by Jenny Tia
Guarding His Mate
Everglow Pack: Book 2
Liam Kingsley
Contents
1. Nicolas
2. Stefan
3. Nicolas
4. Stefan
5. Nicolas
6. Stefan
7. Nicolas
8. Stefan
9. Nicolas
10. Stefan
11. Nicolas
12. Stefan
13. Nicolas
14. Stefan
15. Nicolas
16. Stefan
17. Nicolas
18. Stefan
19. Nicolas
20. Stefan
21. Nicolas
22. Stefan
23. Nicolas
24. Stefan
25. Nicolas
Hybrid Mate
Free Bonus Chapters!
Guarding His Mate
1
Nicolas
“Count the days, you filthy dogs! You’ll soon be burning!”
I barely managed to dodge the spitball the older human spat at me. My stomach turned as the phlegm landed with a thick splat against the tiled Guard Station walls.
“Lovely.” I scrunched up my nose as I pushed the prisoner down the corridor while he craned his head back and howled in a language I didn’t know—or maybe it was the language of hysteria. I kept him at arm’s length and pushed on. Lachlan, a junior Protector, followed close behind with the other human in hand. That one was younger, and thankfully, quiet as a field mouse.
Sharp pain shot up my leg with each step I took. Though my gaze was on the soundproofed cell just up ahead, I kept thinking back to my best friend Casius’s baby shower at the Falls Café, right before we were called out to execute a convoy trap on the humans, and before all of this.
Back in the forest, our pack had planted a convoy of trucks on a fire trail near the human camp. The humans had taken the bait. Casius and I had captured two of them who had been bringing up the rear of their group after they had raided the trucks.
The human I now had in hand, spitting and yelling, had shot at Casius, but his wolf had been too quick, and the bullets had blasted past him. But the thunder of the shot had completely blown our cover. Our troops had immediately rushed the area and fought off the humans while Casius and I had shifted back to our human forms and dragged the two captives out of there, through the pine forest and back to our vehicles. Casius, who was the pack’s Alpha Select, had howled for everyone to fall back, and as far as I knew, all the shifters had come back to Everglow alive. There were a few wounded, but we were a strong, resilient breed and there were no injuries that time couldn’t heal, including my leg. The older human had smacked me hard with the butt of his rifle before I’d wrangled it out of his grip and got him in a headlock.
Now we had the two humans within our city of Everglow, and Lachlan and I were securing them in cells at the station—if we could get them into the cells.
The older human dug his boots against the linoleum floor as we approached the door. He stopped so abruptly it jarred my arms, and my leg almost gave out.
“Oh, here is damnation! Pure damnation is waiting! Each step on your cursed, abhorrent land and you step closer to the agony of damnation!”
As hard as I shoved him, he wouldn’t budge. I muttered a few curses under my breath and looked over at Lachlan. He was having a similar problem with his captive who was refusing to take another step toward the cell.
I let out a frustrated sigh, and then stopped shoving and started reasoning. “There’s a comfortable bed and even a shower in there. Aren’t you both tired?”
I caught a look of interest crossing the younger guy’s face, but after he met the eyes of the older human, it fell back into a neutral mask.
“You’ll have to kill us before you make us your slaves again.” The older guy spat once more, and this time he got it on my boot.
I blinked slowly as the catarrh dribbled down the shiny leather and pooled onto the linoleum floor. Lachlan swallowed. I took a bracing breath.
“Alright! That’s it!” I jabbed my boot into the pit of the human’s knee and shoved his shoulders forward. He stumbled straight through the doorway and barely caught himself from falling onto the floor.
“Scum! Fetid dog! Damnation is waiting, your end is coming, count the days. Eli! Resist! Resist the beast—”
I shut the door and locked down the heavy bolts and latch. All was quiet. Sweet silence of a soundproofed room. Lachlan and his young prisoner looked at me with wide eyes as I wiped my boot with my handkerchief.
I raised my eyebrows at the human. “Eli, is it? You going to kick up the same fuss?”
He snarled but stepped into his cell without any more hassle. Lachlan bolted the door then looked to me for approval. I grabbed the handle and gave it a good yank then nodded. Prisoners secure. Mission accomplished. Thank fuck.
I gave the junior a heavy pat on the back and started down the corridor. Every lopsided step I took rocketed sharp pain up my leg. Lachlan met my pace.
“Do you need any help?” he asked
“No, thanks.”
The corridor led around the back of the cells to an observation room. As I pushed open the door, light flooded into the room from the corridor and a familiar scent hit me, one that had made me feel safe for as long as I could remember. It felt like home.
Casius turned from his place by the monitors and smiled.
“You can leave us, Lachlan.” Casius nodded to the younger charge, who immediately made himself scarce without another word, closing the door behind him. As the light from the corridor faded, it left us in half-darkness, only lit by the monitors showing our prisoners pacing back and forth in their cells.
My adrenaline levels dropped, and relief smacked me from head to toe. My body shook, my knees gave out, and I sighed as I lowered myself into a chair.
