Page 62 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Bastien

“You’ve got three minutes,” I told my brother, whose timing was spectacularly bad. “Electra’s awake and I’ve got breakfast being kept warm in the kitchen.” I hadn’t wanted to leave her, but the Moderates, my own party, were now asking questions.

Maximilian had hinted to at least one more person on the Council that the circumstances of my mating were suspicious.

But all they had to go on was rumour. They had no evidence.

And they would never get any. Patrick and I had spent the early hours of this morning developing a story that would satisfy even the most conservative Shifters in my party.

Electra was mine.

Just kill them all.

The thought was too attractive. I had to push it away.

Luc raised a brow, noticing my inattention and I nodded for him to proceed. “Silvio sang like a canary.”

“That’s—"

Distress shrieked down the bond.

Electra! Baby?

No response.

My chair crashed against the floor.

Luc stood in one fluid movement. “Electra?”

I nodded, striding to the door.

He tapped his comm, getting confirmation from the guards outside my rooms. “She’s still in your suite. No activity in the corridor or outside.”

Jumbled emotions. Despair. Panic. Desperation.

Could it be as simple as a nightmare? She’d suffered a traumatic experience yesterday and she’d been asleep since I’d brought her home. She hadn’t even stirred when I’d undressed her and tucked her into our bed.

But what if it was worse? Could Humans First have tried again, with an attack via portal? It had happened to Calypso when Humans First sought the journal that stifled magic. She had been injured in the attack.

It shouldn’t be possible. The Palace had been re-warded after Elie and I had been taken and Elie’s magic should have warned her if she was in danger.

But still. “Get the guards to check her room.”

I cursed myself for leaving her.

The corridor was a blur as I ran as fast as I ever had, Luc close on my heels. In moments, he confirmed that Electra was in the suite, alone, and apparently unhurt, but she hadn’t responded to the guards’ questions.

“Do you want them to call an ambulance?”

Fuck!

She didn’t need an ambulance. She needed me. She needed her mate.

“Get them out of there.”

She wouldn’t want them to see her in such a state.

Faster. My heart pumped double-time, sending oxygen to my limbs. Impossibly, my speed increased and I left Luc behind.

Electra? Can you hear me?

No response. Only wave after wave of panic and despair.

What the fuck could have happened? When I left her, she was still deeply asleep. I had sensed her mind as she began to wake and she had been calm.

How could her mood change so dramatically in such a short time?

I barely noticed the two female guards outside the door to my suite.

All my attention was locked onto the woman on the other side of the door.

Pain. Misery . My mate’s emotions scraped my soul.

Her scent hit me. Sour. Rank. She should never suffer like this.

Whatever it was, I would make it go away. I would make her scent sweet again.

“Wait,” called Luc as he ran up behind me.

I paused, hand on the door.

“You’re relieved of duty,” Luc said to the guards. Out of my periphery I watched as they left. I scented their relief. My body hummed with adrenaline. My claws were out, ready to rend anyone who threatened my mate.

Luc placed a hand on my back. “Calm down. It won’t do Electra any good if you go in there all fired up. There’s no-one you need to kill.”

Not right now, anyway. Silvio would die. Maximilian too.

But he was right. It would add to Electra’s distress if I charged in there like a ravening Beast. I knew she didn’t fear that side of me, she had proved that, but she needed something else from me right now.

Whatever you need, my darling, it’s yours.

I nodded, letting him know that I had heard. Understood. My Pixie needed me to be calm. She needed my emotional strength, not my brawn.

Shutting my eyes, I forced myself to relax. Concentrating on each muscle group, I released the tension in my body. My heartbeat slowed. Claws retracted.

“Make sure they don’t gossip.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job, bro.” I heard the smile in Luc’s voice. “Go and help your mate.”

“Thank you,” I said, sincerely. Reaching into my pants pocket I pulled out my phone. “Take this for me. Unless it’s a national emergency, no-one interrupts us.”

He took the phone, pocketing it. “You got this.” A squeeze of my shoulder and he walked away.

The door clicked quietly shut behind me. I turned the lock. My little Pixie was in my den, and she wasn’t getting out until I let her. Until I had everything. Knew everything.

My footsteps on the carpet of my suite were noiseless. Elie’s panicked breaths were loud in the silence. I could hear the frantic beats of her heart. I scanned the room.

Not in the bed. The bathroom door was shut. No light showing under it.

Silently, I tracked my mate.

Rounding the bed, I saw her. Dressed in the robe I’d left out for her. Curled into a ball. Eyes shut. Fists clenched over her head, which hung between her bent legs.

I lowered myself to my knees beside her. She gave no sign that she knew I was there.

She looked so alone. So forlorn. Broken.

If she was broken, I would be her glue.