Page 54 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Bastien

The door shut behind my mate and the room seemed suddenly darker without her presence. I hadn’t wanted to let them take her. I wasn’t going to let them take her. But when my eyes had scanned the Order and my mate had said she should go, my human half had risen up inside his cage, shouting at me.

Listen to her. She’s been our bodyguard for years and you’ve always listened to her. If she says this is the safest course of action, then trust her. She’s never been wrong.

I don’t want her out of my sight.

Like I do? He snarled. Sometimes we don’t get what we want. It’s a fucking Council Order. Fight it and you’ll both be locked away.

Between the two of them they convinced me. But I still hated it. My eyes didn’t leave her until the door shut behind her, the solid steel cutting off the sight of her. I listened as she walked away, the sounds of her footsteps rapidly fading as the guards escorted her away.

Fuck.

I whirled. My punch blasted a hole into the wall.

Running feet sounded in the corridor. “Mr President?” It was Matteo.

“I need my brother.”

“He’s not here right now, sir. He was urgently called away.”

And the Council just happened to send soldiers to carry out an Apprehension Order when the head of Palace security was absent. I think not.

The whole thing stank.

Pacing, my body full of tension, I tested the bond. My mate was calm. Nervous, but not afraid. She was serene, the anger she’d displayed earlier tucked away as if I didn’t exist. But I knew it was there. And it was my fault.

I recalled the words she had thrown at me right before the Council soldiers arrived. She still doubted me.

A growl burst out of my chest. How could I convince her that she has always been ours? That my heart has beat for her for five years? That the human in me wanted her as much as I did?

I didn’t know how to tell her except with my body.

He was the one with words. The one who kept me locked in my prison where I slowly went insane without her touch.

Feeling her near me. Her scent in my nostrils.

But no bond. No touch. He made the decisions without me and I couldn’t explain them to her. I couldn’t justify his decisions.

You need to let me out.

You had your chance and you fucked it up. She’s MINE.

And you’ve done such a good job while you were in charge?

My claws gripped my thighs, scraping bloody furrows in my skin. She is my mate. She wanted the bond. She loves me. I felt it. She told me.

And how is that going to hold up when we’re on trial for bonding her without telling her first? I warned you but you didn’t listen.

My growl was deep and fierce. I wished I could punch him, hold him down and beat him bloody, but there was nothing to fight. He was inside me. He was me.

And, fuck him, he was right.

I broke the law. No matter that I knew she was my mate. He had never explained it to her. And neither did I. Carried away by my own feral desires, I took what I wanted without giving her the choice.

What do I do? I don’t want to let her go. I won’t let her go. I didn’t wait five years just to mate her and let her go. She is mine .

You have to let me out. I already told you.

How will that fix it?

First, we’ll never be allowed to go free if you don’t let me out. We’ll be locked up for the rest of our life and that won’t give you much opportunity for anything. They could send her away and you won’t have any power to stop it.

The thought was like ice in my heart. Send her away? I’ll order them not to .

Dude. We’ll be removed as President. As soon as word gets out that you are a feral Shifter, they’ll boot us out, no questions asked.

I’m not feral.

His laugh was pained. You’re the very definition of feral Shifter. But, whatever. That’s not the worst of it dude. If the Council finds out what you did, you’ll be put on trial for a forced mating. You’ll get us both killed .

I paused my pacing mid-stride. Killed? Dead. Unable to protect my mate. Unable to love her. To spoil her. No, it must not happen. That’s unacceptable. Give me a solution.

Only if you let me out.

No. She is MY mate. Not yours.

She’s my mate too. You are me. I am you.

The back of the dining table chair splintered under my grip. He was right and I hated it. I was strong. I was powerful, but he was smart. Strategic. And I needed him.

His voice was quiet. Can you forgive me?