“Good work, Nic.” Casius put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it firmly.
“Thanks.” I ran a hand over my face and sighed again. “What the fuck is happening? What’s with these guys and their…what is that? The bible?”
Casius shook his head and turned back to the monitors. “Not any bible I know. Certainly not one we ever shared with them. Maybe they have a new one. Or maybe that guy is just nuts.”
Shadowed by the monitors, he looked exhausted.
“What are we going to do with them, now we have them here?” My voice came out quiet, and I was embarrassed by how nervous I was. I really didn’t want anything awful to happen to the two captives even if their kind were planning to do something awful to us. There had to be a way to prevent any more bloodshed. Nothing good would come of it if we hurt these guys. That would surely give the humans a reason to retaliate. The only way forward, as I saw it, was to get as much information out of them as we could while treating them humanely. Then we should hand them back, unscathed, so they could let the others know we were civilized and not the…scum they thought we were. But I was just a beta. Though I was a strong, fierce, and loyal member of the Inner Guard like my dad had been, by virtue of not being an alpha I was unable to take a leadership role. However, I hoped Casius and Supreme Alpha Hughes also saw things my way.
Casius glanced at me and must have caught the caution on my face because he gave me a reassuring grin. “I’m just going to talk to them.”
“You mean ‘interrogate them’?”
“That’s how the Supreme Alphas of the other states phrased it when they asked us to get some answers out of our captives, yeah. But I’m thinking I’ll take a more diplomatic approach.”
I cleared my throat and offered my best right-hand-man advice to the Supreme Alpha Select. “I don’t think it’s the right time
to be…diplomatic with them.”
Casius raised his eyebrows. “You think I should be tough on them?”
I shook my head. “I think you should wait.”
“For what?”
I nodded toward the speaker beside the monitors. Casius followed my gaze, caught my meaning, and flicked the audio switch. My big, brawny boss almost jumped out of his skin as a barrage of bigotry poured into the room.
“Fowl wolves! Rutting like animals! Below animals! Below the natural order! Disgusting dogs, you have been numbered! The rain is coming! You can kill me, but you’ll never find us all! Filthy fleabags, you disgust me!”
Casius hovered over the switch for a moment as he watched the older man in the cell ranting and spitting at the camera. He seemed just as appalled as I was before he switched over to listen in to Eli’s room. The younger guy—I guessed he was in his early twenties—was pacing back and forth, but he moved slowly and kept his gaze down to the floor. He’d crossed his arms over his chest, and I thought I could see his lips moving.
“Can you turn up the volume?”
Casius nodded and cranked a knob up as high as it could go. The echo of Eli’s boots on the floor pounded through our observation room. Every scuff of his mud-caked boots, every rustle of the stiff fabric of his pants came through the speakers. But still, I had to strain to hear his voice. Casius peered at the monitor and cocked his head toward the speaker. I held my breath and closed my eyes, asking my wolf to lend me some even more advanced hearing.
Finally, a faint whisper broke through. “Resist the filth. Resist. Resist. Filth, filth, filth.”
I opened my eyes, took a sharp breath, and looked at Casius. He remained frowning, watching the young human who was mumbling like he was casting a spell. On the monitor beside it, the older human waved his arms and flipped off the camera, spat at it again before screaming. However, we only heard Eli.
“Resist. Filth, filth, filth. Resist.”
“They’re probably starving,” Casius mumbled as he switched off the sound feed.
“Huh?” But then my stomach growled loudly, and I let out a laugh. Casius chuckled and shook his head at me.
“If we’re hungry, imagine how they’re feeling. No wonder they’re losing it.”
“I’ll get Lachlan to make sure they get some good eats. Maybe once that guy has calmed down a little.”
The older man kicked the bed, tore at the sheets, and started yanking the mattress off the frame.
Casius grunted and nodded. “I need to get back to Julian.”
Casius moved past me, and I hauled myself up on my sore leg. I hurried to meet him as he opened the door into the brightly lit corridor. The light burned my eyes and I let out a grunt.
Casius paused, then looked me over. “How are you?”
“Fine. Good.” I wet my lips and admitted, “My leg’s injured.”
“Badly?”
“I’m standing, aren’t I?”
“I know someone who would be able to take care of that for you.” A smirk spread across his face.
I was half a beat behind, and I frowned before my heart ticked over. My mind shot back to the café where we’d been just hours before, with Casius and his pregnant mate, Julian, all of our friends and family and…my fated mate.
The moment I’d walked into the café, a scent so strong and attractive bombarded me, and I’d become instantly addicted to it. I’d sought out the source of the scent, and stared at him for what felt like both an eternity and nowhere near long enough before the call had come in, and we’d had to rush off.
I needed to see that stunning blond again. I needed to smell him again.
I let out a heavy breath between pursed lips. “Shit, man. What the hell was that?”
Casius chuckled and gave my shoulder a pat. “You know what it was. You’ve been waiting for it your whole life.”
