Page 40 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Bastien

I woke slowly, struggling up from a dreamless sleep.

The surface I lay on was soft, and a blanket covered me.

The room smelled of clean linen with the scent of lavender that housekeeping used in the Palace laundry.

I had used it since Elie told me that it was her favourite scent.

That should have reassured me that I was safe in the Palace, but it didn’t.

Something was wrong. Then it hit me. The sweet smell of Electra’s body was absent.

My mate wasn’t here. My eyes snapped open and I launched myself to my feet.

At least, in my head that was how it went. In reality, I got no further than a couple of inches off the bed before restraints stopped my movement and I fell back onto the mattress with a solid thump, almost giving myself whiplash.

What the fuck? We’d escaped the Humans First bunker.

I knew we had. But I couldn’t remember what happened next.

Had the fuckers caught us? That made no sense if I was in a room that smelled of lavender, but I couldn’t think straight.

I scanned the room. Plain walls. No windows.

I recognised it as one of the isolation rooms in the Palace basement.

Where was my mate? I needed her. The thought that she might be in danger was like a knife in my gut, twisting into my soul. I needed to find her. Keep her safe. Kill anyone who hurt her.

My muscles strained, legs pushing against the mattress, massive biceps swelling. But I couldn’t move. Hard bands across my chest prevented my torso from arching off the bed and my hands and feet were tightly restrained. Fuck, no. No-one would keep me from my mate. Never again.

Red mist started to take over my vision, the tenuous hold I had on rationality slipping away.

Electra ! I sent my call down the bond, reaching for her. Where was she? I needed her.

Bastien ! My mate’s sweet mental voice cut through the haze. Are you alright ?

She pushed her worry at me. I collapsed back onto the mattress, muscles that had been tense now suddenly slack. It wasn’t the same as having her with me, but the sound of her voice in my head, filling the hole in my soul, calmed the storm inside me, settling the rage.

Of course, she asked about me first. I didn’t care about myself. Are you hurt ?

I’m fine , she told me.

Thank the gods. It didn’t matter if I was a prisoner. If she was safe that was all that mattered. I sent her my love down the bond.

In return, she sent me… guilt. Black and tarry it was like oil, creeping over the golden strands of our bond.

Baby ?

I’m so sorry Bastien. I didn’t know what else to do.

And then I remembered. The cabin. The barn. The Shifters who came for us.

I’d told her to hide under the bench. But she didn’t. She jumped. She fucking jumped up to the bars on the ceiling. I’d known that she had done gymnastics when she was younger, but I’d never seen just how magnificent she could be. And the move had distracted me. Allowed the Shifters to gas me.

My mate had caused us to be captured. Separated.

Pain punched me in the chest so hard I couldn’t breathe.

Bastien? Please, let me explain.

But her betrayal hurt so much. I didn’t know how to deal with it.

I shut her out.