve never seen her that angry. After her parents' call, she was devastated, but not furious. After the Realtor hit on us, after Bree Sorensen’s visit, yeah, she was livid. But this is different.
“Jo, love…” Jay walks toward the couch and sits beside her. “Do you really think I proved that aegis are unstable and dangerous?”
She doesn’t answer, but her face stays locked and furious.
“I know I’m not human, so I don’t get to say ‘I’m only human,’” Jay goes on. His voice is calm, but I can hear the hurt beneath it. “But I’m not a mindless animal. I have feelings. The way he talked about you, about us... he’d already hit every button I had. And when I saw him coming toward you, I just wanted him to stop.”
“I know a lot of humans who would’ve snapped for less,” Shane adds, voice low and tight. “And no one would’ve called them unstable.”
He’s hurt too. So am I. Jo blaming Jay like that, talking like it was his fault, like most humans would, cuts worse than anything that little piece of shit Luc said.
Jo’s expression shifts. She leans back, closes her eyes, and takes a long breath. When she opens them again, she looks exhausted. “I’m sorry,” she says, eyes fixed on a spot on the wall. “It’s just… you know what people are going to think. What they’ll say about us.”
“Humans will talk shit about us no matter what we do, Jo,” Jay replies, his voice drier now.
“I… I…” she starts, then stops and swallows hard. Then finally she looks him in the eye. “Before you, I blended in. Most people didn’t even know what I was. And even when they found out, like when I was in college, it wasn’t this bad.”
The thought that bonding with us ruined Jo’s life has been in my head since the first day she went back to work after the bond. And stupidly, even though it’s true, I still hoped she didn’t see it that way. But now that she’s said it out loud, I can’t pretend anymore. She does. And it fucking hurts.
