I couldn't help but notice Nessy's ears drooping lower with each sent message. Her phone screen was angled so that I could clearly see the entire conversation and the group chat name: "TRIPLE THREAT 💀🔫🎵"

She wasn't hiding the conversation from me—in fact, she seemed to want me to see the chat window as if my observation of it and opinion was important to her.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Ness, are you coming to lunch? We saved you a seat at our usual table and ordered your favorite turkey sandwich!

A guilty and hungry look had come over Nessy's face.

[Gunslinga🦊]: You better not be choosing some random human over your actual pack. Your REAL pack.

[ManyLix🐾]: guys I'm staying with Alec in the nurse's office. He almost died because of me.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Because of you? Nessy, you were magically compelled. None of this was your fault! He's probably being magically compelled too by that fox Binder!

[Gunslinga🦊]: It was that psycho instructor's fault! Not yours, not his. Why are you taking responsibility for some human's poor life choices?

[ManyLix🐾]: Because he saved me, Viv. He got hurt doing it.

[Gunslinga🦊]: OH PLEASE. He "saved" you? Out of allllll the prads on that course, somehow YOU were the special one he just HAD to rescue?

[NecroMaster🧙]: Statistically speaking, Vivianne raises a valid point. What made you specifically worthy of rescue when he had no prior pack bond or friendship with you? I heard he went for two firestorm raptor girls too and one of them was smart enough to tell him to beat it.

I watched Nessy's ears flatten back against her head as she read the last message. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long moment before she glanced up at me.

"Alec," she said quietly. "When we weren't even packmates. I spoke to you once at the temple and wasn't very nice. Why did you choose to rescue me?"

The other three girls in the room perked up with interest.

"Honestly?" I said, drowning in Nessy's sky-blue, wide eyes. "I don't know the exact answer. When I saw you on that course, trapped in the compulsion loop... something in my chest just twisted. Like seeing you hurt and lost was physically painful for me. Like I know you really well… which is weird when I only met you yesterday. Like my legs walked me towards you on their own."

"Awww," Candace cooed from the windowsill. "That's the most romantic thing I've heard in ages!"

"It's not… romantic," I protested, though I could feel heat rising in my cheeks. "It's just... I felt connected to Ness somehow. Like I'd been looking for her without knowing it my entire life."

Adelle snorted. "Boss, that's literally the definition of romantic. Next you'll be writing her poetry and picking flowers."

Nessy's tail had started wagging again as she returned to her chat.

[ManyLix🐾]: He says he felt connected to me somehow. Like he'd been looking for me without knowing it.

[Gunslinga🦊]: 🤮 Nessy, that's exactly the kind of manipulative crap guys say when they want something from you!

[NecroMaster🧙]: I have to agree with Vivianne. That response is textbook emotional manipulation designed to exploit your existing psychological vulnerabilities regarding your "dream person." He's met you at the temple right? He obviously knows about your condition and is using it as an emotional lever.

Nessy sighed deeply, looking extra frustrated.

[ManyLix🐾]: What if it's not manipulation though? What if he's telling the truth?

[Gunslinga🦊]: Then he's either delusional or lying. Probably both.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Nessy, remember what we discussed about your attachment disorder. You're projecting your fantasy onto this human because he superficially matches some imagined criteria.

I watched Nessy's shoulders slump as she read that.

"Your friends are… really supportive," I said dryly.

"They're trying to protect me," she said, but her voice lacked conviction. "They think my dreams are unhealthy."

"Maybe they are," I admitted. "Or… Maybe sometimes dreams are just... previews of coming attractions."

"Slayer," Adelle commented with a smirk. "I'm already too full! You're going to give me diabetes on top with all this sweetness!"

[ManyLix🐾]: He says maybe dreams are previews of coming attractions.

[Gunslinga🦊]: Nessy, this is EXACTLY why I drove you to that Krishna temple four years ago! To get unhealthy obsessions out of your system before that raptor beerch could use it against you!

[ManyLix🐾]: No. You drove me there because you were worried about me. I know you care, Viv.

