Pheromonal: One Night With the Alpha-Chapter 156: Your Bond’s a Mess

"I need ten minutes alone with her." Brynn drums her gnarled fingers against the couch. "A necessary calibration before the spell. The glamour needs to sync with her energy signature."

Logan’s response is immediate. "No."

The word lands between us like a brick. His posture shifts subtly—shoulders squared, jaw set. Alpha mode activated.

The witch’s old eyes glitter with amusement. "Scared of what I’ll say, or what she might admit?"

I nudge Logan with my elbow, keeping my voice low. Time to be mature, calm, rational Nicole, not the crazy jealous version of me I’ve been since I learned of her existence. "I’m fine. Ten minutes. You’ll be in the next room, right?"

His expression darkens. A muscle twitches in his jaw as he stares down at Brynn, who meets his gaze with undisguised delight. I can practically feel the testosterone radiating off him.

"Ten minutes," he finally growls. The look he gives me says it all: scream and I’ll come running.

Unlike Logan—or Penelope—my mate bond/BFF telepathy works great, thank you very much. I get what they’re trying to tell me with their eyes. Too bad they don’t have the same skill.

The bedroom door clicks shut behind him, and I’m left alone with the witch.

Brynn’s fingers snap—a sharp, crisp sound in the quiet apartment. The air compresses suddenly, a quiet pop pressing against my eardrums followed by a subtle shift in pressure. My skin prickles.

A ward now exists where one wasn’t before, surrounding us.

"Don’t worry," she says, noticing my startled expression. "It’s just so he doesn’t hear what we need to talk about."

"How did you do that so fast? I didn’t sense anything until it snapped."

Brynn’s smile blooms slowly across her ancient face. "Everyone has their secrets, darling."

She studies me with unsettling intensity, her rheumy eyes suddenly sharp and focused. It’s like being dissected by a surgeon—methodical, meticulous, missing nothing. "You’re having trouble controlling your emotions when it comes to your wolf, aren’t you?"

My spine stiffens. "I’m human."

Brynn snorts, the sound too vigorous for her frail appearance. "Don’t play coy with me, girl."

I look away, focusing on the cityscape beyond the penthouse windows. The silence stretches between us until I can’t bear it anymore.

"It might be... a small problem."

"Small?" She chuckles. "Is that what we’re calling it?"

Heat rises to my cheeks. "I don’t see how my emotional state is relevant to a glamour spell."

"You usually a jealous person?" she asks, ignoring my deflection.

"No. Never." The answer comes easily because it’s true. Before Logan, I’d never experienced this possessive rage. Scott had been free to flirt with colleagues at office parties, and I’d rolled my eyes at most. It had taken catching him in the act, pasty ass in the air and dick in another woman’s vagina, for my anger to spark.

But with Logan... a simple implication sends my blood pressure skyrocketing.

The air around Brynn shimmers suddenly—like heat rising from asphalt in summer. The magic peels away in luminescent layers, revealing smooth skin where wrinkles had been moments before. The transformation is mesmerizing.

Her hunched posture straightens. Gray hair darkens to rich chocolate brown, flowing in silky waves past her shoulders.

Before me sits a stunning twenty-something with luminous skin and silver eyes, catching the light like polished mercury. Inhuman and beautiful. She rises gracefully from the couch, her movements graceful and a little sinister.

"This is what I really look like," she says, her voice no longer crackly but melodic. She gestures to her perfect form. "But your wolf? Won’t touch me. Not even to save his own life."

Logically, I know she’s right. Logan is moral. Loyal. A man who rejected me the first time over a mere engagement misunderstanding.

But my bond doesn’t care about logic.

My body tenses automatically. My thoughts turn sharp and bitter. I scowl at the illusion, my lips curling slightly in instinctive disgust.

Mine.

The thought crashes through my consciousness with primitive force. I don’t even recognize the possessive voice in my head. freёweɓnovel.com

Brynn shifts back to her crone form with a flourish, laughing in pure, unfiltered joy. It’s even weirder on her old face.

"Oh, this is better than I thought," she says, clapping her hands together like a delighted child with a new toy. "Your bond’s a mess, girl. Completely out of control."

She settles back onto the couch, adjusting her shawl around bony shoulders. Was she wearing one before? Suddenly, I can’t remember. In fact, I’m not even sure her face is the same as last time. And... what did she look like just seconds ago?

Strange. I can remember, but I can’t... see it.

"Your magic’s a mess, too." She tilts her head, examining me from a different angle. "Looks like you had a breakthrough, though. Good for you."

"Thanks," I mutter sourly, wondering how she can see all this so easily. "Now that you’ve had your fun, what exactly is your relationship with Logan? The unedited version."

My possessiveness is still prickly and angry under my skin, urging me to leap forward and claw her old lady eyeballs out.

I resist.

Brynn sighs dramatically, her frail shoulders rising and falling. "I’ve helped him out of a few sticky situations over the years. He buys my unique skillset, and I deliver." She raises a finger to her lips and winks. "But he can’t talk. No no. My work always comes with a contract."

I blink. Blink again as understanding clicks into place.

"Logan can’t talk about any of it because he’s under contract with you."

Brynn smiles. "Bingo."

"Do any of those contracts involve me?"

She giggles, the sound girlish and incongruous coming from her ancient form. "I don’t tattle. Secrecy is currency in my world, darling."

Her eyes soften unexpectedly, the mirth fading into something almost like compassion.

"You’re lucky your bond’s with someone honorable," she adds, her voice dropping lower. "Otherwise? You’d already be consumed by it."

I swallow hard, unsure if that’s comfort or warning.