Poppy’s eyes snap to mine. “Claiming me? What the hell does that mean?!” Her words echo off the kitchen walls, loud enough to make me flinch.
I glance at Callen, silently begging him to take this one, and he gives me a small nod. His voice is calm. “It means he thinks you’re his mate. That bond is… It’s not like anything else. It’s nature. It’s instinct. It’s forever.”
Her mouth falls open, stunned, then she lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Mate? Like… what, some wolfy soulmate nonsense? No. No, I don’t…I can’t…” She shakes her head, backing up until she hits the counter.
I want to reach for her, but my hands won’t move. Guilt stabs deep into my chest because under all my fear for her safety, her life, her dreams, there’s a selfish flicker of joy. If this is true, if Leo really is her mate, it means she won’t be leaving me. She’ll be here with us.
The thought blooms warm in my chest before it turns to shame. God, what’s wrong with me? My little sister’s whole future just got rewritten while she’s sat on my kitchen floor, covered in blood, and I’m relieved she won’t be gone.
“Paige,” she snaps, dragging me out of my spiral. Her eyes are wild, desperate. “Tell me this isn’t real. Tell me he’s not serious.”
I swallow, forcing my voice out even though it feels like betrayal. “It’s real, Poppy. Mate bonds are… they’re not something we choose. They’re rare and sacred.”
“So what you’re saying is some random wolf man just… what, decided I belong to him? That’s insane. I don’t even know him!”
Callen shakes his head, his voice gentle. “It’s not like that. It’s not ownership. It’s a connection stronger than anything else. You’ll feel it too, eventually. It’s… undeniable.”
“Undeniable?” she hisses. “I had plans, Callen! I was supposed to be in school, working toward something I wanted. Not…” she gestures wildly at Leo, covered in blood and barely breathing, “…this.”
Her words hang heavy. Callen doesn’t try to argue. He just watches her, his wolf quiet but present in his eyes, waiting for her to calm down.
Poppy finally drags in a shaky breath and presses her hands to her temples. The fight seems to drain out of her all at once, leaving her pale and trembling. She slides down against the counter, her knees pulled tight to her chest.
“I don’t… I don’t know what to do with this,” she whispers. Her eyes dart to Leo, then away again, as if just looking at him hurts.
The silence that follows is thick, broken only by the sound of Leo’s ragged breathing and the faint hum of the fridge. My chest aches for her. I want to promise her everything will be okay, but I can’t, not when I don’t even know what tomorrow looks like anymore.
So I sit beside her on the cold kitchen tiles, my shoulder brushing hers. I should tell her I’ve been here, that I went through all the same emotions she’s going through now. That fighting this is useless, because no matter how much she thinks she doesn’t want this, you can’t fight fate. Whether she likes it or not, the pull will come.
I don’t say any of the words running through my mind; I don’t think she is ready to hear them. Instead, I sit in the silence with her, letting her lean into me if she wants to. The coppery scent of blood still hangs in the air, a grim reminder of everything else going on tonight.
I check Ryder and Remy through the bond. They are calm now, a good sign.
Poppy finally breaks the silence. “Why me?” Her voice is small, broken in a way I’ve never heard from her. “Out of all the people in the world, why would it be me?”
Callen shifts closer, his elbows resting on his knees. His voice is steady, but softer than I’ve ever heard him speak to anyone but me. “Because fate doesn’t play fair. It doesn’t pick the convenient ones, the ones with the perfect timing. It picks the ones who are meant for each other, whether they’re ready or not.”
She lets out a shaky laugh, but there’s no humour in it. “So what, fate just decided to screw up my life plans? Just like that?”
“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” I say quickly, reaching for her hand before she pulls away. “This doesn’t mean you’re trapped, Poppy. It just… it means there’s a connection. What you do with it is still yours to choose.”
But even as I say it, I know it’s not the whole truth. The bond isn’t something you walk away from easily. It digs in, carving out space until you can’t imagine yourself whole without it. I know it, and Callen knows it, but neither of us can bring ourselves to say it out loud. Not yet.
Her gaze flicks to Leo again, lingering on his bare chest rising and falling beneath the blanket. Her face crumples. “I don’t even know him, Paige. I’ve never spoken to him. Christ, we aren’t even the same species! And now he’s…” Her words falter. “…mine? How is that even supposed to make sense?”
I don’t have an answer.
Callen does. “The bond is deeper than words, Poppy. It’s not about knowing each other’s favourite colour or what you like on pizza. It’s soul to soul, and once it wakes, it doesn’t sleep again.”
She swallows hard and looks lost, her wide eyes glossy with unshed tears.
Guilt claws at me again. I should be trying harder to comfort her, but part of me is still clinging to that selfish relief, that my sister’s path now runs closer to mine, not farther away. The thought makes me sick. She deserves better than my hidden happiness at her turmoil.
**Paige’s POV **
Leo groans, his body twitching under the blanket. Poppy startles, her nails digging into her knees as her gaze flies to him. His head rolls weakly to the side; his eyes remain shut, but his hand twitches, reaching blindly toward her again.
Poppy’s breath hitches. “Why does he keep…”
“Because the bond doesn’t let go,” Callen says simply.
Poppy squeezes her eyes shut, her whole body trembling. “This is too much. I can’t handle this.”
“You don’t have to handle it all tonight,” I tell her, desperate to stop the rising panic in her voice. “Just breathe. One step at a time.”
She hugs her knees tighter, whispering, “I had a plan. I was going to finish school. Get into vet training. Work with animals. Not… not be mated to some stranger who turns into one.”
Her words sting, but not because she means them harshly. It’s because I know exactly what it feels like to have your life ripped away and rewritten without your consent.
“You can still be that,” I say quietly. “Being part of this world doesn’t erase who you are. If anything, it makes you stronger, gives you more to fight for.”
Her eyes snap open, wet and furious. “Easy for you to say. You’ve already accepted it. You already…” She stops herself, her lips pressing into a thin line.
I know what she almost said. You already have them. Ryder, Callen, Remy, Parker. The mates that make my world both complicated and unbearably full.
She doesn’t yet. She just has Leo, an unconscious stranger.
The silence between us stretches again. Then, softer than a whisper, she says, “What if I can’t do this?”
“You can,” Callen says without hesitation. “You’re stronger than you think, and you’re not alone. None of us will let you be.”
Poppy doesn’t respond. She just presses her forehead against her knees, hiding her face. But she doesn’t pull away when I slide my arm around her shoulders. For now, that has to be enough.
Leo lets out another rough exhale, the sound tearing through the silence. I glance at him, imagining the fragile bond forming between him and my sister, and I know this is only the beginning.
I’m still not sure whether I should be terrified or grateful.
The silence stretches, heavy and suffocating, when the front door bangs open. My heart lurches before I catch Ryder’s familiar frame. Relief crashes over me so hard it makes my head spin.
Ryder strides into the kitchen with Remy right behind him, both of them stripped down to only shorts, their chests streaked with dirt and blood. They look wild from the fight, a feral green in their eyes. My gaze flicks over them instinctively, broad shoulders, tense muscles, the subtle cuts and bruises still healing before my eyes. They don’t look like men who just walked through hell. They look like predators who survived it.
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