Page 9 of His Place in the World (Legendary Shifters #9)

“I could get hurt here without even walking out the door. I could get hurt on my way back to Wakefield. I was lucky enough to find not one but two places to call home. I was able to get off the street and be safe. I want every single rare shifter to have the same and for all of them to be free to make their own decisions. These people, the whole operation, needs to be shut down. If the only way to get the information I’ll need to make that happen is to go there and act as if I’m Ryland’s pet, I’ll do it. ”

Angus wasn’t used to having to keep in mind other people’s feelings when he made decisions. He was careful of Angela, but usually, she went along with whatever he said. She knew he wouldn’t do anything without a good reason, and he had no doubt she’d agree.

“I’m not letting you go on this mission on your own. If you’re going, then I am, too,” Del said.

Angus was annoyed. Didn’t Del realize he could take care of himself?

He’d been doing so since he was a teenager, and while he was safer now than he’d been with the Wakefield pack, he’d always be careful of his surroundings and the people around him.

He’d made sure he could defend himself if someone tried attacking him, and he knew what he’d be walking in to if he went on this mission.

“You can’t go,” he declared.

“Why not? Because I’m human?”

“Exactly.”

“Ryland is human,” Del pointed out, looking smug.

“And I wouldn’t be asking him to do this if I didn’t need him to.”

The sound of something crashing in the hallway made all of them jump and turn toward the door.

Angus heard someone talking, but no one came in, so he turned back to the problem at hand.

“We need to put as few people as possible in danger. Ryland needs to go, as do I, because beyond Everly, I’m the only one who can gather this information, and considering he was kidnapped once, we can’t put him in the spotlight that way. ”

Del crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think the other people invited to the auction will have bodyguards?”

Angus frowned. “Probably. Why?”

“Ryland will need bodyguards, too. It wouldn’t look good if he didn’t, right?”

Angus’s stomach churned. He knew where Del was going. “You can’t be his bodyguard.”

“So you’re telling me that I can’t forbid you to go on this mission, but you can tell me to stay back?”

The door opened suddenly, slamming against the wall and revealing a man holding a little girl. She clung to his neck, hiding her face against it.

Angus hadn’t officially met Matt, but he knew who the man was, and having him there, glaring at Del, couldn’t be good.

“Are you out of your mind?” Matt asked, stomping inside the room and stopping in front of his son. “How can you think they’ll allow you to go?”

Del threw his hands in the air. “Have you and Angus agreed on this? I’m an adult. Neither of you can forbid me to do anything.”

“I might not be able to, but Cam is your alpha, and I’m sure he sees how stupid sending you there would be.”

They turned as one toward the alpha. Angus was glad he wasn’t in Cam’s place because he wasn’t sure what he would have done if he had been.

“If the other people present at the auction have bodyguards, it makes sense for Ryland to have them, too,” Cam said slowly.

“I’ll be one of those bodyguards,” Remi said with a grunt.

“As will I,” Del said.

“My answer to both those suggestions is no,” Ryland stepped in.

He raised a hand, stopping both Remi and Del before they could argue.

“Think about it. What if something happens to both of us, Remi? What about our company? You have to stay back, if anything, to organize all of this. You’re good behind the curtain, and I want to take advantage of that.

As for you, Del, I believe that you might create trouble if you came with us. ”

“I’m not an idiot,” Del muttered.

“I never said you were. But Angus is your mate, correct?”

Del hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

“What happens if you see someone touching him inappropriately? What if someone tries to grab him?”

“I’d step in and stop them, but if he’s your pet, no one should be touching either of you.”

Ryland grinned. “It’s nice that you’re trying to convince yourself and me of that, but we both know it’s bullshit. I wouldn’t be surprised if you broke a few jaws and growled at anyone who looks at Angus in a way they shouldn’t.”

“The two of you are out,” Cam said. “But I still think Ryland should have at least one human bodyguard. Would a man like him and like the other people buying shifters fully trust shifters to keep him safe?”

“I’ll go, then,” Matt declared.

“You’re not trained.”

“Then I can be Ryland’s personal assistant. Surely someone as rich as him and all that bullshit would have one.”

Del’s head looked like it was about to explode, and Angus didn’t blame him. He hadn’t expected Del’s father to volunteer for this.

“And I have the perfect shifter to go with you,” Cam said. “Mercer is strong, and he teaches our recruits for pack security. He can get Matt into some kind of shape by the weekend.”

“You can’t do this,” Del croaked, looking from Angus to his father.

Angus hated that he was hurting his mate, but this was non-negotiable. “I’ll be fine,” he promised, holding Del’s gaze. “Your father will be there to keep me safe.”

Del chuckled darkly. “Maybe, but who will keep him safe?”

* * * *

Del couldn’t believe Cam was agreeing to this or that his father had volunteered for it. He was pissed that everyone in the room was going along, and he got to his feet, ready to be done with this meeting.

He shouldn’t have walked into it, to begin with. Maybe if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have had to worry about his mate and his father.

“Del,” Matt said as Del stomped past him.

Del shook his head. “Leave me alone. I can’t believe you did this.”

He rushed out in the hallway, needing to get out of the room and possibly the house.

Toby walked out of the kitchen just as Del passed it and tried to talk to him, but Del shook his head and continued until he was outside.

The front door slammed closed behind him, and he leaned against the porch railing, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

He breathed in and out, pushing the anger away. Maybe this was one of the reasons everyone had agreed he shouldn’t go with Angus and Ryland. If he couldn’t control himself in a safe situation, how could he hope to do so when everyone would be in danger?

