Guarding His Mate

by Jenny Tia

  “Poison! Poison and filth!” The prisoner shut his lips tight, clenched his jaw, and refused to budge. He opened his eyes only to stare at Casius, and I could feel the human’s rage radiating off him all the way from my place behind the monitors.

  The Alpha Select held his ground and growled low in his throat, so thick with alpha energy it made me feel weak in the knees. The human didn’t budge.

  Alpha Hughes grunted beside me. I could tell he approved of Casius’s technique, even if it wasn’t yielding any results. For the next ten minutes, Casius attempted to persuade the prisoner to drink. Set-jawed and stubborn, the human refused.

  Casius let out one final, frustrated growl then turned on his heel and left the cell.

  The Inner Guardsmen untied the human and left him alone. Alpha Hughes switched over the audio feed. Juxtaposed, the quiet of the other cell felt almost haunting. The creak of the door opening broke through, and Casius’s steps echoed as he moved into the room. The young human looked up from his place on the bed, where he sat with his hands in his lap. He didn’t stop muttering his words of resist filth.

  Casius stepped forward, flanked by two guards. “Eli, is it?”

  The human stiffened and glanced at the door behind Casius, where the other guards stood. Casius moved toward him and extended the jug of water. The shine of the liquid sparkled in the camera, sending off rays of light, and one glared right into the camera. Our monitor turned white for a startling moment before the image came back into focus.

  Casius approached Eli, and the human sized him up nervously. His gaze flicked over the jug. He looked like a scared pup.

  “Eli. I want you to drink this. We don’t want you to go thirsty.”

  Eli looked down at his hands and shook his head rapidly. “Resist. Filth. Resist.”

  Casius growled, louder than I expected, and my wolf came to full attention. It was the kind of growl the Alpha used to put us beta guards in our place, and it made me feel like I’d done something wrong and had better fix it right now.

  Maybe Eli felt the same because the kid started shaking like a leaf. I frowned and leaned in closer to the monitors. His hands shook, but he took the glass from Casius and quickly gulped down half of the fluid.

  “Good lad,” Alpha Hughes said. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about Eli or Casius. Maybe both.

  But the human’s obedience didn’t last long. He let go of the glass and it dropped to the ground, bounced on the linoleum, and rolled toward Casius, leaving a puddle of water on the floor.

  As Casius bent down to retrieve the glass, Eli became stiff as a board. He sat upright and stared at the wall in front of him. He clenched his jaw and dug his fingers into the blankets beside his hips.

  “More?” Casius asked, offering the glass and the jug.

  Eli stared right through him. He was suddenly a spitting image of the man in the other room—stubborn, strong, and unwavering. Stupid.

  But Casius must have considered it a success because he retreated, the guards following close behind.

  He joined us back in the observation room, and Alpha Hughes and Casius discussed the various ways they could persuade the older human to drink. I didn’t want to talk out of turn but a realization was burning on my tongue.

  “I think there’s something more here.”

  The two of them turned to look at me with raised eyebrows. I shrank back for a moment, thinking I’d jumped rank, but when they didn’t correct me, I realized they were waiting for me to tell them what I thought.

  “Casius, that growl you did. In Eli’s room. It got to me.”

  A proud grin tugged on the corner of his wide lips, and I rolled my eyes.

  “It got to Eli too,” I explained.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Look.” I flicked on another monitor and played back the recorded scene of Casius in Eli’s cell. At the moment of the growl, I slowed down the playback and pointed to Eli. The Alphas leaned in and watched Eli’s shudders, his quaking limbs, and the agony on his face.

  Casius mumbled, “He looks like he’s trying to resist something irresistible…”

  “Like the command of an alpha,” I offered.

  “Hm. Interesting.” Alpha Hughes stood back and nodded. “I’m going to make him eat something.”

  Before Casius and I could question what he meant, he was already out of the room. I slumped back into my chair and watched the monitors as the door to Eli’s room swung open again. Casius put a hand on my shoulder as he leaned forward, eager to catch all the details of the interaction. But I was confident I already knew what was going to happen.

