Fate had big fucking balls, that was for sure.
Asshole.
I growled and paced the room. Something felt off. Wrong in my chest. Was it because Drake didn’t believe me? His frown said as much.
Or was it because I wasn’t down there helping her? Was that how bad a mate bond was? Did her pain somehow extend to me? I’d never been annoyed by my magic before. But I sure as hell was now. What the fuck? Was I gonna be off on some sniper assignment and feel it if she stubbed her damn toe? I rubbed at my chest, where the feeling of panic increased.
I never fucking panicked. Not anymore. Not unless the stupid women in the pack brought up babies—I shook that thought off as a serrated knife sawed back and forth inside my chest. This feeling would not be ignored. I abandoned Drake and Easton, heading for the stairwell. And for some reason, I looked up, instead of down toward her cell.
Larry was emerging from the storage closet.
What the hell was he doing in the storage closet?
His hands were empty. So… a whole lot of nothing. Why would he go in there and not get anything out?
My feet started moving before I could stop them. I climbed the stairs. And as I did, that bright orange citrus scent hit my nostrils again.
My dick twitched in response. But the rest of me grew furious. What the fuck? I started taking the stairs two by two, my feet silent from years of practice sneaking out of my pack house.
I watched Larry scratch his lower back as he tried another door, one that led to yet another storage room. He didn’t know where he was going. Because… that wasn’t Larry.
I leapt, slamming into his back, both of us tumbling into the open door. I landed on top of the mage and straddled him. It smelled like I’d walked into an orange orchard.
That bitch!
Even as I cursed her, I could picture everything. She hadn’t given up when she’d fought us back at that apartment, even when she’d known she was fighting three on one. Even when she was injured. My mate was a firecracker. She’d probably dropped Larry in two seconds flat. And obviously, his spells to limit her powers had worn off.
Shock overtook me as I realized… my mate was trying to run away from me. That’s what that sensation had been. The pain quickly solidified into anger and determination.
There was no way that was happening. My mate was not going to leave me. I glared down at Larry’s wrinkled face. Fucking fae glamour. I growled as I leaned down and put my hand on Larry’s neck.
"What the hell are you doing, Bodie?" Easton’s tone was alarmed.
"Told you he’s losing his shit," Drake replied. He sounded annoyed more than anything.
I ignored them both as my eyes shifted to gold and I stared down at Larry, demanding submission. My fingertips dug into his throat as I leaned closer.
"Change back," I snarled.
Larry stared defiantly up at me before sliding on a pathetic, pleading expression for the guys behind my back. "Help me," his voice croaked.
Drake’s hand slipped over my shoulder, but before he could get a good grip and yank me back, I leaned down and smashed my lips into Larry’s.
"What the—" Drake’s shock ended his sentence before he finished it.
I felt the transformation before I opened my eyes. The lips underneath mine grew softer. I nipped at the plush lower lip. The scent of orange grew more pronounced and I noticed it was tinged with the slightest hint of honeysuckle.
My wolf howled in approval. He loved honeysuckle.
I felt Aubry’s breasts press against me and her hips shrink as I pinned her down. She fit me perfectly.
"Holy fuck!" Easton’s shock filled the room.
When I opened my eyes, I stared down into the gorgeous brown glare of my mate. She was pissed.
"Hey there, Butterfly," I cooed.
She lifted a hand to hit me, but I wrapped my hand over both her wrists then pinned them down by her shoulders, careful not to hurt her silky wings. She wasn’t wearing handcuffs. Had she picked the lock? What a resourceful little thing.
"My mate was trying to sneak off," I told the guys.
"How… how did you know?" Easton sounded awed.
"Mates can tell," I smiled down at Aubry’s look of fury.
"We aren’t mates!" she screeched and spat at me. She tried to roll her hips to move me off her, but that only got me hard. For a second, that fact seemed to alarm her.
As if she needed to worry. We were mates. Whether either of us wanted it or not, there would come a time when she begged me for it.
She knew it.
I knew it.
