The truth was, Devlin hadn’t given his consent to this procedure. Haydn might have had his cousin’s best interests at heart, but he still had forced him to undergo an incredibly risky procedure the result of which wasn’t guaranteed. Devlin might wake up and not even remember who he was. He might wake up with his sanity gone. He might wake up and hate Haydn for his broken bond.
Haydn cringed at the thought. He’d been honestly shocked when the doctors had told him that Devlin had an active mating bond. He couldn’t imagine the circumstances of a feral Xeus bonding to someone. In fact, he tried hard not to think about it. He could only hope that whoever the unfortunate bondmate was, Devlin hadn’t inadvertently hurt them.
But it wasn’t relevant anymore. The bond was now gone. The genetic modification procedure had inevitably broken it.
Haydn wondered if his cousin would even remember that he’d been bonded to someone. If he’d miss the bond. Would it hurt? The doctors back home had no idea, because there had never been a precedent of the effects of kerosvarin being reversed. The doctors here didn’t know, either, because Calluvians didn’t have alpha and omega designations and they had never tried such a procedure on an Eilan. It was all very experimental.
Fuck, what a mess. Even if Devlin’s broken bond didn’t have any unwelcome consequences, Haydn could only cringe at the thought of his cousin’s reaction when he found out that he’d been a feral beast for months—and that he had managed to bond to someone.
Devlin had always been… weird about his designation. Haydn knew that his cousin hated the total loss of control during the full moons and didn’t like being the face for all Xeus alphas of the planet, but Devlin was also very responsible when it came to his designation. Devlin might not like that he was a Xeus, he might not be particularly proud of it, but he had always been politically savvy—more politically savvy than Haydn was, truth be told—and Devlin had often used the influence he wielded to make the lives of Xeus alphas a little better, since he was pretty much the only Xeus alpha in a position to do it. But now… This whole situation would be a PR nightmare if it ever became public knowledge. Devlin’s political opponents would relish the chance and use it as a weapon against Xeus alphas in general and Devlin in particular.
The whole thing would no doubt be humiliating for his proud cousin. Haydn knew how much Devlin had struggled with controlling his violent nature as a boy, how long it had taken him to suppress his natural aggression. Haydn had always admired Devlin’s iron will: he had done such a good job of pretending to be a level-headed politician and socialite that sometimes even Haydn forgot that he wasn’t what he appeared to be. Devlin would absolutely hate his loss of control. That was why Haydn had insisted on using the NDA-tech after the debacle at the Opal House. To his relief, there hadn’t been any leaks and people didn’t seem to have found out that the feral alpha at the event was Devlin. Thank fuck for small mercies.
A soft groan made Haydn snap his gaze back to his cousin, his heart beating faster in excitement and anxiety. “Dev?”
The dark eyelashes fluttered.
Devlin Schaefer, the Duke of Westcliff, opened his eyes.
Chapter 7
Two months later
The social season was even worse than Jules had expected. He had thought he was prepared for the utter tediousness of it, but ten days after their arrival at Faris, Pelugia’s capital, Jules already felt like punching someone. Preferably Liam’s stupidly pretty face.
“Has your brother mentioned me?” said the blond alpha he was currently dancing with, casting a heated look over Jules’s shoulder.
Jules didn’t need to follow his gaze to know that he was looking at Liam. They all did.
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Jules stretched his lips into a smile and ground out, “No.”
The alpha looked disappointed but not disheartened. “Are you certain? Perhaps he mentioned me by my title? Most people call me by my title, not my name. Viscount Benley?”
Jules smiled wider. “I’m quite sure, my lord.”
As soon as the dance was over, he strode toward Liam—or tried to. As always, Liam was surrounded by a large crowd of his admirers. Elbowing twenty alphas out of the way, Jules finally managed to reach his brother. “A word,” he said, pasting on another smile for the sake of their captive audience. Not that any of those drooling knotheads even glanced his way.
Liam gave his fans an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but my brother requires my attention,” he said, his long eyelashes fluttering prettily and a dimple appearing in his cheek. Although Jules couldn’t smell it, he could feel the air spike with alpha pheromones as the alphas’ eyes glued to Liam’s face. Gross. How could Liam stand being around these knotheads all the time?