[Gunslinga🦊]: Of course I care! You're my best friend! That's WHY I can't stand watching you destroy yourself over some imaginary person!

[NecroMaster🧙]: Vivianne is correct. Your fixation on this "dream person" has prevented you from forming many healthy relationships. For example, you pushed Basil Lerox away just because he wanted to date you, even though he was a pretty cool Agromancer dude in my opinion. In fact, you rejected every guy who asked you out because they weren't your imagined, perfect human.

[ManyLix🐾]: What if he IS real though? What if everything I've been dreaming about is real?

[Gunslinga🦊]: Then why didn't you recognize him immediately? If he's your magical soulmate or whatever, shouldn't there have been instant recognition? Fireworks? Dramatic music?

That one hit home. I could see Nessy's tail freeze mid-wag as she contemplated the message.

"She has a point," Nessy said quietly, looking up at me. "If you really are... if we really are... shouldn't I have known right away?"

"Maybe you did," I said gently. "You said I felt familiar when we met at the temple. And during the lecture, when I was talking about human-prad bonds... you were watching me like you recognized something."

"He's got a point," Candace said thoughtfully. "I saw your faces during his speech, Nessy. You're way too much into each other, stop flapping about it and just accept it."

Nessy pursed her lips.

"Plus," Candace added, "maybe the Well of Severance messed with your desire for love or whatever. That thing sounded sketchy as hell when I read about it online."

Nessy's fingers flew over her phone keyboard.

[ManyLix🐾]: Maybe the Well of Severance affected my ability to recognize him immediately?

[Gunslinga🦊]: Oh for crying out loud! Now you're blaming a meditation well for your confusion? Nessy, listen to yourself!

[NecroMaster🧙]: The Well of Severance is a legitimate spiritual tool used by the Krishna temple. It doesn't "mess with" anything—it simply helps people release unhealthy attachments.

[ManyLix🐾]: What if my attachment isn't unhealthy though? What if it's just... different?

[Gunslinga🦊]: Different how? Please explain how obsessing over someone who doesn't exist is healthy!

[ManyLix🐾]: Because maybe he did exist. Maybe he does exist. Maybe I've been dreaming about him because we're connected somehow.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Nessy, we've had this conversation so many times. Correlation is not causation. The fact that you've found someone who vaguely resembles your fantasy doesn't validate the fantasy itself.

I watched Nessy's face crumple slightly. "They think I'm delusional," she let out.

"Hey," I said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Even if you are a little delusional, that doesn't make your feelings less real. And it doesn't make you less important to me."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Heh," Candace nodded approvingly. "Very smooth recovery there, Alpha."

"I wasn't trying to be smooth," I protested.

"That's what makes it smooth," Addie added with a grin, closing her eyes.

[ManyLix🐾]: He says even if I'm delusional, my feelings are still real and I'm still important to him!

[Gunslinga🦊]: NESSY. This is textbook love-bombing! He's telling you exactly what you want to hear!

[NecroMaster🧙]: I must concur with Vivianne's assessment. The pattern of validation followed by dependency creation is a classic manipulation tactic.

[ManyLix🐾]: Or maybe he just genuinely cares about me?

[Gunslinga🦊]: After knowing you for TWO DAYS?!

[ManyLix🐾]: Sometimes connections happen quickly.

[Gunslinga🦊]: Ness, please. I'm begging you. Just come to lunch with us. Let's talk this through away from... Binder influences.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Agreed. Some distance and perspective would be beneficial right now.

I could see Nessy wavering, torn between her loyalty to her old friends and whatever she was feeling toward me. The conflict was written all over her twitching, distraught face.

"Go," I said quietly. "If you want to go to lunch with them, go. I'm not going anywhere."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Really. I'm stuck here for at least another hour anyway," I gestured to the IV drip. "And they're your friends. They care about you, even if they're going about it in a... protective way."

"But what if—" she started.

"What if what? What if you decide they're right and I'm just some delusional human with a savior complex?" I shrugged. "Then you'll have learned something important, and we'll both move on."

