The Wolf Prince's Fated Heart - Page 80

“It’s her witchy aura,” I explain with a laugh. “It keeps wolves in check.”

“Whatever it is, I like it,” she confirms.

“I’m glad,” I say, suppressing yet another smile.

She doesn’t seem entirely opposed to our world, my wolf comments.

Hopefully, we didn’t scare her off, I agree.

“What exactly will happen to you if I reject the bond?” Cassie asks out of the blue.

My heartbeat increases. “Well, for starters, I’d have to move away for a while. It’d be too painful to be in the same city, much less in the same building. Imagine the pain as something like holding your hand over the fire, but instead of a hand, it’s your heart. The fire never burns out, and the pain never stops. It’s there. Though you learn to live with it, it doesn’t make it any less antagonizing.”

“So basically, what you’re saying is that you’d have to get used to extreme torture,” she sums it up, her expression tense.

“It’s something like that, yes,” I reply.

“That sounds horrible,” she whispers.

“The opposite of being rejected is, well, to accept the bond,” I say. “That brings an entirely different kind of torture.”

“What do you mean?” she asks with her brow lifted. “It sounds better, doesn’t it?”

“For a certain period of time, after you accept it, something like a physical bond is happening. An invisible tie binds us together, which makes us helpless, in a sense. We’re dependent on each other. Our emotions are connected. We’re one,” I explain, doing my best to keep it straight forward.

“And after that, we have a lot more baggage than usual couples,” I continue. “Strong physical reaction, of course. Wolves are extremely territorial and prone to jealousy, so we need to reassure and complement each other constantly. It sounds toxic, but it’s not. It’s actually beautiful, pure, and precious.”

“Like Helia and Grayden, huh?”

I chuckle. “That’s a whole different level. I mean, sure, I’ve heard him whimper whenever she’s not with him, but that’s only after they’ve been apart for longer periods of time. Garren and Alyssa are quite self-sufficient, especially when she goes to the camp for a couple of days to check in on her pack. Gavin and Leia, on the other hand, are a mystery.”

“Why?” Cassie asks, glancing at me.

“Out of all of us, Gavin was always the most private one,” I explain. “He kept himself and his emotions in check. Considering that he’s the most powerful wolf of our generation, we should be grateful for his impeccable control. Leia is a lot like him in that regard. I guess it has something to do with her powers. Do you know that they call her the Ice Queen?”

“I didn’t, but it makes sense,” Cassie replies. “What powers do their kids have? How does a power system work anyway?”

“Leon and Logan are too young to display their powers just yet,” I tell her. “Once they do, they’ll be sent to the Academy to learn how to use them.”

“The Academy,” she repeats, taking it all in.

“As for the power system,” I continue, “we’re not exactly sure. I mean, it is believed that we inherit our powers from our parents, but there have also been some exceptions where kids didn’t get any of their parents’ powers. The only way to explain it is that they got a spark from their ancestors down the line. No one knows for sure.”

“It’s a lot like the lottery,” Cassie muses. “Some numbers are lucky, but some not so much.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” I argue softly. “The stronger the parents and the ancestors, the stronger the pup will be.”

“What about Georgina?” Cassie asks, referring to Grayden and Helia’s daughter.

“Time will tell,” I reply. “This is all new to us.”

“This is a lot to take in,” she says. I can almost see the wheels in her head turning. “What about us? Would our child be a wolf or a human? A half-breed of sorts? Weak? Bullied in school for not belonging to any side?”

“Whoa, slow down,” I say before she can get herself worked up into a panicked frenzy. “One thing at a time. Let’s first figure out what we’ll do with the fated-mate bond, okay? It’s too soon to talk about kids yet.”

“Is it?” she challenges, tilting her head to the side. “How old are you anyway?”

I roll my eyes. “I’m barely thirty. There’s plenty of time.”