#Chapter 71 - Loss of Power

Shirley

No.

No. It’s impossible.

You’re wrong, I tell Cicy, my body beginning to shake. There’s no way.

I can sense it, Cicy tells me in return, unbothered by my efforts to calm her.

He can’t be, I insist. You’re just confused.

That’s all this was - confusion. Cicy had to be mistaken, misreading signs. And maybe she was just hopeful due to the other mating bonds we’d witnessed lately - even Jean’s that we literally watched snap into place. However, Cicy’s excitement over Keith’s possibility of being my mate formed my own confusion.

For years - or even for as long as I could remember - Cicy and I had been in agreement that mating bonds were a waste of time. Neither of us wanted one, and now she’s singing a different tune, disrupting our peace.

It’s nothing, I tell her then. Just confusion.

I’m not confused, Cicy snaps back, but still I’m not convinced. His scent, his touch. I can’t resist its temptation - even if it's vague.

Vague. I hold onto that word, Cicy’s admittance. It’s all I c