The tree inside me wiggled a billion branches angrily. It didn't want to let her go. I ignored the ocean of flutter. This had to be Nessy's choice, not mine. If she actually liked me, then she would come back.

Nessy stared at me for a long moment, her blue eyes searching my face. "You're not afraid I'll choose them?"

"A bit," I admitted. "But I'd rather you sort it out yourself, than me or my packmates pushing things."

"And THAT," Candace announced, "is why he's our Alpha. Most guys would be trying to guilt trip you into staying."

"Or getting all possessive and weird," Adelle added without opening her eyes. "Bleh."

"Definitely," Kristi agreed.

[ManyLix🐾]: I'm going to come to lunch. But I need to think about things.

[Gunslinga🦊]: THANK SLAYA. Finally some sense! We're at our usual table.

[NecroMaster🧙]: Excellent decision, Nessy. Clear thinking requires clear space.

[ManyLix🐾]: I'll see you both soon.

Nessy pocketed her phone and looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. "I'll be back," she said finally.

"See ya later," I replied.

She leaned down and, completely unexpectedly, pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. "Thank you," she whispered.

And then she was gone, leaving behind the faint scent of lavender and wet fur.

"Well," Nurse Redstriss said after a moment, finally abandoning her pretense of organizing supplies. "That was very mature of you."

"Thanks," I sighed, settling back against the pillows.

"Yass," Candace agreed cheerfully. "And now we know you're not a controlling psychopath! Such progress!"

"The bar you set for my personality is impressively low," I muttered.

"Don't worry, boss," Adelle grinned. "I'd keep ya even if you were a psychopath."

"Way to lower the bar there, Ads," Candace laughed.

Nessy suddenly flashed back into the room, her curly black and white hair flying behind her.

"Back so soon, doggy?" Candace glanced at the panting Nessy.

"Alec, do you have a phone?" Nessy asked breathlessly, her tail wagging nervously. "N' Pradstagram?"

I nodded and pulled out my ancient, battered Clawsroller J-2. The screen was a spiderweb of cracks held together by determination and a cheap, half-melted, scratched up plastic case that had seen better decades.

"Yikes," Nessy winced at the sight of my phone. "That thing looks like it survived a dungeon attack."

"Close," I said. "It survived my brother using it for target practice."

She tapped her sleek, modern Ipaws 12 against mine with a soft clink. A notification popped up on both screens as our contact information synced.

[Contact Request from: ManyLix🐾]

I hit accept, and she did the same, her eyes lighting up as the connection confirmed.

"There," she said, pocketing her phone. "Now you can... I mean, if you want to... we can talk while I nom lunch with my... friends."

"Sounds good," I said.

She flashed me another cute smile and then rushed out of the room, her black and white curls bouncing as she disappeared around the corner, paws tapping on the floor.

"Ah," Candace said with an exaggerated sigh, relocating to my side instead of the windowsill, "now I see why I got rejected back at the hotel, even though I'm an absolutely amazing kisser."

"Modest too," Kristi commented dryly.

"Hrm?" I turned to the silver fox.

"Someone," Candace continued, leaning towards me as if she was showcasing her ample chest, pointedly ignoring the raptor, "def' has big feels for a certain fluffy-tailed doggy. And here I thought it was just my irresistible fox charm failing me."

"You're plenty resistible when you get all loopy," Adelle mumbled from her chair with a big yawn. Her silver eyes were already half-closed as the food coma began to take hold.

"Rude," Candace huffed. "I'll have you know I'm a great catch."

"You're def' something," Kristi agreed, though her tone suggested it wasn't necessarily a compliment.

Candace's gray eyes narrowed as she studied the raptor. "You know, Kristi, you've been awfully quiet about our new packmate doggo. Usually you have raptory opinions about everything."

"I have opinions, yes," Kristi said.

"But not about Nessy?"

"Nessy's..." Kristi paused, choosing her words with unusual care. "Tolerable. I guess."

"Tolerable?" Candace's tail swished with interest. "That's it? Just that? Come on, dish. What's your read on her?"