So maybe he understood why he shouldn’t be the one going with Angus and Ryland. Why should his father go, though?

Del’s father wasn’t a trained fighter. He was in good shape, and when he had time, he went to the gym and took martial arts lessons, but it didn’t feel like enough.

Beyond his family, Angus was the most precious person in Del’s life.

He needed his mate to be safe, and while he trusted his father to make sure nothing happened to Angus, he couldn’t help but wonder how he was supposed to deal with worrying about his father and his mate getting killed.

“Del?” a voice asked from behind him.

Del screwed his eyes shut. He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to Angus, but apparently, he wouldn’t have a choice. He didn’t want to yell at Angus, even though that was his first instinct. He needed to look at this rationally, the way everyone else had.

After sucking in a breath, Del turned to face Angus. “I don’t like any of what just happened,” he said.

Angus nodded. He stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind himself. It gave them some semblance of privacy, although Del could hear people talking inside the house.

“I wouldn’t like it if our positions were reversed either,” Angus said.

“Because I’m a weak human?”

“It has nothing to do with you being weak or human and everything to do with you being my mate and me worrying about something happening to you. I know you feel the same, which is why you tried to go with me, right?”

Del huffed. “I know it was a bad idea. I won’t insist. I don’t understand why my father is deemed good enough to go while I’m not, though.”

“It’s because your father doesn’t worry and care about me as much as you do.”

“We don’t even know each other well,” Del muttered.

Instead of offending Angus, it made him smile.

“We don’t, but I know you better than I know your father.

I’d never even met him before today. Besides, this has nothing to do with knowing each other and everything to do with our bond.

It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been together.

The bond between us is strong, and it’ll push you to do something stupid if it means helping me. ”

Del would have to take Angus’s word for that.

As a human, he couldn’t feel the bond between them, and it had no effect on him beyond making him want to spend as much time as possible with Angus.

He didn’t care much about it, just like he didn’t care about whether or not the bond was pushing him to fall in love with Angus.

He just knew he was and didn’t want anything to happen to his mate.

“You can’t forbid me to do things, though,” Angus said.

“I understand the bond between us is strong and that you’re worried, but I’m still an adult.

I can make my own decisions, especially when it comes to this.

This situation, the mission and finding the shifters and the people auctioning them is important to me. I need to see it through.”

Del rubbed his face. He should have known better than to tell Angus he couldn’t do it. He’d have told Angus to fuck off if Angus had tried doing the same with him. The only person who’d ever been able to tell Del what to do was his father, and with Del being twenty, he hadn’t done that in a while.

“I apologize for that,” Del said. “I shouldn’t have, and I don’t think I would have normally. I panicked. I don’t want to lose you, especially not so soon after finding you.”

Angus stepped forward. “I accept your apology, and I understand. We both said things we might not have said otherwise and didn’t mean.

The situation is putting everyone on edge, including both of us.

” He reached for one of Del’s hands and linked their fingers together.

“As long as you don’t try to order me around again, we can forget all about this. ”

But could they? Because Angus was still in danger, and now, so was Del’s father.

Del was still panicking. He loved his father and was terrified of something happening to him, and he was falling fast and hard for Angus.

He didn’t understand why or how it worked, but he didn’t want it to stop.

He wanted so much more with Angus, and none of that would happen if the mission went wrong.

He cleared his throat. “How about we agree that neither of us can order the other to do or not do something as long as we talk about big decisions like this one?” he suggested.

“I understand why you want to do it, and my reaction was knee-jerk. I should have allowed you to explain better, although I’m not sure that even if you had, I would have agreed to this.

I don’t, and I’m sure you’re aware of that. ”

Angus grinned. “You made it pretty clear.”

“You’re still going to go through with it.”

“I am. I need to do this.”

“Then I’ll stop bitching about it and support you. Just, next time, maybe talk to me first? I broke down in front of everyone, and I hate that.”

“I promise that I’ll talk to you first next time.” Angus moved even closer. Del was pretty sure this was closer than they’d been since they’d met. His heart raced. It wasn’t because of fear this time, but rather because of anticipation and want.

“And you’ll talk to me before making big decisions,” Angus continued. “That includes moving and what you want to do with your life and your future.”

Del had hinted at the fact that he wasn’t sure college was still for him, and Angus hadn’t judged him for it. He’d given him support, which was what Del had needed and still needed now.

“I’m not used to talking with anyone,” Angus murmured. “I don’t have family, and I barely have friends. I’ve always been independent because I had to be, so sometimes, I might forget that I promised to talk to you. I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

“How could I? We’ll both do our best with this relationship, and that’s all I expect.” And for Angus to stay behind, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Learning to be in a relationship with someone is hard, but I think especially so when that someone is your mate. There’s so much that could break between us and ruin everything that I’m almost afraid to do the things I want the most.”

“Like what?” Del was pretty sure they weren’t talking about the mission anymore.

Angus tilted his head to look at him. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you?”

“If your feelings for me are anywhere close to my feelings for you, it’s since the first time we met.”

“It is.”

Angus’s confirmation was all Del needed. He cupped one of Angus’s cheeks with his free hand and leaned forward, so close that his and Angus’s breath mingled.

Then he kissed Angus.

It was everything Del had imagined it would be, but also more.

Kissing Angus, feeling his lips against his, his taste, made Del feel like he’d come home.

It was odd, and it had never happened to him before, but he was glad for that.

Angus was the only person who was his home.

He was Del’s future and would become his everything in time.

As long as they both gave their bond and each other a chance.