And I’d wait until then. Because, while I was a killer, I definitely had limits—and that was way beyond them. Besides, I was gonna take so much pleasure in watching her beg.
She turned her face aside, refusing to look at me, staring at the racks of paper towels and cleaning supplies. It wasn’t quite the submission I wanted. I wanted her to tilt her head back and expose her neck so that I could nip it gently then nuzzle it before I started to explore it with my lips. But it wasn’t outright defiance either.
Which meant, given her history, it was a trick.
"Check on Larry," I ordered. I didn’t normally give the orders. Drake did. He was good at it. But, right now, I didn’t trust Aubry not to flame the guys if I let go of her.
"Yup. On it," Easton replied.
I heard his footsteps retreat as I watched Aubry’s pulse thundering through her gorgeous neck. I stared at the shadows created by her muscles and tendons. I’d never looked at a woman’s neck before. I’d always focused on other areas. But my mate had an exquisite neck.
I had to resist leaning down and dragging my nose over her pulse. But I did resist. Because she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. But she would be.
A small rumble escaped me. Aubry’s eyes flicked up, then quickly glanced away. I made the sound again and her eyes came my way once more.
A grin spread across my face. Interesting. Apparently, my mate was drawn to my little noises.
She must have realized what I was doing, because suddenly her knee was at my groin. "Shut up or I’ll make sure you walk with a limp for the rest of your life, Fuzzball."
Behind me, Drake groaned. "You told her your nickname?"
"Fuck off," I told him. "Get outta here." I didn’t need him hovering over me and my mate. And of course I hadn’t told her the idiotic nickname they’d given me.
"Fuzzball? They actually call you that?" she scoffed.
"Like it, Butterfly?" I asked.
Her knee dug into my crotch, but just hard enough to be a warning.
"Careful, now," I told her. "You’re messing with your future children too, if you hurt my dick, Princess."
BAM.
I fell sideways onto the floor, my vision going red from the pain.
Probably a little too soon to make baby jokes. Not exactly sure why I’d done that, considering I was nowhere near ready to have a baby. But I’d wanted to get a reaction out of her.
You certainly did, asshole! Now, we’re dead! My balls screamed up at me.
I was faintly aware of Aubry scrambling around on the ground. Then there was fire. I wasn’t sure who shot it, her or Drake. But suddenly, his wings were out, one of them shielding me. It was like a thick black curtain going up between me and the fight.
I heard a rough thump and a high-pitched scream. I yanked on his wing, not caring if I got hurt by the flames. Because I had to get to her. I had to see my mate.
She was curled up into a ball on the floor, her beautiful wings pulled in toward her back. I threw myself on top of her, shielding her from Drake.
"Are you hurt?" I whispered.
She flipped around and latched onto my neck, using me as a human shield—which was exactly what I’d thrown myself to the floor to do, anyway—but the princess had used our mate bond to manipulate me. I didn’t know if I was pissed or proud. My aching balls told me to go with pissed.
"You aren’t gonna get away, Princess," I said, as she strugg
led to stand up and maintain her grip on me. I let her, slowly rising to my knees for reasons beyond my own comprehension. I guess I wanted to see what she would do.
"Just watch me," Aubry hissed in my ear.
"We’re mates. If you leave, you’ll hate it."
"You’re fucking delusional," she snapped. "Wouldn’t expect anything less from an assassin."
"So, you’ve heard of me?" I asked.
"Shut up," she edged around Drake, toward the door.
"I’m disappointed. I thought I’d kept a low profile."
"My team is good."
"Yeah? Really? Why don’t we test them? See if they’re good enough to find you." I let her back me up instead of twisting away like I knew Drake wanted me to do. But if I shoved myself to the side, he’d hurt her. I could see the dragon rising in his eyes when I glanced over my shoulder.
Drake’s fury was no small thing. It was an inferno. I’d seen him burn down entire buildings. I’d seen him beat a mage, and those spell-toting fuckers were harder to kill than roaches.
I only got one mate. Good or bad, wolf shifters only got one, and I wasn’t giving her up. So when my hands reached back to touch her hips, I didn’t grab on and then smash her back into the wall like I could have. I just lifted her up and wrapped her legs around my waist.
