Page 43 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Electra

There was no clock in my room and without a watch or phone I had no way to measure the time passing in the windowless room.

But it felt as though hours had passed when someone knocked on my door.

Hours that I had spent staring at the ceiling, refusing to think about how Bastien had pounded against my shields.

I wasn’t thinking about what it meant when he stopped.

I wasn’t wondering what he wanted to say.

“Come in,” I called tonelessly.

Luc stepped into the room.

“Luc.” I sat up, pushing at my tangled hair. “Are you here for my debrief? Can I get outta here after that?” I hated how desperate I sounded, but I needed to leave. I needed to get far, far away from Bastien Bowden.

I wanted to see my sister. I wanted to cry on her shoulder.

She was the one person who still gave me physical contact.

In the last five years, she was the one loving constant in my life.

Although we didn’t see each other as often as we wanted, we were still close.

Her recent problems as a target of terrorists—likely the same terrorists that had taken Bastien and me—had taken years off my life.

My pre-cog had flared multiple times and I hadn’t been able to do anything about it.

Bastien gave you physical contact , said the evil Witch on my shoulder. He gave you orgasms. He called you Baby. And you loved it.

No, I wasn’t thinking about that. About him.

“Go?” Luc’s surprise wrenched me back to my surroundings. His eyes narrowed, taking in my dishevelled state. “Why would you leave your mate?”

I gaped like a goldfish.

Luc laughed, a genuine belly laugh. “How about we get you cleaned up and properly fed, then we’ll both share what we know. And my brother will be a lot more relaxed, knowing that you’re being properly looked after.”

I ignored the belly flutters of hope. They lied.

Half an hour later, I felt much more human. Luc had led me—staying close while carefully not touching me— down a corridor, up some stairs and through a solid door. Suddenly I was back in a section of the Palace I recognised. “You’re taking me back to my own rooms?”

“I thought you might feel more comfortable in your familiar environment.”

So much .

By the time I’d showered, and dressed in a clean uniform, food had been delivered. And this time, I’d fallen on it like a starving animal. The effort of setting solid walls had taken a lot of energy and my body was demanding I replace the lost calories. For once I even ate the dessert.

Luc rumbled his approval. “Bastien will be pleased that you’ve eaten.”

I looked up, pausing with my spoon midway to my mouth. With a full belly and the restorative power of a shower, my brain had finally started to work again. “He’s talked to you?”

“A little.” Luc frowned. “He is capable of negotiating even though the logical part of himself isn’t in control.”

“Will he regain control?” My shoulders hunched as I remembered that this was my fault.

“Hey, what happened there?” Luc’s expression was full of concern, his mis-matched eyes soft. It was still a shock seeing the physical proof that he had finally bonded his inner Shifter.

“It’s my fault.” I forced the words out. It was time for Luc to know that it was my fault that the Council President was in his Beast form, out of his rational mind.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Luc said. “Report. Start at the beginning.”

The word “report” flipped a switch inside me and my professional instincts took over.

As dispassionately as I could, I reported the events from the moment when I’d realised the waiter at the Summit had no magic aura around him. How he’d been a magical void.

Luc, in turn, filled me in on the steps the security team had taken from the time when we disappeared until the point where they’d surrounded us in the barn.

His father had created spelled tokens for each Shifter to carry on the mission which prevented Bastien from scenting or hearing the extraction team.

“I want to thank you,” Luc said when he finished.

“I realise it must have been hard to let Bastien get gassed. Especially when he would have seen it as a betrayal.” I couldn’t stop my flinch.

Luc made a move as if to reach for my hand but pulled back at the last minute.

Odd. “He’ll understand when he’s had some time to think about it. ”

Ice, I was ice. “I don’t think he will,” I said.

“Give it time,” he said again. Luc cleared his throat, shifting slightly in his chair. “And on that note, I need to ask you to help your mate.”

A soft sound of distress left my mouth. “He doesn’t want me.”

Luc crouched down, until he could meet my lowered eyes. “He very much wants you. He has asked for you. He needs you and we need you.”

