Corvus's POV
I catch Thea before she hits the floor.
My arms wrap around her small body, pulling her against my chest. She's warm, soft, unconscious—and every instinct in my wolf screams MINE.
"Get your hands off her!" Russet snarls behind me.
I don't let go. "I got to her first."
"You terrified her into fainting!" The fox lunges at me.
I spin, cradling Thea protectively, and bare my teeth. "Touch me, and I'll rip your throat out."
This is going exactly how I knew it would. The moment I read that idiot's post about his "owner," the bond slammed into my chest like lightning. My mate. After 156 years of searching, I finally found her.
And she's bonded to four other males.
Impossible. Unheard of. Against every law of nature I know.
But the bond doesn't lie. It burns in my chest, connecting me to the small human woman in my arms. She smells like vanilla and coffee and something uniquely hers that makes my wolf want to howl.
"Everyone needs to calm down," Sable says, but his panther is in his eyes. He's just as close to shifting as the rest of us. "Thea fainted because we overwhelmed her. Fighting won't help."
"He's right." Marlowe crosses his arms. "We need to—"
"Put her on the bed," Flint interrupts, golden eyes locked on Thea. "My mate needs to rest."
"YOUR mate?" I growl. "She's MINE."
"She's all of ours, apparently." Sable moves toward the bed, pulling back the blanket. "Which is why we need to stop acting like territorial animals and start thinking clearly."
I don't want to think clearly. I want to take Thea somewhere safe and never let anyone near her again. My wolf has waited over a century for this moment—finding my fated mate, the other half of my soul.
But I can feel the other bonds too. Four connections besides mine, all linking to the woman in my arms.
It shouldn't be possible.
Carefully, hating every second I'm not holding her, I lay Thea on the bed. She looks so small, so fragile. Dark circles under her eyes like she hasn't slept well in weeks. Her apartment is tiny and sad, filled with cheap furniture and loneliness.
My mate has been suffering, and I wasn't here to protect her.
"How long has she been alone?" I demand, looking at Sable. "You live above her. How long?"
Sable's expression is pained. "Six months since she moved in. I've never seen anyone visit. She cries herself to sleep most nights. Works too hard. Barely eats."
Rage floods through me. "And you didn't help her?"
"I didn't know she was my mate until today!" Sable's eyes flash green. "I thought I was just being a concerned neighbor!"
"I've known for three years," Flint says quietly. We all turn to stare at him. "I felt something the first time she toured this building. My dragon recognized her as treasure. But she was human, so I thought I was wrong. Dragons don't bond with humans."
"Except we do," Marlowe adds. "Apparently, we all do. With her."
Russet is pacing like a caged animal. "This doesn't make sense. Beastmen have ONE fated mate. Not five people sharing one mate. It's not how bonds work!"
"Then explain this." I press my hand to my chest where the bond burns. "Explain why I felt her across the entire city. Why I ran here in wolf form, not caring who saw me. Why every instinct I have is screaming to protect her."
"Because you're all idiots?" a new voice calls from the doorway.
We spin around.
Zephyr—a cat beastman and notorious gossip—stands in the destroyed doorway, looking at the chaos with amusement.
"Zephyr," Marlowe groans. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm Thea's best friend, remember? The one who's been hiding my beastman identity for months because I didn't want to scare her?" Zephyr walks into the apartment, stepping over broken wood. "And wow, you guys really went full alpha mode, huh? Destroyed her door, broke her window, made her faint. Great first impression."
Guilt twists in my gut. He's right. We terrified her.
"We need to fix this," Sable says. "When she wakes up—"
"IF she wakes up without running away screaming," Zephyr interrupts. "You do realize you just shattered her entire understanding of reality, right? Yesterday she thought Russet was a normal dog. Today, five powerful beastmen are standing in her apartment claiming she's their mate."
"She is our mate," I state firmly.
"Yeah, but does SHE know that?" Zephyr points at Thea's unconscious form. "Does she understand what fated bonds mean? That you guys literally can't live without her now? That other beastmen will try to kill her because multiple alphas sharing one mate breaks every rule we have?"
Ice floods my veins. "What?"
"Oh, you didn't think that through?" Zephyr's smile is sharp. "The Beastmen Council is going to lose their minds when they find out. They'll call her an abomination. Some will want her dead. Others will want to study her. And you five will have to protect her from our entire society."
Russet stops pacing. "He's right. The council won't accept this."
"Then we don't tell them," Flint growls.
"Don't tell them?" Marlowe laughs bitterly. "Five alphas from different clans all suddenly bonded? They'll figure it out in days."
Thea stirs on the bed. We all freeze.
Her eyes flutter open, unfocused and confused. She looks at each of us, then at her destroyed apartment.
"This is real," she whispers. "You're all real."
I move to her side before anyone else can. "Yes. And you're safe. I won't let anything hurt you."
"Safe?" She sits up slowly. "There are five strange men in my apartment. My door is destroyed. My window is broken. And you're all claiming I'm your mate, whatever that means."
"It means you're ours," I say simply. "Forever."
Thea's eyes widen. "Forever? I don't even know your names!"
"Corvus." I place my hand over my heart. "Alpha of the Northern Wolf Pack."
The others introduce themselves quickly. Thea looks more overwhelmed with each name.
"This is too much," she says, standing on shaky legs. "I need you all to leave. Now."
"We can't," Sable says gently. "The bonds—"
"I don't care about bonds!" Thea's voice rises. "Get out of my apartment!"
The bonds in all our chests pulse with pain. Our mate is rejecting us.
Before anyone can respond, the temperature in the room drops to freezing.
Ice crystals form on the windows.
A woman's voice, cold and beautiful, echoes from the doorway: "Well, well. What do we have here?"
We all turn.
Lyric Thorne stands in the entrance, white-blonde hair flowing, ice-blue eyes fixed on Thea with pure hatred.
"So YOU'RE the human who stole my mate," Lyric says sweetly.
Then she raises her hand, and ice spears shoot directly at Thea's heart.