Yeah, he was right. There was still an echo of the pull in my gut and my chest. It was just like everyone had said—a tugging toward my mate that was near-impossible to resist.
We walked along the corridor, past the cells, heading for the front doors of the station.
“You ever feel like that before?” Casius glanced toward me and raised his eyebrows like he already knew the answer.
“Once. At the bunker in Goldleaf, when we were assisting Alpha Truitt to get everyone back into town. I felt that…tugging in my chest? Do you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, man. I know what you mean.” A grin spread over Casius’s face. “Makes sense you felt it then. He was also there.”
“Who? Who was it?”
“Your fated mate?” Casius smirked.
I let out a short howl of excitement and laughed, shoving him playfully. “Yeah! Who is he? Spill!”
“Stef. Stefan. He’s a nurse from Goldleaf, and he was working in the bunker. He’s Julian’s best friend.”
“You’re kidding me.”
Casius laughed. “Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Damn. Why the hell didn’t you introduce us earlier?” I shoved him harder, but he didn’t budge.
“You’ve got nothing in common.” Casius shrugged.
“C’mon, of course we do. We’re fated mates!” I laughed, lifting my face to the fluorescent lights in the corridor.
“Fate and personality are two very different things. Trust me. I haven’t known the guy long, but I can tell you for sure he’s going to make you work for it.”
Nice. A challenge. “At least I have this leg injury. That could be a way in, right? I’ll get him to fix me up. Cute. Sexy. Makes me look tough.”
Casius chuckled as he pushed open the front doors. The warm July night air rushed in. “It’ll heal before he gets to it. I need you to stay here.”
I growled. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I need your ears on those prisoners, Nic.”
I blew a heavy sigh and rubbed my face. My wolf whined loudly, half from the sting emanating from my leg and half from the yearning in my heart to track down my mate.
Casius squeezed my shoulder. “I know. It’s unfair. But this is crucial. You’re the only one I trust with this. Go back, listen in on them, and when they fall asleep, go over the recordings for anything we missed. Get Lachlan to back you up.”
“Aw, c’mon man. Damn. Ugh. Fine. But why’d you make me walk all this way on my bad leg?”
Casius craned his head back and let out a booming laugh. “Bad leg.”
He walked out to the big passenger truck waiting for him, and I watched him leave. With a wave, he took off into the night.
I shuffled back down the corridor, exaggerating my limp for my own sake, just to wallow in self-pity for a hot minute. Back in the dark observation room, I pulled up a chair to the monitors. Eli was lying on his back on the bed, still mumbling softly. The older human had completely trashed the room he was in, ripping apart the sheets of the bed so they were now just long ribbon strips lumped into a strange nest-like pile on top of his bed. He’d ripped out the showerhead from the wall, and crystal blue Everglow water dribbled down the tiles and pooled at the drain. The man himself squatted in the center of the room and rocked back and forth. I turned up the volume and got nothing but nonsensical muttering from him. I sighed with relief that the volume of his ranting was low enough I could listen to it and Eli’s channel at the same time. My worst nightmare was the idea of having to go back and listen to hours of recordings.
I called Lachlan in to order some food for us, and to have the same meal delivered to the prisoners, then I leaned back and settled in for a long night. My eyes grew tired from the glare of the screens, but I knew I couldn’t shut them without risking missing some intel that could tell us what kind of attack the humans were planning against us. It was a matter of life or death, for all of us.
I fixed on the sound coming from the speakers, but the tempo of the humans’ rambling speech was rhythmic and almost relaxing. Too relaxing. There was only one thing that could keep me awake. I heard
myself speaking before I knew I was doing it.
“Stefan.”
It thrilled me to say it. My mate… Man, what a fucking trip. Finally! I was thirty-four years old, and up to that point, life had been a series of struggles and trials that I somehow managed to scrape through. The only back-up I’d ever had was Casius. And now he had his fated mate and a baby on the way. I thought I’d be alone again. But the moon goddess had blessed me with my own mate.
“Stef.” I could almost feel my wolf wagging his tail and panting with excitement.
“Stefan. Stefan. Stef.” I dragged out the syllables, spoke his name quickly and slowly, loudly and softly, in every way I could think to say it. Each time I said it and heard it on my tongue, it sent a thrill through me. My wolf started to become more and more attached to the sound of it, and I sensed he was growing more protective too. My omega fated mate. It was up to me to keep him safe. And right now, that meant guarding these humans and listening to any intel that would keep everyone—including my mate—safe. I leaned forward and watched as Lachlan delivered the food to the humans. They ignored him. He left the trays at their doors. The humans refused to look at it. They kept on chanting, kept on rambling… And I kept on watching.
2
Stefan
After the rush of Mikel bundling us into the black SUV and driving us to Julian and Casius’s house, I still hadn’t got my bearings. Emergency evacuations were meant to be speedy, but that was ridiculous.
Julian had barraged Mikel with questions, demanding to know what was going on, but Mikel, an alpha of the Inner Guard could only give him the basics; that the entire Inner Guard and Outer Guard was needed.