Nothing had ever felt more right.
Aubry’s hands tightened around my neck and squeezed in warning. "Don’t."
I let her squeeze as I backed out of the storage room and started down the stairs. Immediately, her hands started to flame. But as soon as I felt the slightest pain on my neck, she stopped with a gasp.
I grinned. "Can’t hurt me, can you, mate?" I emphasized the words as I grabbed her willowy legs and pulled her tighter into me. I glanced down. Her legs were perfection. My thumbs traced little circles on the tops of her thighs. I was tempted to touch her ass, but I resisted.
Soon.
One of her hands reached down and smacked my arm. "We are not mates. That wasn’t even a kiss."
I chuckled. "Oh, I agree. We aren’t counting that as our first kiss."
"We won’t ever have a first kiss."
I arched a brow and turned my head sideways to glance at her. "Really? So, you won’t mind if I bring one of my shifter friends with benefits around the next time I’ve got guard duty?"
Her eyes darkened and her uninjured wing flared out, filling the stairwell. I stopped walking, not wanting her gorgeous wing to get torn on the earthen walls.
After a second, she controlled her emotions and retracted her wing. She stared over my shoulder, refusing to make eye contact. But her body had spoken.
She knew.
I knew.
It was only a matter of time.
This mate bond had blown us both apart. And the only way we could be put back together… was to be together.
10
Aubry
It had been nine days since my escape attempt—I’d started counting by scratching notches into the cot—and still, no one had tried to break me out.
Was my team really that incompetent? What about Trite? My parents? Where the fuck was everybody?
The door opened at the other end of the tunnel and voices immediately filled the air along with the scent of Bun Cha. I inhaled deeply, my mouth watering over the smoky pork and tangy sauce.
"Uncle Bodie, we still wanna play!" a child’s voice drifted down the stairs.
"Don't go!"
"Can we come with you?"
"We've never met a real-life bad guy before!"
Bodie chuckled, the rich sound of his voice echoing down the earthen tunnel walls and making my heart jump. "Stay upstairs, guys. I'll be right back."
Oh yes, children. I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. I'll get you and your little…
Huh. Guess some of them already were little dogs.
The door shut with a click, and tiny little fists that I imagined belonged to those tiny little voices began pounding on the door. They didn't open it and try to follow, though, so at least they'd listened to him. Kinda surprising, considering shifters never listened to anyone. They were too lawless and wild, a liability to society in every way.
"They sure love you," Larry commented. His tone was light and warm, like the sunshine I hadn't seen in weeks. It annoyed me.
"Yeah, they're good kids," Bodie agreed. Unlike Larry, Bodie’s voice was a deep growl.
My ears liked his voice better.
When they appeared in front of my cell, the wolf shifter had four styrofoam boxes balanced in his arms, each piece of my dinner ensemble kept in separate compartments—even though I was just going to mix it all, anyway. It was a sympathy offering; an attempt to keep me on his good side, despite the spelling that was about to go down. I knew, because Larry was there with his wand. It seemed necessary for him to spell me about every couple days. Such a joy.
The smile that lit up the wolf's tanned, handsome face when he got close to me was freaking contagious. I smiled back for a fraction of a second before I realized what the hell I was doing. Idiotic polite reflexes. I was his prisoner. I was being manipulated with a fake mate bond. I was not attracted to him in his tight black t-shirt in the slightest.
Or Easton. The delicious blond lumberjack…
Definitely not Drake—and I actually meant that one for real. He might've been hot, but his abysmal personality more than took away from any good looks he might've had. The bastard.
"Evening, Beautiful," Bodie said with a lopsided grin. "I hope you're hungry, because I brought—"
"Bun Cha?" I guessed, smirking a bit as I raised a single brow.
His lips parted. "How'd you know?"
I rolled my eyes. "I might not have a keen sense of smell like a shifter, but I know my Vietnamese takeout."
