Five

The door opens, and every nerve in my body goes on high alert.

He's here.

Dark grey shirt, black pants, moving with that effortless grace that makes my wolf react. 

I force myself to stay calm. To not react the way every instinct is screaming at me to react.

"How’s she feeling?" His voice is detached

"Better,” Crystal says. 

"Good." He moves to the monitors and starts checking readings. He doesn't look at me directly. He doesn't need to. His presence fills the room anyway.

Crystal hovers near the wall, watching him with barely concealed hostility.

"Her vitals have stabilized significantly," he says, still focused on the screen. "The detox is breaking down faster than anticipated. We'll continue the protocol for another seventy-two hours. After that, she should be strong enough to leave."

Three days. He's giving me three days and then expects me to be gone.

He turns back to me, and for the first time since entering, his eyes meet mine directly.

The impact is immediate. My wolf surges forward with a force that nearly knocks the breath from my lungs. She's pushing, pressing, trying to reach through my skin toward him.

Mate, she whispers. Ours. Touch him. Claim him. Make him see—

I shove her down hard, but it takes effort. More effort than it should.

Axel's expression doesn't change. He shows no sign of feeling anything unusual. 

Why is he ignoring the bond? 

He moves closer. Every step makes my wolf more agitated. By the time he's beside the bed, she's practically clawing at my consciousness.

"This might be uncomfortable," he warns, then places his hand on my forehead.

The effect is instant. Warmth floods through me. One that feels like coming home after years of being lost.

My wolf sighs in contentment. Finally, finally, finally—

No. Stop it. He's just checking for fever. This is medical. Nothing more.

His other hand finds my wrist. I can feel my heart racing under his touch, betraying everything I'm trying to hide.

Is that all it is? Just a recovery symptom?

Or does he notice how my pulse jumps specifically when he touches me? 

If he does, he doesn't show it.

"Everything looks good," he says finally, stepping back. The loss of his touch feels like falling. 

Then he's gone.

The door closes, and I can finally breathe without his scent overwhelming every thought.

Crystal whirls on me. "What was that energy?” 

Oh god. She noticed.

"I—I don't understand."

"Eve." She sits on the bed, takes my hands. "Your heart rate spiked the second he touched you. Your breathing changed. You looked like you were in pain."

"I was uncomfortable. Medical exams are uncomfortable."

 Her eyes search my face. I could lie. Keep this poisonous secret locked inside where it can't hurt anyone else. But Crystal knows me too well. And secrets between us have a way of festering.

"My wolf," I whisper. "She feels something."

Crystal goes very still. "Feels what?"

I take a breath. Force the words out even though they taste like ash. "A bond. She says she feels a mate bond."

For several long seconds, Crystal doesn't move. She stares at me like I've grown a second head. Then she bursts into a sharp, disbelieving laugh. 

"That's not funny, Eve. Are you high on pain medication or something? Because there's no way—"

"I'm not joking."

The laughter dies. Her face goes pale. "You're serious."

"My wolf won't stop. Ever since he walked into that emergency room, she's been howling. Pushing. Begging me to go to him." My voice cracks. "She thinks Axel is our mate."

"No." Crystal stands abruptly, backing away like I'm contagious. "No, no, no. That's impossible. That bloody detox must be messing with your wolf's instincts. It has to be."

"Maybe." I want to believe that. Desperately. "But it feels real, Crystal. It feels—"

"I don't care how it feels!" She's shouting now. "He killed your parents! And my dad! He's the reason our pack has spent the last seven years trying hard but failing to recover all we lost.” 

"I know—"

"Do you? Because it sounds like you're already making excuses for this bond. Like you're considering that it might be real."

"I'm not making excuses. I'm telling you what my wolf is telling me. And she's screaming that he's ours."

Crystal makes a sound like she's been punched. She sits down hard in the chair, head in her hands.

"This can't be happening," she mutters. "After everything we've been through. After everything he's taken from us. The Moon Goddess can't be this cruel."

We sit in silence. The machines beep steadily. Somewhere down the hall, someone is talking in low, urgent tones.

Finally, Crystal looks up. Her eyes are red-rimmed, but her jaw is set with determination.

"You said he didn't react, right? When you felt the bond?"

I nod.

"Then he doesn't want it." She says it with certainty. "Lycans are supposed to feel bonds stronger than werewolves do. But he examined you like you were just another patient. Nothing more. He probably has a Lycan lover."

She's right. He showed no sign of recognition. No awareness that anything unusual was happening.

"So either the bond doesn't actually exist—it's just your wolf being confused—or it's one-sided," Crystal continues. "Either way, he doesn't know. And we're going to keep it that way."

"Crystal—"

"No." She stands, comes back to the bed, and takes my hands in hers. "Listen to me, Eve. If he finds out you feel a bond to him, he'll use it. He'll use it to manipulate you, control you, destroy you. We can't let that happen."

"He's not Lance—"

"He's worse than Lance! Lance is just a greedy bastard with delusions of importance. Axel is a King. A Lycan King who has spent years consolidating power and crushing anyone who stands in his way." Her grip tightens. "Including our families."

The reminder lands like a slap. She's right. She's absolutely right.

"So what do we do?" I ask quietly.

Crystal's smile is sharp. Vengeful. "We use him right back. We let him heal you. Let him think he's in control, that you're just a grateful patient who'll disappear after treatment. And when you're strong enough, when the poison is completely gone—"

"We make him pay."

"We make everyone pay." She leans closer. "Lance for trying to murder you. Alice for betraying you. And Axel—" Her eyes glitter with something dark. "Axel for existing. For taking our parents. For being your mate and not having the decency to acknowledge it. We'll make him feel exactly what you're feeling now. This helplessness. This humiliation."

It should scare me, the viciousness in her voice. The cold calculation.

Instead, it steadies me. Gives me something to focus on besides the constant pull in my chest toward someone who doesn't feel it back.

"Three days," I say. "He said three days of treatment."

"Then we have three days to plan." Crystal stands, starts pacing with renewed purpose. "Three days to figure out how to get you away from Lance safely. How to reclaim what's yours. And how to make sure every man who's ever underestimated you regrets it."

She stops, turns back to me. "Can you do this? Can you keep pretending you don't feel the bond? Even when he's close? Even when your wolf is screaming?"

I think about my wolf's howling. About the way my body responds to Axel's proximity without permission. About how hard it was just now to stay still and neutral while he examined me.

"I don't have a choice."

"Good." Crystal's smile is proud. "Because we're going to show him exactly how dangerous a broken thing can be."

Something in her tone makes me wince. "But?"

"But nothing. That's exactly what you are to him—another patient. Another case. He treated you and moved on." She stands, starts pacing. "Which is good. We don't want his attention. We don't need it."

My wolf whimpers quietly, but I shove her down. Whatever delusion she's operating under, I shouldn't encourage it.