FYNN, LIKE ALWAYS, was the most dramatic of them all when it came to his turn. He whined and growled and made a big fuss, denying coming closer to finally secure the bond.

I have to admit, I was hurt by his big show of refusal. Just a little.

Please, I conveyed through frowning of my eyebrows and pouting of my wolfy lips. When he didn't respond, I cocked my head to the side. What? Do you not like me?

He must've sensed my sadness as Fynn finally stepped closer. Either he was tired of my dramatics – nothing was more dramatic than Fynn himself – or he heard my mental talking.

Just before he pressed his forehead to mine, he looked over to a gathering of bushes hidden by the shadow of the trees. I saw his eyes marginally narrow before they relaxed, and he turned back to us.

We pressed together as I had with the rest of the pack, but this time, it felt different. I could feel an existing connection, even without the pack bond. I was confused; out of everyone in the pack, Fynn had been the most distant. Why would he have the strongest connection? Was it because he was alpha? Even then, we hadn't bonded yet, so how did that work?

Hurry up already, yowled Liam through our bond. I wanna run!

Did I hear fun? his twin, Blaze, excitedly asked.

Run! I imagined Liam's eyes extravagantly rolling in circles around his eye socket.

I'll poke your eye out if you continue doing that, warned Jesse.

Fynn captured my attention, "woof." Are you ready yet? I've got better stuff to do.

Riana snorted at his impatient tone and responded with a snarky response that sounded awfully like "bleh." Like lick your butthole and paint your claw-nails yellow?

Duh, he huffed.

Adrianne clapped her hands twice. "You can start anytime now!"

I didn't understand how the process of securing a bond was triggered, but so far, the others have helped initialise the process. I should've known by now that like everything that had anything remotely to do with Fynn, he would do it differently. When he stood still, I sought Riana for help.

"I have no idea. I've never bonded with anything other than my claw-polish collection back home."

I snorted at the alpha. What? Are you just going to stand there and wait for the Empress to feed you bananas?

Yes, he nodded.

I tried to raise an eyebrow, but the effort was pointless. I couldn't do it as a wolf, and I certainly couldn't do it as a human. My eyebrows are useless.

Fynn sighed in defeat. You have to use your senses to reach out into your surroundings. Tether yourself around me and tighten. Your wolf will subconsciously know what to do next.

I blinked once. I blinked twice.

I sort of understood what Fynn was saying, but I was more surprised by how long he talked for.

He's never talked to us for this long.

Snorting, he communicated his ever-low tolerance in regard to Riana and me.

Closing my eyes, I pushed Riana's head against Fynn's, heat transferred from him to us. Riana controlled her tongue to moisten her nose as I concentrated on 'extending my senses'. Fynn reminded me of fortune cookies – they both favoured being as vague as possible.

"The vaguer, the better."

Jolting, I felt myself come into contact with Fynn. It wasn't the physical version of the silverish-blue wolf, but the mental version of the feisty guy – almost as if I was touching his soul. The sensation of touching mental Fynn felt so right that it was weird. It was warm and fuzzy like my hand was enveloped in an overly fluffy throw blanket.

I wrapped my cowgirl lasso around the intangible object and tied a bow knot.

The familiar heat reappeared around Riana's body as I felt a tether forming between Fynn and me.

I have one question before you run away, I mentally forewarn the anti-social alpha after I felt our pack bond fully secure.

Fine, just one question, he reluctantly agreed.

Is the pack bond between the humans, or the wolves?

Do you mean if it's the humans or wolves connected by the tether?

Yeah, I reply.

Both are connected. Human to human, wolf to wolf, human to wolf, and wolf to human. It's a four-way connection. That way, pack members can communicate with each other no matter which form they are in.

What–, I start to talk again.

You said only one question, a deeper voice replied.

Who's this?

Ace. Fynn's annoyed with your behaviour, so I've been pushed into the limelight. The wolf delivered a lick to Riana's nose and gently nipped her cheek before stepping away.

***

A/N:

I'm so sorry for another late posting! The entirety of yesterday consisted of eating chocolate and listening to Taylor Swift's Midnights on repeat. I actually pre-wrote this chapter, but I'm not sure how to prove that to you.

MIDNIGHTS! OH MY! I'm not a big Taylor Swift fan but I was SO HYPED.

QOTC: For those who have listened to the Midnights album by Taylor Swiftie, what's your favourite song(s)? Otherwise, what's your favourite Taylor song in general?
'Maroon' is probably my favourite out of everything. My second is 'Mastermind' (I LOVE THE CHORUS). 'You're On Your Own, Kid' is ranked third (🎶sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes🎶). 'Lavender Haze' is really good too.

Meet me at midnight 😉,

-Hilda

Chapter 33: 29october2022