"She's..." Kristi said, the words coming out like she was forcing it through clenched teeth. "Overbearing like a dog, probably."

"That's it?" Candace pressed.

"What do you want from me, fox?" Kristi's voice had taken on a sharp edge. "She's Alec's choice. If he wants to chase after some Bard mutt who dreams about imaginary boyfriends, that's his business."

"Ooh," Candace grinned wickedly. "There's some spice there. What'd she do to you, Kris?"

"Nothing," Kristi snapped, her claws extending slightly. "She didn't do anything. That's the point."

From her chair, Adelle cracked one eye open. "Drama," she mumbled. "Love drama. My favorite kind of entertainment." She settled deeper into the chair. "Wake me when someone starts crying."

"Nobody's crying," Kristi growled.

"You seem kinda fragile there," Candace commented.

"Do you want to book a meeting between my fist and your fox snout, and we'll see who's more fragile?" the raptor growled.

"Holy sheet," Candace jumped off the windowsill and laughed, narrowly avoiding a half-hearted swat from Kristi. "You've got it bad. You maximum fragile, my dude."

I was about to tell them both to knock it off when my phone buzzed with a notification. Glancing at the screen, I noticed that Nessy had come online.

The contact name had changed from [ManyLix🐾] to [MaximaPawsome🐾].

[Alecai🌲]: Did you change your name?

The response came back almost immediately.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: ye. felt right

I stared at the simple response, something warm spreading through my chest. For some reason, the name felt familiarly unnerving, like Déjà vu, like the sound of a ticking clock running out of time, like endless aisles and impossible products.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: Ugh. I'm getting my ears ranted off. Can't even enjoy sammich.

I wasn't sure what to type to that.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: They're being all pressury. I just want

She stopped typing for a minute.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: want to understand why looking at you makes me feel like I'm drowning and being rescued at the same time. If accepting you as Alpha might help me figure that out…

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: Then yes. I choose you.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: My best friens. they're good prads, but they don't understand… about the dreams, about my music. They're angry at me. I… don't like making my friends angry. sigh

[Alecai🌲]: I would have rescued them too. But, the gun only had four shots and I missed one like an idiot.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: thanks. Sagie n Viv have been with me since first grade

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: they've protected me, helped me manage my condition. When the dreams got too intense, when I'd end up crying about things that never happened at school, they were always there. Viv told me to join the temple back in grade seven and it helped me deal with it all. Sage has been casting 'calmness of the dead' on me for years.

[Alecai🌲]: That sounds like… supportive friendship

I acknowledged.

Candace relocated herself atop of the recovery bed, somehow squeezing herself beside me, fluffy tail smacking my leg. I pushed her silver face out of my phone screen.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: it's so strange. I'm not sure if I know or don't know you. Every time I look at you, I feel

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: something

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: The temple says these are delusions, symptoms of an Astral parasite feeding on my dreams. But when I'm near you… there's this… pull, this NEED to maul you. That's crazy… right?

"She got it so bad, dang," Candace commented.

"Who invited you up here, fluffy space invader?" I asked her.

"I invited myself," she said. "Whatever's between you could be some kind of a deep magical compulsion. A binding loop."

"Set by whom and why?" I asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Candace said.

[Alecai🌲]: No biggie if you a bit nuts. I'm practically drowning in crazy prad femmes at this point.

I typed to Nessy.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: Yeah, I saw. My mates really don't trust the fox. They say she's very bad. She smells like Topaz.

Candace let out a huff from my side.

[Alecai🌲]: What exactly is Topaz?

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: A magical drug. Nobody knows where it's made or how. I heard it makes whoever smokes, inhales or drinks it hallucinate happy, blissful things. It's very magically potent and incredibly addictive. Turns your whiskers, skin, nails, teeth and fur shiny rainbow-blue.

I glanced at Candace. Her teeth, nails and whiskers were pure white, fur and hair pure silver with a sprinkle of dark silver and warm pink at the edges. No rainbow-blue. Then again, she could just unbind a particular color from herself quite easily.

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