He had asked for me. My stupid heart leapt, and the ice wall shivered in place. No.

Correctly interpreting my hesitation, Luc pressed on.

“We’ll have to keep him locked up if he can’t regain control.

And you’re our best chance to help him. With you by his side, he will be less violent and his human side will have more of a chance.

I don’t want to be crude, but he needs to fuck you.

For about a week, until the initial intensity of the mating bond has settled in. ”

My gasp was audible in the silence after Luc’s pronouncement. “But—” I didn’t know what to think. Bastien had rejected me, didn’t want me.

“But what?” Luc was still sitting in front of me patiently.

“I think it was a mistake,” I said eventually when my voice worked again. I looked down at my hands, tightly clasped in my lap.

“Why do you think it’s a mistake?” Luc’s voice was gentle and patient.

Fuck. I had to put on my big girl panties and face the facts. And that involved being a grown up, not acting like I was twelve and the boy I’d crushed on didn’t like me. Bigger things were at stake here. Things like the sanity of the Council President.

I pulled back my shoulders and straightened my spine. “Bastien only mated me because his Alpha impulses were in control. I was in danger and he wanted to protect me. And he doesn’t want me anymore. He shut me out of the mate bond when he realised what I’d done.”

Luc’s lips twitched and I gave him my best glare.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still smirking, “but you have a lot to learn about Shifter mating. Your sister thought a similar thing too, when I Declared my Intent. When Bastien gave you his bite, in his true form, it was an expression of his deepest wish. You are his mate. Truly.” His expression turned serious.

“And we need you, more than I can say. You are his only chance at recovering his sanity.”

“I’ll try,” I said, stunned. I didn’t recognise the term Luc used, but I got the point.

But there was something else that still didn’t seem right. Luc’s explanation didn’t match the way Charlie had acted. Like I was a pariah. “Why wouldn’t Charlie meet my eyes this morning? I had the impression he didn’t trust me anymore.”

“Charlie was just being careful,” Luc said, rising to stand. “He didn’t want to risk setting Bastien off.”

“Set him off?” I knew I sounded stupid, but I didn’t understand.

“He’s going to be extra possessive until the mate bond settles in. His reactions will be extreme and unpredictable.”

Oh . And was that why Luc hadn’t touched me either?

Honestly, it was too much to deal with right now. I wanted to believe Luc, but I couldn’t bring myself to trust his words. Not yet. But as much as I had been denying it, I wanted to see Bastien and this gave me the excuse to do so. And if I could help to undo the damage I’d caused, I would.

Like a robot, I stood and followed Luc out of the room and along the Palace corridors, not really registering anything. In my head the words replayed over and over again. Not a mistake. His mate. His mate. His mate. I didn’t know if I could believe it.

Luc stopped in front of a heavy door and I finally took note of my surroundings.

We were in a section of the Palace I hadn’t seen before.

The walls had none of the decorative ceiling mouldings or artwork that decorated the public areas and the rooms in the presidential suite or the guest suites.

No plush carpet on the floor. No windows.

Five Shifters armed with gas pellet guns stood in front of the door.

And on the other side of the door, I could sense a presence. Like a tug in my chest, I knew that Bastien was right there . My shields were still up, but he was pressing against them. I could feel him looking for weaknesses in the barriers I’d erected against him.

Panic started to flutter under my breastbone. How was I going to do this? I didn’t want this responsibility. How was I supposed to bring him back to himself?

A deep growl sounded from the other side of the door. I flinched.

“He is responding to your anxiety,” Luc said. “He needs to look after you. Having you upset but not able to touch you is setting him off.”

Oh. That didn’t help at all. I had to perform some sort of miracle and I wasn’t supposed to get anxious? Seriously. What did Luc think I was made of?

The growl grew louder. Deeper.

“Stop overthinking it,” Luc said. “Trust the bond.” He turned his head and gave a nod to the guards.

And then, one of the Shifters opened the door and Luc freaking grabbed me and threw me into the room.