  “You think this is going to work?” Casius asked.

  “Uh, yeah. If someone has an instinctive reaction to you, there’s no way they could manage to resist Alpha Hughes. No offense.”

  Casius laughed. “None taken. The guy is almost nearly a hundred and fifty years old, he has a lot of alpha power.”

  He sure did. As soon as Alpha Hughes stepped into the cell, Eli whimpered. Casius cranked up the volume, and we heard the low, near-silent growl coming from the back of Alpha Hughes’s throat. It put me on edge, and Casius took a bracing breath.

  Eli scuttled backward on his bed, pressing against the wall. “Don’t use magic on me!”

  Alpha Hughes stopped “No magic, lad. But no human I knew ever reacted to a soft growl like that…”

  I frowned and glanced at Casius. If he’d caught Alpha Hughes’s meaning, he wasn’t giving anything away.

  Eli scowled then lowered his gaze to the floor.

  “Here. Eat.” Alpha Hughes offered a bread roll. Eli shook his head and clenched his jaw.

  “What’s your name?”

  Eli didn’t budge.

  Alpha Hughes growled again, softer this time, but it was enough to make Eli wet his lips and glance around.

  “Your name, lad. What is it?”

  “Eli.” We could barely hear him; his voice was small and hoarse. But Alpha Hughes nodded in approval and stepped closer.

  “Eli. I’m Grant Hughes.”

  Eli darted his gaze over the Alpha, then fixed it back on the floor.

  “I want you to eat this bread, Eli. We don’t want you to suffer under our watch.” Alpha Hughes offered him the bread again, and Eli recoiled. I sat upright in my chair as Alpha Hughes growled again, louder this time. “Eat.”

  Eli flinched as if someone had hit him. Casius took a sharp breath and I gripped the arms of my chair.

  Alpha Hughes thrust the roll toward Eli and insisted, “Nourish your body.”

  With another commanding growl from the Supreme Alpha, the human snatched the bread roll and let out a growl that didn’t sound too dissimilar to that of a wolf. He sank his teeth into the roll and tore off a piece, and then chewed on it.

  “Good.” Alpha Hughes stepped back. Eli visibly relaxed, his shoulders dropping. There also seemed to be more color in his face. “Eat whenever you’re hungry. We’ll keep bringing you food.”

  Eli swallowed down a big chunk of bread and went in for another bite as Alpha Hughes left the room. Casius turned to me and let out a heavy breath between pursed lips. I’d raised my eyebrows so high my forehead must have looked like the ripples on a beach.

  “What was that?” I whispered.

  “Let’s go.” Casius slapped my shoulder on his way out of the room. I got to my feet and rushed to catch up to him. I matched his pace as we marched down the corridor. Alpha Hughes nodded to us, turned on his heel, and started in the other direction toward the entrance of the station.

  “Walk with me.”

  Once we were out of earshot of the other guards, Alpha Hughes turned to us. “It appears you were right.”

  I waited for Casius to accept the praise, but when it didn’t come, I realized Alpha Hughes was actually talking to me.

  “Me? I was?”

  Casius chuckled and put an arm around my shoulder. “You were.”

  “I released heavy pheromones as I approached that room,
but it was the growls that really got to him. What do you think it means?”

  We passed through the entrance lobby and stopped at the front doors. The late afternoon sun pierced through the glass and stung my eyes.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “He’s obviously sensitive to alpha energy. Maybe it’s a young human thing.”

  Alpha Hughes grunted in agreement, but he gazed out the glass doors with his brow furrowed and his hands clasped behind his back in his usual ‘thinking’ posture. “Maybe so. He had a scent though. Not how I remember humans smelled. There was…something else.”

  “Is he a shifter? Working with the humans?” Casius asked. His eyes narrowed and he practically bared his teeth at how the prospect made him so angry.