Larry chuckled from Bodie's side, mussing his already frizz-tastic hair. If he’d let it grow a little longer, he could gel it and look like a cartoon troll. "I’m afraid it’s that time again, Miss Summerset."
I sighed dramatically and placed my book face down on the cot, awaiting their entry.
Bodie had pulled some serious strings with Mr. Stick Up His Ass. The way Larry talked, Easton had helped, too. The deal was, as long as I received my spell treatments every other day to keep my fire and glamour in check, and as long as I was handcuffed, then I was allowed outside of my cell under strict supervision. My faux freedom usually only lasted about an hour or so, but it was better than sitting in that iron-infested cell all fucking day and night. Plus, it allowed me to scope out my terrain, creating a mental map for use in future escape attempts.
If my people weren't gonna come for me, then I'd bust my own ass out of here.
Bodie moved all the takeout boxes over to his left arm, and unlocked my cell with his right, shutting the three of us in as soon as Larry was through. Moving the book aside, he sat down at the edge of my bed and passed me my boxes of dinner.
The wolf shifter read the book title and his dark brows furrowed over those bright yellow-green eyes. I tried not to be mesmerized by them, I really did, but he was so damn beautiful… and this mate magic bullshit was seriously strong. I could feel a tingle between my legs just from how close he was sitting.
"Where'd you get this?" he asked, nodding toward the book.
In the background, Larry rolled up the sleeves of his robe and got to work, chanting in another tongue and waving his wand while I did my best to ignore him and the tickle of uneasiness that flowed through me as his magic entered my system.
"Easton dropped that book off," I said, opening the first box and plucking out a small chunk of grilled pork. The book wasn’t too horrible. It was about the mechanics of ships. Dry at first, but with nothing else to read… I’d slowly become fascinated by the ingenuity of the builders.
"Easton?" Bodie asked, surprise clear in his tone.
I opened the second box in search of the dipping sauce. Come to mama. "Yeah, you know, Goldilocks? Ethan? Whatever other stupid nicknames he goes b
y."
Bodie pursed his lips. "Yeah, I know the guy. I just don't understand why he was anywhere near your cell."
I shrugged, finally finding my sauce in the third box. I dipped the meat and took a bite, my eyes practically rolling back in delight as I savored the tangy flavor. "I guess he feels bad for me. I mean, playing me at the pub, then locking me up like an animal."
"I'm an animal," Bodie deadpanned, letting his pinkie finger brush against my skin.
Immediately, his naughty implications sent a flurry of pictures through my mind. Him pressing me into the bars, my shoulders burning as he pumped into me. Damn it. I shifted away from him and shoveled more food into my mouth.
"You all are fucked up."
His eyes narrowed. "No more than the mages, Princess."
"Don't call me Princess," I reiterated for what felt like the millionth time in my life. I tucked my legs beneath my butt, trying to get comfortable during this uncomfortable affair—Larry's magic slowly moved from annoying tingles to irritating pinpricks, almost like a tattoo.
"Whatever you say, Butterfly," he teased.
"That either."
Bodie rolled his eyes before watching me take another bite. His gaze was rapt, as if he were imagining me putting an entirely different piece of meat in my mouth… I licked my lips, then each individual finger, taking pleasure in driving him crazy. The mate-bond-faking-liar-fuck. He deserved to suffer for this mess he’d made.
"When was Easton down here?" he asked.
I pursed my lips and smiled smugly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Somehow the gold flicker that came into Bodie’s eyes gave me a rush. Defiance. That’s what it is, I told myself.
The door opened at the top of the steps and Bodie turned sideways to yell. "I said stay upstairs! I'll be back in a minute!"
"Nah, bro, it's me."
The deep voice coaxed an evil grin onto my lips.
"Speak of the devil…" I muttered to Bodie, who was tense and glowering, looking pissed as hell.
"Drake said he needs you for…" Easton trailed off as he approached, eyeing me hesitantly. "For a job."
Bodie sighed and ran his hands through his dark brown hair. "Now? I'm literally on babysitting duty for the pack tonight."
Fae Captive (The Mage Shifter War Book 1) Page 9
