Chapter 23

Rhuyin

I glared at the floor, thoughts of who Luke's Bonded might be, and when they would be showing up in response to Luke's panic causing bile to burn in the back of my throat. The slight smell of ozone lingered in the air. It was a scent any Soma worth his salt would recognize: the smell of a Bonded Mageia. Why Kopanos hadn't noticed it, or the other Somas I could smell that had been in the room, was beyond me.

I'd seen Luke standing with his Bonded at the ceremony, an older man with a military bearing, with silver at the temples of his short dark hair. I was surprised that they were already Bonded, but the scent of ozone when I passed them was overwhelming. They must have held a private ceremony, which made sense considering he was a prince and all.

I'd ducked out of the ceremony as soon as possible afterward, then spent the evening drinking myself into oblivion. It takes a serious amount of alcohol to make a Soma pass out, but somehow I'd managed it.

The earth shaking had alarmed me, and I'd followed the vibrations from my rooms to the lobby of the Pavilion. From there, I had followed the scent of warm cinnamon that I'd come to associate with Luke. I'd seen Kopanos speaking to him through the windows of the office even as I sensed his distress. For once I had set aside my scruples about eavesdropping and had understood most of what he had been saying to Luke.

At first, with Luke seated in the chair pointed away from me, I thought maybe I had been mistaken and it was Kopanos who was really the one he had chosen for his Bonded, not the man I saw at the ceremony. That thought seemed to be borne out by Kopanos leaning forward to whisper something intimately in his ear.

The surge of fury and fear that burst through my chest had made me move so fast I felt like I had almost materialized behind Luke, my hand on his shoulder. I saw his reflection in the glass and felt the vibrations along my skin as he'd replied to Kopanos. Even before seeing him speak, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no way Kopanos could be his Bonded.

"Bonded? I'm—I'm not Bonded," he answered.

I dropped into the seat next to him, my attention caught on my hands, stroking the red, orange and black fur that had materialized along them.

Fur.

What the hell was going on? Some Somas were able to do partial changes even before they Bonded, but I'd never changed anything before, despite many hours of effort.

I was still staring at my hands when Luke reached out and took my hand in his.

"Fox," he said.

"What?" I asked, uncomprehendingly.

"Fox. Fox fur." He gestured toward my hands, which now had blackened claws instead of nails.

I tried to sign, then realized the futility when my hands—paws—refused to make the correct shapes.

Suddenly I could see it in my mind's eye: a red fox, blackened mitts, white chest. The world shifted oddly, and everything went dark. I shook my head and began to panic, scrabbling at the material around me. Not this, too. I couldn't lose my sight as well.

"It's okay," I felt Luke say. "Just hold on a minute."

I froze and struggled to force down my panic. I felt movement, then sudden light burst through, disorienting me. I panted in relief as I looked around and realized that Luke was standing there, my t-shirt in his hand.

"Yip!" I exclaimed, then looked around in confusion a moment before realizing the vibration had come from me.

Luke looked down at me, a slow smile dawning on his face like the glow of a sunrise.

"Well, hello, gorgeous," he said.

I struggled out of the rest of my clothing, slowly adjusting to the feel of walking on four feet instead of two.

Scents were a million times more intense than they had ever been in my human form. The ozone smell of a Bonded Mageia was almost a visible thing. Colors were strange, mostly blues, grays and yellows. I began turning in circles, just trying to take it all in at once. I felt the touch of a hand on my back and jumped, literally leaping feet straight in the air like a cat.

I realized it had been Luke, placing his hand on my fur.

I froze. The feel of his touch was amazing.

"Is this okay?" he asked once he had my attention.

I forced my neck to bob in what I could only hope he would understand was a nod.

He stroked my fur, and I found myself ducking my head and nuzzling his hand. He smelled—amazing. Like family. Like home.

"You're beautiful," he whispered, his eyes filled with wonder. I kept my eyes on his face, unwilling to lose even a word of what he was saying.

"I heard…I heard that you had Bonded with someone, but I had no idea it would be like this for you," he said, gesturing toward me.

I stopped, confusion rushing through me. Bonded? Me? I hadn't bonded with anyone. I felt my tail twitch. I had a tail. I started to turn to investigate it, overwhelmed by the sensory input I was experiencing, but forced myself to stop. I looked back at him, struggling to stay focused. Bonded. He thought I had Bonded with someone?

I realized then I needed to be able to speak to him. Now. With hardly a thought, I was human again, and Luke was stumbling backward, thrusting my clothes at me and turning away, blushing furiously.

"I'm not," I said hurriedly, pulling my clothes on as quickly as possible.

I saw his jaw move but couldn't hear anything of course. It seemed like the strange vibration that allowed me to understand him only worked if we were touching, so I reached out and laid my hand on his arm.

"I'm not. I'm not Bonded," I said.

He turned and looked at me.

"But—Deliah said—Dag said you hadn't been home, and when you disappeared, he thought…"

I shook my head.

"I was avoiding Dag. I had some…things…I needed to work out. I heard you had Bonded with someone. I saw you with him at the Bonding ceremony. That's why I knew something was wrong with Kopanos, I think. You—you smell Bonded."

He flushed, then chuckled. "I didn't realize there was a smell. No, not me. I don't think I'm Bonding material."

"Well, you were meeting several handsome young Somas this evening."

"And one self-important asshole," Luke added.

"How did Kopanos even think he had a chance with you?" I asked in amazement, embarrassed a moment later when I realized I spoke aloud. "Polemos would have had his head."

Luke shrugged.

"He shook my hand and there was— well, it wasn't as strong a reaction as it was with you, but it was certainly something painful. One of the Somas had to heal my hand of the burns."

"So, you're not Bonded," I repeated dumbly.

He shook his head.

"And you're not Bonded?" he asked me.

I shook my head.

"Would—" Luke paused. I saw him seem to gather his courage, then he looked me square in the eyes. "Would you be interested—in seeing where this goes?"

I held my breath, my heart racing as I nodded excitedly.

He squeezed my hand, and it was only then I realized our hands were clasped.

A smile grew on my face as I looked into his beautiful eyes, tears welling at the sense of belonging that was beginning to flow through me.

Luke…felt like home.