  Alpha Hughes shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t place it. We’ll just have to keep working on him. In the meantime…”

  He turned to me and my heart sank. I desperately needed a shower and some sleep, but I had a feeling I was going to be called on for yet another task or another day of observations. These humans had really put a kink in my daily life.

  I was about to nod and head back to the observation room when Casius gave me a firm slap on the back. “Nic, go get some rest. I’ll take over for now. You’ve worked hard, and you’ve done well. Take tonight off. I’ll need you refreshed.”

  I opened my mouth to object, but a heavy wave of tiredness crashed over me, so I nodded. Alpha Hughes grunted in approval and started back down the corridor toward the observation room, while Casius pushed open the door and urged me out into the sunlight.

  “Cas, thank you, I—”

  “Stefan is still at my house. Go and see him.” Casius winked at me and closed the door in my face.

  Damn. Yes, sir.

  4

  Stefan

  The smell of mushrooms and onions cooking gently in olive oil wafted up to my nose. I inhaled deeply as I stirred them with a wooden spoon. Julian said he was feeling nauseous earlier, so I hoped one of his favorite flavor combinations would tempt him to eat. He shuffled into the room in his bathrobe and sniffed at the air.

  “That smells… Wow. Good, actually.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Really? I thought maybe if I added mushrooms to my usual scrambled eggs, I could tempt you.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I know. I wanted to do something nice for you, though. I’m really sorry for storming off to bed in a bad mood last night. I didn’t want to leave for Goldleaf with things still…like that between us.”

  “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk about Nic when you clearly weren’t ready.”

  The mention of his name made my stomach clench. Was this really what fate felt like? It seemed more like anxiety to me.

  “Thanks.” I poured whisked eggs into the pan and they hissed quietly.

  “It’s your life, Stef, not mine. I know you know that, but I want to make sure you know that I know it too. I’ll still be your best friend and support you no matter what you choose. Even if you never want to see Nic again.”

  It did feel good to hear him admit he was wrong. A rare treat.

  The eggs were nice and fluffy by then, so I slid them out of the pan onto two plates for us.

  “That’s nice to hear. Same goes for you, you know. I support you no matter what. Even if you, um, wanted to leave this big city and come back to Goldleaf, for example.” I laughed lightly as if I were joking as I placed one plate onto the dark granite kitchen island in front of Julian.

  He chuckled. “Thanks, Stef. I wish you weren’t leaving so soon, though.”

  When I glanced up, his lower was lip pouting slightly.

  “I’m looking forward to getting back to Goldleaf, to be honest. I think the city is making me crazy.”

  “Making you crazy?”

  “Yeah, maybe my freak-out last night was a clue.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s just so many people here. I don’t know how you handle it. I guess I’m just too sensitive for all the hubbub.” I flapped my hands around as if motioning to the hundreds of people on the city streets all day every day.

  “Hopefully your next visit will be more relaxing. I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”

  “Well, you did say your guest room was always open to me. Don’t think I’m not going to take you up on it again soon.”

  Julian nodded as he gingerly took a bite of the mushrooms and eggs. His moan of approval gave me a little thrill, but a knock on the front door quickly cut it short. Julian and I frowned at each other. I put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to stay sitting, and went over to the door. I hesitated.

  Is it safe to just open the door? Then I remembered all the guards outside. Obviously, whoever it was must have gotten their approval. I unlatched the door and swung it open to see the smiling face of the Alpha of my hometown.

  “Good morning, Stefan. Glad I caught you.”

  “Good morning, Alpha Truitt. Are you on your way back to Goldleaf? I was just leaving, myself.”

  “Uh…not exactly. Can I come in?” Alpha Truitt was smiling but his eyes darted back and forth as he asked.

  I eyed him warily. “Yeah, of course. Julian and I were just having breakfast.” I turned toward the kitchen. “Julian. Alpha Truitt is here.”

  Julian waved from his seat and swallowed a bite of eggs as we approached.

