Russet's POV
I smell her before I hear the key in the lock.
Vanilla and coffee, mixed with fear and confusion. Thea's coming home early, and from the spike of adrenaline in her scent, she knows something.
The apartment door slams open.
She stands there in her work clothes, hair messy, holding her phone like it's a weapon. Her eyes find me immediately—still in fox form, sitting on her couch like I own the place.
"You," she breathes. "It's really you."
I don't move. My cover's been blown since that idiot Corvus showed up last night, but I've been avoiding this conversation. Avoiding her questions. Avoiding the impossible thing burning in my chest every time she looks at me.
She walks closer, phone screen pointed at me. "RussetTheUnchained. That's your account. You posted about me. About being kidnapped."
I want to shift and explain, but my pride won't let me. Two weeks of being treated like a pet. Two weeks of her cooing at me, trying to give me belly rubs, calling me "good boy" in that sweet voice that made my fox want to roll over and accept it.
It was humiliating.
It was also the safest I've felt in years.
"Answer me!" Thea's voice cracks. "What are you? Why can't you just be a normal dog? Why does my coworker think you're his mate? Why did a PANTHER just drop through my office ceiling?"
Her hands are shaking. She's terrified, and it's my fault.
I've never cared about making humans comfortable before. They're not my problem. But Thea isn't just any human. The bond in my chest proves that, burning brighter every second she stands there.
Fine. She wants answers? She'll get them.
I let the shift take over.
Golden light explodes from my body. My bones crack and reform, fur retracting into skin, paws becoming hands. The transformation hurts after being stuck in one form for so long, but I grit my teeth through it.
When the light fades, I'm standing in her living room. Human. Naked. And absolutely done with pretending.
Thea screams.
Her phone clatters to the floor. She backs up against the door, eyes wide as plates.
"FINALLY!" I snap, ignoring how she's staring at me like I'm a monster. "Two weeks! Two weeks stuck in that form because you 'rescued' me before I could heal enough to shift!"
"You're... you're naked," she squeaks.
"That's what you're focusing on right now?" I throw my hands up. "Not the fact that I just transformed from a dog into a person? Not the magic? Just the naked part?"
Her face turns bright red. She covers her eyes with one hand. "Put clothes on!"
"I don't have any clothes here! You never thought to keep human clothes around for your 'pet'!"
"Because I thought you were a DOG!"
We're both yelling now, and honestly, it feels good. Two weeks of silent resentment pouring out.
"I was heading somewhere important," I snarl. "Meeting someone important. My arranged mate. And you scooped me up like a stray!"
"You were DYING!" Thea shouts back, still covering her eyes. "There was blood everywhere! What was I supposed to do, leave you there?"
"Yes! I would have healed on my own!"
"You're welcome, by the way!" Her voice breaks. "For saving your ungrateful life!"
The bond in my chest twists painfully. My fox is screaming at me to stop yelling at her, to comfort her, to make her understand.
But I'm too angry. Too confused. Too terrified of what I'm feeling.
"You want the truth, Thea?" I step closer. "I'm a fox beastman. I've lived for over a century. I can shift between human and animal forms. And two weeks ago, I was on my way to meet Lyric Thorne—my destined mate, chosen by our families before we were even born."
Thea slowly lowers her hand, looking at my face instead of my body. "Destined mate?"
"Fated bonds. Soul connections. The one person in the world meant to complete you." The words taste bitter. "Except when I met you—when you touched me that night in the rain—something happened."
"What happened?"
I press my hand against my chest where the bond burns. "This. A connection that shouldn't exist. You're human. I'm beastman. We're not supposed to be compatible. But every time you're near me, every time you tried to take care of me, this thing in my chest got stronger."
Understanding dawns in her eyes. "That's why you were so mean to me. Why you wouldn't let me touch you."
"Because touching you makes this worse!" I hate how desperate I sound. "You're not supposed to be my mate. Lyric is. That's how it's been planned for decades."
"Then why—"
"Because the bond doesn't care about plans!" I roar. "It chose you. And I have no idea why!"
Thea stares at me for a long moment. Then she does something completely unexpected.
She laughs.
It's not a happy laugh. It's the kind of laugh that comes right before crying.
"Of course," she says. "Of course the universe would do this to me. I finally get something good—a pet who needs me—and it turns out he's a hundred-year-old fox man who resents my existence."
Guilt punches through my anger. "Thea—"
"Is any of it real?" She looks at me with tears in her eyes. "The way you curled up with me last night? Or were you just too tired to keep up the act?"
I remember last night. How she cried herself to sleep on the couch. How my fox refused to let her suffer alone. How right it felt to sleep beside her, her hand in my fur.
"It was real," I admit quietly.
"Then what do we do now?"
Before I can answer, my entire body locks up. The bond in my chest explodes with warning. Someone's here. Multiple someones.
"Get back," I order Thea.
"What—"
Her apartment door explodes inward.
Corvus stands in the doorway, wolf form barely contained beneath his human skin. His silver eyes are wild, possessive, locked on Thea.
"You," he growls at me. "You've been alone with her for two weeks."
"I was stuck in fox form, you idiot—"
"Should have marked her anyway." Corvus stalks forward. "She's MINE."
My fox snarls to the surface. "She's not YOURS. The bond—"
"Is mine!" Corvus roars. "I felt it first! Before you even knew what she was!"
The room temperature drops.
We both freeze.
Sable steps through the broken door, green eyes glowing dangerous. "Actually, I've known about Thea for six months. I've been protecting her while you two were busy fighting over territory."
A window shatters. Flint climbs through in human form, golden eyes blazing. "Protected her? I've been watching her building for THREE YEARS. Since before she even moved in!"
"That's called stalking!" I shout.
"That's called treasure guarding!" Flint shoots back.
Marlowe flies through the broken window as a crow, shifts mid-air, and lands perfectly. "Are we really doing this? Fighting in front of her?"
We all turn to look at Thea.
She's pressed against the wall, staring at five men in her tiny apartment. Five powerful beastmen, all connected to her by bonds that shouldn't exist.
"This is insane," she whispers.
The bonds in all our chests pulse in unison.
Then Thea's eyes roll back, and she collapses.
We all lunge for her at the same time.