Bodyguard's Bite

by Silvia Violet

  “Will I have to go to the party?”

  “I won’t force you, but it might be helpful. We’d make sure someone is on the inside to protect you.”

  “Not just someone. It will be me,” Bryce said.

  Corbin glanced at him, and I could tell he was utterly infatuated. The more interesting thing was that Bryce seemed equally smitten. That could cause trouble down the road, but for now, it meant Bryce would protect Corbin fiercely, and Corbin would trust him to do it.

  “Bryce will be there,” I assured him.

  “Thank you,” he said, but he was looking at Bryce, not me.

  I finished the last of my coffee and set down my mug. “I appreciate you talking to us and being willing to help.”

  Corbin turned back to me. “I’ll do anything to get Trent out of there. Shifting Sophistication would be a great place to work if it weren’t for him.”

  Bryce growled. “I told King we needed to get rid of him ages ago.”

  I scowled at my brother, willing him to leave this discussion until later. We shouldn’t say too much about family business here.

  “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with Trent,” I told Corbin. “If it were as simple as firing him, it would already have been done. If he doesn’t schedule another party soon, we’ll figure out a different way to expose him.” I pulled out my wallet, extracted a business card, and held it out to Corbin. “My personal number is on this card. If anything happens that makes you feel like you’re in danger, call me, even if it’s the middle of the night.”

  Corbin looked away for a moment and drew in a shuddery breath. “Thank you. I didn’t expect… If I’d known all of you were so concerned, I would’ve said something earlier.”

  “You’ve told us now, and we’re going to fix things.” I rose then, and my brothers followed suit. “Thank you for the coffee. We’ll let you get back to whatever you need to do today.”

  “I was studying. I’ve got a class in—” He glanced at the clock on the stove. “An hour and a half.”

  “What are you studying?” Shadow asked.

  “I’m taking accounting classes at the community college. But I hope to transfer and get a four-year degree eventually.”

  “Accounting?” I asked. We needed a replacement for Trent, and Corbin seemed like an excellent candidate.

  “Yeah. I guess that sounds really boring, but —”

  “Not boring. Useful.” Bryce said. “I suck at math, so I’m impressed.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s not kidding.”

  Corbin laughed. “Math always came easy to me in school, but then… Well, I had to take a break.”

  “Good luck,” Shadow said. “Thank you for trusting us.”

  “We will take Trent down for you,” Bryce insisted.

  Color rose in Corbin’s cheeks as he smiled at my brother. “I know you will.”

  Corbin locked the door behind us, and we headed back down the sketchy staircase. Once we were in the car, I looked at Bryce, but before I had a chance to speak, Shadow said, “How long is it going to be before you call him? A few hours? A whole day?”

  “What?” Bryce asked.

  “Your interest was ridiculously obvious.”

  Bryce blushed, something I couldn’t remember happening in a long time. “He’s cute.”

  “Let’s get this shit with Trent resolved before you start going out with him,” I said.

  He rolled his eyes “You’re one to talk, fucking someone you’re working with.”

  I growled at him, and Shadow laughed.

  “Don’t you dare say it’s different,” Shadow said.

  How had he known that was exactly what I’d planned to say? But he was right. I’d already had to face being an overprotective ass with Shadow. I didn’t need to also be a hypocrite with Bryce. So instead of protesting, I called Jax and filled him in on what we’d learned.

  18

  Storm

  I kept myself busy over the next few days, working at the club, checking in on the restaurants we owned, and strategizing with my brothers about how to get more of the Council on our side. Every time I saw Jax, I wanted to pull him into my arms and beg him to give me the mate bite that would complete our bond. But I’d promised we could wait until I was ready to tell King. I wanted to keep my word, but now that I’d been with Jax again, my need for him was even greater.

  A few days later, I was working at Tooth and Claw when one of the Crown brothers showed up saying he had a message for King. I told him I would be happy to relay that message, but he insisted he had to give it to King in person.

  I told him that wasn’t an option, and he lunged for me. One of the guards who’d been flanking him stepped in front of me to protect me, and the other got a hold on the lion shifter, but the asshole managed to free himself and take off toward King’s office. Bryce had arrived to see what the disturbance was. He told me to stay there in case other lions showed, then went after the intruder himself. Jax came bursting in a few seconds later, having sensed that I was in trouble. I assured him I was okay, but he refused to leave my side until the lion had been restrained and brought to the security office.

  Emerson was with King in his office when the lion burst in, and King almost killed the man in defense of his mate. Once we got the situation under control, Emerson left with Jax and Denny, and I sat down with my brothers to figure out our next move. But before we could make any plans, a look of horror came over King’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think it’s Emerson. I think… there’s something wrong. He’s hurt. We have to go to him.”

  I grabbed my phone before he even finished his statement. Jax was with Emerson, and I was suddenly feeling as sick as King looked.

  The phone rang and rang as my pulse pounded in my ears, and my lunch threatened to come back up. When Jax didn’t answer, I tried Denny, but I couldn’t get him either. They were in trouble. I could feel it. “His phone’s going straight to voicemail. Denny’s too.”

  King snarled and yanked himself free from Bryce’s hold. “We have to go. Now.”