  “Hey, Alpha Truitt.” Julian wiped his mouth with a napkin.

  I motioned to a stool where Alpha Truitt could join us at the large kitchen island.

  “Thanks.” He slid into the seat.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I wanted to let you know before you head off that traffic between Everglow and Goldleaf is severely limited right now. So, you won’t get very far if you try to leave now.”

  “Okay, how long’s the delay?” I eyed him over.

  Odd that he came all the way over here to give us a traffic report.

  “We’re not sure yet. Given the recent attack, we have to take significant precautions.”

  “So… Should I leave later today instead?”

  “Probably not.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean? I need to get back to work. What are they going to do at the hospital if I don’t show up for my shift?”

  “I spoke to your supervisor and to one of the supervisors at Everglow hospital. They need your skills here.”

  I felt my blood pressure rising. Even though I was livid, I tried not to show it. I took a deep breath. “I really need to go home.”

  I might have sounded pathetic, but I didn’t care. I was going to lose my mind if I remained trapped in Everglow.

  “I’m sorry, Stefan. You can’t. I need you to stay safe. And besides, you’re needed here. Everglow Hospital is expecting you. Please take care of whatever they need.”

  “But—”

  “That’s an order.”

  This is nuts.

  My wolf whined and paced in agitated circles.

  I need to run.

  “Alright, fine. Whatever. Is it safe for me to go for a run in the woods?” I motioned toward the clutch of forest just outside Julian’s windows. I just wanted to move on with my day now Alpha Truitt had delivered this horrible news. He nodded.

  I knew Julian would be happy I was staying, even if my stay was forced, and I didn’t want to vent my anger with him, so I jumped off my stool and headed for the big, glass side doors of the house without saying another word to either of them.

  As soon as I stepped outside, the fresh morning air entered my lungs. I took the wooden steps down from the deck two at a time, then stripped off my clothes. I focused all my energy on the shifting process, and I was soon off and running.

  The trail curved uphill and I took it in stride, digging my claws into the soft earth to propel myself up the incline. My heart pumped fast and strong and my lungs eagerly gulped the oxygen-saturated air of the woods. With my wolf’s sharp h
earing I noticed the soft twittering of birds high up in their treetop nests and the rustling of leaves as the birds landed and took off. They seemed to be having a relaxed conversation amongst themselves.

  The sun warmed my fur as I went, but my sense of freedom didn’t last long. Before I knew it, I saw the silver uniform of a guard through the trees. I had reached the edge of the secured area that was safe to run in. I growled softly in frustration and did an about-face so I could keep trotting.

  I ran around the other side of the hill, my paws skidding slightly on the loose dirt of the foothills, but it was only a minute before I saw the silver flash of a border guard again. I grunted and ran down the hill, then immediately turned around to run back up again. I knew I had to work myself ragged if I was going to be able to handle being stuck in Everglow for an indeterminate amount of time with a distinct lack of personal space and independence.

  After my second trip to the top of the hill, I stopped to take in the view. I could make out part of the roof of Casius and Julian’s house and the morning sun sparkling off the lake behind it. The rolling shades of green of the canopy filled in the spaces between their house and others. In the middle distance, the high-rise buildings of downtown Everglow stood tall and austere like they were wearing gray uniforms of their own. In the far distance, craggy mountains rose up to the clouds, a mix of mottled gray rocks rolling down from the snow-crested peaks.

  Even if I’m not free to roam as I please, at least I have this vantage point to take in the landscape.

  I shook my body as if to dry it off after a swim. My fur coat ruffled back and forth, and I yawned, my teeth clicking softly as I closed my jaws. The ritual helped to loosen the tension left in my muscles, and I finally felt ready to descend the hill. Trotting down the path around the lake, back toward the deck, I suddenly felt a tugging in my guts.

  He’s here.

  I shifted back to my human form and tugged on my jeans. I noticed my fingers trembling as I fastened the buttons and sighed in frustration.

  But my wolf yipped excitedly and spun around in circles.