Lucifer’s jaw tensed faintly when Adala asked if her bonds could be broken.
It was something he had been silently ruminating over since she had been affected by the pheromones.
He knew that eventually she would be negatively impacted if she wasn’t around the alphas she was bonded to, but the last thing he wanted to do was send her anywhere near them.
“It’s possible,” he admitted.
“But not in the state you’re currently in.” Adala’s eyebrows rose.
“What state is that?” she wondered.
“A split lip, black eye, and underweight,” he admitted.
“Pheromones fluctuating and nearly on the verge of collapse due to how much you’ve been exposed to—not just tonight but over time.” Her gaze fell.
“I really am a mess,” she admitted.
“But I’ll only be able to last a few weeks without their interference.
Maybe I could take suppressants to avoid going into heats.” “From my understanding, it’s bad for werewolves to take suppressants and interfere with their natural cycles,” Lucifer warned, most likely informing her of things she already knew, but he deemed it worthy to say.
“And it can be very painful to do that.
You could risk going infertile.” Adala turned completely towards him, but she stepped backwards.
“It doesn’t matter,” she responded quickly.
“I used to take them all the time when I was living with the humans.
I even planned to get on them again when I returned to Man’s World.
I don’t want to pass on werewolf genes.
It’s one of my biggest flaws as someone who is supposed to produce an heir.” But she corrected herself.
“Was supposed to produce an heir.” She didn’t even realize her eyes were watering until Lucifer’s red eyes widened.
She glanced away.
That didn’t stop him from moving a bit closer.
His eyes were burning into her, and she felt cornered despite his demeanor showing worry rather than anything threatening.
“While I’m unwilling to remove your mate bond until you’re healthier, I should be able to observe it to get a good idea of what needs to be done,” he explained.
“If you would like me to, we can do it now.” This was too vulnerable.
Adela felt prickly at the thought of trusting herself to someone like this.
With determination, she pushed away from the wall.
“Please,” she quietly requested.
“I want to get to the bottom of this and escape it.” Lucifer offered a nod.
He gestured for her to come with him.
Again, they went to the elevator, but this time they went to the highest floor, which Lucifer had already voiced to be his personal quarters.
When they entered another hallway, it was nondescript, like the one below.
A long, black hallway with a few doors.
Red lights that offered low illumination.
However, this one had stairs at the heart of it, and Adela found herself following Lucifer up a spiral staircase and into the highest of the castle’s towers.
Once they made it, she saw bookshelves lining the round tower walls and skylights that let in surprisingly blue light despite there not being a visible sky in Hell.
At the center of the room, there was what looked to be a table, but it had a small, circular pillow on it.
“Lie here, please,” Lucifer said.
Adela was cautious, but she did as she was asked.
Once she was lying down, her eyes were on the man who stepped forward and stood above her, looking down at her.
Lucifer looked so human that Adela didn’t realize that each time her heart raced and she felt anxious, he could hear it.
She was completely ignorant of the fact that he could read someone’s pheromones since she felt she no longer had to suppress hers.
“I know you’ve only just met me, and it’s ridiculous to request this, but please trust me for now,” he requested.
“Close your eyes.” Adela nodded, unable to tell him that she did trust him completely because she didn’t want to lie.
She still did as he asked her, and her blue eyes drifted closed.
Lucifer placed his hands on the table on either side of the small circular pillow.
He observed her breathing as her chest rose and fell.
“May I touch you?” he asked, his voice quiet, but the timbre easily reached her ears.
There was a moment of hesitation before she whispered, “Yes.” As his hands rose, the red horns grew out of his head, and the upside-down cross seemed to burn into his forehead.
His red eyes drifted closed as his fingers met either side of her neck.
Each digit was long enough that they went past her collarbones.
She flinched, but when she felt how warm his hands were, she stopped.
Typical of alpha males, she had three marks of mated bonds.
One was on the side of her neck, one on her right collarbone, and the last on the base of her neck.
Even though werewolves healed relatively quickly and her scars were barely visible anymore, Lucifer could see them as he summoned his powers.
The scars were so deep; he realized she must have bled a lot.
It was dangerous what they did to her, especially when she was so young.
Lucifer’s eyes remained closed, but his head lifted.
In his mind’s eye, he could see golden strands that left her body and went in the direction of wherever the werewolves were.
He pushed a bit harder.
He could sense something else.
His eyes snapped open as soon as he saw a red string of fate mixed into the golden strands of a bond.
Three bond marks but four strands.
His eyes were completely black, but faded back to his usual red as he came back to this plane of reality.
“Your bond has been artificially strengthened,” he explained in a hushed tone.
Adela’s eyes snapped open.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Lucifer let her go.
He stepped away and brushed his hand through his dark hair as he pulled himself together and returned to his entirely human form.
Adela sat up and stared at him.
“It’s more invasive than a fated bond,” he continued.
“I’m almost certain someone has deliberately altered your destiny.”