  “You haven’t claimed Emerson yet, have you?” I asked.

  King shook his head. He wanted to wait to fully mate with Emerson until things settled down with the lions, just like Jax wanted to wait to give me the bite I craved. Why hadn’t Emerson and I forced the issue? If either King or I had been fully bonded with our mates, we would have been able to track them more easily, but even without that enhanced ability, we’d find them. We had to.

  “I’m calling Arthur right now,” I said. I needed to take action, or I was going to fall apart.

  Bryce’s phone rang a few seconds later. “I don’t recognize the number, but I’m taking this.”

  I fought against the nausea churning my stomach as I listened to Bryce’s side of the conversation. “Yes, that’s my vehicle. What happened to the passengers?”

  Oh fuck. There’d been an accident. Was Jax… No, he was alive. I was sure I’d know if he wasn’t. I could still sense pain and uncertainty from him.

  Bryce ended the call and explained that apparently some lion shifters had rammed their car into the one Jax, Denny, and Emerson were in. Jax and Denny were at the hospital in stable condition, but Emerson was missing, which meant the lions had him.

  Mate. Find our mate, my wolf insisted.

  I fought the urge to shift and run from the room, squeezing my hands into fists and biting back a yelp when my claws stabbed into my palms. I hadn’t even realized they’d come out.

  Go. Now, my wolf urged, but I couldn’t listen to him, no matter how badly I needed to see Jax and verify for myself that he was all right. He was safe at the hospital, but Emerson was in danger. The lions wouldn’t hesitate to hurt or kill him, and the longer he was with them, the less chance we had of saving him.

  “I’m calling Arthur back and having him send someone to the hospital to check on them,” Bryce said.

  I almost insisted that I go; then I saw how pale King was. He needed me
. “You’re sure Jax and Denny will be all right?”

  Bryce squeezed my hand. “If the human-run hospital thinks they will be, then I’m sure of it. They always discount how quickly we heal.”

  My wolf screamed at me to go anyway. Mate. Need our mate.

  I did need him, but I would wait until I’d done all I could to find Emerson. That’s what Jax would want me to do. If he was conscious, he was probably blaming himself for not being able to protect Emerson. If we found my brother’s mate, then when I saw Jax, I could tell him Emerson was safe.

  King wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him. Even though I knew he was as scared as I was, his embrace comforted me. When Bryce ended his call, he hugged us both. “Just breathe. We can handle this like we’ve handled everything else.”

  We could. We’d find Emerson. Then I’d go to Jax as fast as I could. I didn’t care if my brothers knew we were mates. I would tell Jax I was ready to confess everything so he could claim me fully.

  The next few hours were harrowing as Emerson’s friend Henley and Damien—the leader of the panther shifters who definitely had some kind of relationship going with Henley—assisted us in locating the Crown family’s hidden den. I kept in contact with Arthur as we raced to rescue Emerson, and he continued to assure me Jax was fine.

  When we reached the Crown’s hiding place, we were shocked to discover that their leader, Leon, and most of his minions had already been taken out by Leon’s younger brother, Aidan, and somehow, Garrett had known all about Aidan’s plan. I had a lot of questions, but once I knew Emerson, King, and the rest of my family were safe, I took off for the hospital.

  Arthur met me by the door and explained that visiting hours were technically over for anyone who wasn’t directly related, but the doctor on call had agreed to give me a few minutes with Jax.

  “We’re mates. They can’t make me leave.”

  “Unfortunately, they can,” Arthur said. “Even if you were officially mated under shifter law, they wouldn’t accept it. You have to be either a blood relative or married by human standards to be allowed to stay in a patient’s room overnight.”

  Only then did it occur to me what I’d admitted to Arthur. He hadn’t seemed the least bit shocked. “You knew? About me and Jax?”

  “I did, but I won’t speak of it until you’re ready.”

  “Thank you. Do you think if I talked to them, maybe I could—”

  “No. Shadow and I have done all we can. They aren’t going to change their minds. You know how humans are. We’re lucky they agreed to give you a few minutes with Jax.”

  When we reached Jax’s room, Shadow was letting himself out. Even as recently as a few days ago, I would’ve been shocked to see my younger brother there. His presence still worried me because we couldn’t be certain there weren’t more lions who intended to move against us, but I’d seen Roc, the head of our security team at Tooth and Claw, in the waiting area. Hopefully he’d accompanied Shadow here.

  “How is Jax?”

  “We made sure he saw a doctor who actually understood shifter care,” Shadow said. “Once he was conscious, they had him shift, and it did a lot to repair his leg.”

  “Is it broken?”

  “No, but it was fractured in two places, and there’s a large gash that needed stitches.”

  “At least he’s…” The words stuck in my throat.

  “He’s fine, really, except for being groggy from the pain medicine. He might not be able to stay awake while you’re in there, but he’s been talking about how much he cares for you.”

  Those words made my eyes sting with tears.

  “Go on in,” Shadow said. “I’ll be here when you come out.”

  “Stay with Roc.” I was trying to do better about being overprotective, but I couldn’t help but worry.

