Page 60 of Primal Bonds 1

“There’s no need for an explanation,” he said. “I don’t owe her one.”

I tilted my head to one side. “No need for an explanation? But what if she contacted the institute and…” I trailed off, thinking about the horrible scenario if the institute were to turn up. They’d take me back to the red department and they’d do horrible things to Adam. The thought scared me into paralysis and I started panicking. No. No. I didn’t want anything to happen to Adam.

“Shiro! Look at me!” Adam’s voice jolted me and drew my attention to him.

My heart racing and my body shaking, I said, “Adam, I’m scared.”

He said, “There’s no need for you to be scared, Shiro. It’s going to be all right. I won’t let anything happen to you, got it?”

I wanted to believe him, I really did, but how could he stand up to the institute, a massive organization backed up by the government, by the whole country? Even if he was indeed an alpha, even if he was a boss of a mafia clan.

The doorbell rang, and I gasped, thinking it was the institute here already.

No, not the institute, I reminded myself. It’d be too early. It had to be Chase this time.

“I’ll get the door,” Adam said as he stood. Before he left, he mentioned, “Debra is still here. She’s in the study room, so don’t go in there.”

I nodded.

When the door closed, I sighed. Once again, I reminded myself that Adam didn’t have a girlfriend and that he wasn’t kicking me out. That sense of relief and joy swept over me, and I said softly, “Adam, I love you.”

“Shiro?” I jolted, my fox ears perking up.

Lan?That was Lan’s voice. But what was he doing here? Oh, no! What if Debra saw him?

I got off the bed and dashed out the door, and the moment I was in the hallway, I came to a complete stop.Standing there was Adam and another man. He was tall and lean and he looked slightly like Adam, and I knew instantly that he was Adam’s brother.

Adam had a brother?

The man came toward me, and standing inches from me, he caught my chin in his hand, the way Chase had done previously when he had first met me. The man then nudged my face this way and that, and he said, “Fuck, you look even more beautiful in real life. Do you realize you’ve caused trouble for a lot of people?” He let me go then, and Lan popped his head out from behind Adam.

“Lan,” I said in relief.

He grinned at me. He said, pointing to the man before me, “So he’s my boss, Master Nolan, and he’s the big boss’ younger brother.” He pointed to Adam.

It took me a second to take that in. So, Adam was the big boss, as in the boss of a mafia clan, and this man named Nolan was his younger brother, who was Lan’s boss? Okay, this meant that everyone was related somehow, and Lan chose now to tell me this?

Lan came over to me and hooked his arm with mine. He said, “So stuff happened, right?”

If he meant Debra, then yeah, stuff definitely happened.

“Shiro, take Lan to your room and don’t come out until one of us comes to get you,” Adam said.

I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I guessed they were going to be dealing with Debra. I nodded and then led Lan toward my room. Inside, I shut the door as Lan made himself comfortable on the bed.

“So,” I began. “Tell me everything. Why you pretended you didn’t know Adam and everything else.”

Lan sighed and then pulled a pillow onto his lap. He patted the spot beside him and said, “Okay, but first, come sit down.”

I obliged and moved to sit next to him. He then wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Ah, I missed doing this. It’s always so cozy hugging you, Shiro.”

Yeah, Lan was always a bit too clingy around me. Aka, too. Kuro though, he had always been a bit of an older brother, looking after us and protecting us, just because he was a few months older than us.

“So Adam is an alpha,” Lan said. “He’s the big boss of the Sullivan Clan.”

The Sullivan Clan.I had heard of them before from the streets. They were one of the big three in New York City.

“But aren’t alphas only urban legend?” I said. That was what Janet said at least.