  Shadow grinned. “I will, though I would be fine on my own. I didn’t notice a guard following you in.”

  “You’re right. I came on my own, but it’s hard to break the habit of worrying about you.”

  “I’ll hang with Roc. Come find us when they kick you out.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  When I stepped into Jax’s room, my stomach knotted. He was paler than I’d ever seen him, and he looked vulnerable hooked up to all the monitors. I sat down on the chair that was next to his bed. It felt warm. Shadow must’ve been using it too. I reached out and grabbed Jax’s hand. “I’m here. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here earlier. I just… I’m so glad you’re going to be all right.”

  All the emotion I’d held in check as I’d helped King find his mate poured out. Tears ran down my cheeks, dampening the sheets as I lay over Jax. A few moments later, I realized he was stroking my hair with his other hand. I swallowed down a sob and looked up. “You’re awake?”

  “Storm? Love you.” The words were slurred, and his pupils were huge, but the fact that he was talking to me was enough. My mate was alive, and he was going to heal. I didn’t care what anyone thought, I was going to tell the world that he was mine.

  I sat back and brushed away my tears. “I was so scared. I felt your distress. But when the hospital called Bryce, they assured him you were all right. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “Shadow told me. You did what was right. King needed you, and I’m fine.”

  I did not think he was fine, but the pain meds might be making him feel like he was. He blinked and then opened his eyes wide as if he was trying to keep them that way. “’S so hard to stay awake.”

  “You don’t have to stay awake for me.”

  “Want to.” But his eyes were already closing again. I leaned down and kissed his hands. “They won’t let me stay, but I’ll be back in the morning, and we’re going to keep someone stationed on your floor.” I squeezed my eyes, fighting back more tears.

  “’S okay. You should rest.”

  I was exhausted, but I doubted I’d sleep that night. I’d just think about Jax having to stay here by himself. I wasn’t going to let him put off fulfilling our bond anymore. We’d get a human marriage certificate too, because I wasn’t ever going to have someone force me away from him again.

  There was a knock on the door, and a nurse stepped in. “I’m sorry, sir, but you’re going to have to leave now.”

  My wolf snarled inside, and I almost growled at her, but it wasn’t her fault. She was doing her job by making me follow the hospital’s rules. I stood and brushed a kiss across Jax’s forehead. “I love you. I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully to bring you home.” He made a small contented sound, but I wasn’t sure if he’d understood my words or not.

  I walked down to the waiting room to find Shadow, and what I saw made me freeze in the doorway. He was sitting next to Roc, and he was laughing. I’d never seen him that relaxed with anyone outside the family. Roc was grinning and talking animatedly, moving his hands and shaking his body like he was demonstrating some kind of dance move. Shadow laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall out of his chair. I would’ve thought a man as big as Roc would intimidate him. Apparently, I needed to stop making assumptions.

  Roc noticed me first. “Hi, Mr. Storm. I was just showing your brother this dance I saw on a video.”

  “It’s hilarious,” Shadow said, as if that hadn’t been obvious.

  “Are you ready to go home, sir?” Roc asked.

  “Yes, they kicked me out.”

  Shadow stood and wrapped an arm around me. “I know you want to stay, but you won’t be any use to Jax tomorrow if you don’t get some sleep.”

  Roc took us to pick up some takeout since we hadn’t eaten. By the time we were nearly home, I was ready to curl up in my bed, but my phone rang as Roc pulled into the driveaway. It was Bryce. King had fucked things up with Emerson, and I was going to have to help him get out of it.

  I was ready to strangle King for being such a fool. Here I was, being kept away from my mate by stupid human laws, when my asshole brother had just sent his own mate away, saying Emerson was better off
without him because being together was too dangerous for him. What bullshit!

  So now, instead of heading to the hospital first thing, I was going to have to drive to the safe house where King had sent Emerson and see what I could do to make things right. If King didn’t have any more respect than that for a mate bond, maybe I’d been right to start with, and he didn’t need to know about Jax before our bond was fully sealed.

  19

  Jax

  When Arthur picked me and Denny up at the hospital, he insisted on bringing us back to the Howler estate where he and the rest of the household staff could take care of us. I’d been shocked at first, assuming King would be angry that I’d failed to protect Emerson, but Arthur assured me it was King who’d extended the invitation. Normally, I would have protested that I wanted to be on my own, but staying at the Howlers’ house would allow me to see more of Storm than I would if I recuperated in my own apartment. Not that I intended to lie around for much longer. I was already going stir-crazy.

  I tried scrolling through action movies on Netflix, but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch. Storm had texted me to say he had to handle something King fucked up, and when I’d arrived at their house, Bryce had explained that King had sent Emerson away. He’d wanted me to know that nothing less serious would’ve kept Storm from being the one to bring me home.

  I needed Storm, but Bryce was right that Storm had the best chance of comforting Emerson and getting King’s head out of his ass.

  That didn’t stop me from constantly checking my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a message from him. I would have been restless stuck in bed all day in any case, but longing to see my mate made it worse. I barely remembered talking to him the night before, and I needed to touch him, to hold him, to see for myself that nothing had happened to him when he’d gone with his brothers to rescue Emerson.