by Jenny Tia
I’d found it difficult to follow their conversation because I’d been thinking about the tall, handsome guard who had made my wolf lunge forward in my chest with so much passion I’d felt like a pup again. When I’d caught his scent—lemonade and peaches—my senses had skyrocketed. My mouth had become wet, and a warm desire radiated from my groin. It wasn’t just arousal at seeing a hot guy or the shock of the evacuation order, either. There was a tugging, just like everyone described when they met their so-called fated mate. Like a rope or a ribbon tying us together; too strong to be cut. I hated it.
I had to admit, though, leaving him had felt like agony. As he’d rush out of the café, I felt like my organs were being torn out of my body and my wolf had snapped angrily. But there hadn’t been time to think about it—
There was now.
“Julian.”
My best friend was pacing and muttering about conspiracy theories, which he’d been doing sporadically for the last few hours, his anxiety palpable.
“Yeah?” He and Mikel turned to look at me.
“Who was that tall soldier with the short dark hair at the café?” I asked, clearing my throat to try and mask my seriousness. “Just wondering.”
Julian frowned as if he didn’t know who I was talking about. “Was he in a guard’s uniform?”
“Yeah, he was talking to Casius, and he brought the big bear.” I pointed to the oversized stuffed toy that was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.
“You must mean Nic,” Mikel said from his position at the window. He’d been standing there since we got here, guarding us.
I shivered, not liking the idea we needed guards from humans. And I had to assume all this mayhem was because of them.
“Oh, yeah.” Julian smacked his forehead with his hand. “Why do you want to know about him? He’s Casius’s second. I’m surprised you haven’t met him yet, actually.”
“Casius’s second? No, I definitely haven’t seen him before. I was just wondering who he was, that’s all.”
Mikel raised his eyebrows at me, and I could see the gears turning in Julian’s brain.
“Oh my god… You two were fixated on each other. You felt something when you saw him, didn’t you?”
“It might have been something I ate.”
“Bullshit.”
I shrugged.
Julian sat down next to me, his rotund stomach making what would normally be a graceful movement into something that would have been funny, if I was in the mood for humor.
“No you don’t, Stefan James. You’re not going to fob this off. Nicolas Black is your fated mate, isn’t he?”
Julian saying it aloud seemed to cement the idea in my head, and I flinched. I didn’t want a fated mate because I wasn’t exactly in the market for a relationship. I shrugged again, but Julian turned his full focus on me, making me feel uncomfortable.
“Okay, maybe I did feel a sort of…tugging in my guts.”
“Uh, maybe? That means definitely. This is too perfect. Well, given the circumstances, the timing sucks, but once things calm down we can go on double dates.” Julian jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow as he beamed at me with a painfully excited expression.
My wolf keened and whined softly in my chest. I tried my best to keep it quiet and to keep myself together. I took a deep breath and cracked my knuckles nervously.
“I don’t know. You know my decision about fated mates.” After my chosen mate left me when he’d found his fated mate… I guess I was a little bitter. Not for anyone else because I could see they were happy, like Julian and Casius. But me? I reckon I was destined to stay single.
Julian’s face fell. “Yeah, but Nic isn’t Justin…”
“You don’t know that—”
“He’s your fated mate. That’s different.”
I shook my head and got up to stare out a different window than Mikel. Everglow was so different compared to my hometown of Goldleaf. At home, we mostly walked; here, everyone drove. It was a big city by my small-town standards. Julian had moved in with Casius right after their claiming ceremony. And I do mean right after the ceremony. Cas and his troops had packed up Julian’s entire apartment and shipped it, and him, to Everglow. One would assume a guy like Julian, with all of his paranoid theories about the government, wouldn’t have been so keen to pick up and settle down in the place where the state’s Supreme Alpha lived, but then Casius was the Supreme Alpha Select, so I guess Julian didn’t have any choice. But that was fate, I guess. You don’t get to pick your fated mate.
I noticed movement outside and involuntarily stepped back, my heart suddenly racing. Mikel noticed and he quickly shoved me away from the window and put himself in the line of any danger, if there had been any.
“It’s fine,” he said, glancing at me and then Julian. “One of my guys.” His smile was so reassuring I felt almost safe.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though we’d not heard of a specific threat toward us, I was glad we were surrounded by security. Those big, burly guards like Mikel clearly knew what they were doing.
“You okay?” Julian looked at me.
I nodded, but a flash of worry crossed his face. A best friend always knows…
“I promise, I’m fine. Just…being rushed out of the café reminded me of that day in Goldleaf.”
Julian swallowed. “The shooting?”
I drew my lips together tightly. I didn’t know how to explain it. But Julian always found the words.
“I remember hiding under the table with you that day, with the glass from the windows raining down around us, and not knowing if the sound was bullets or not.” His voice trembled, and tears pricked at his eyes.
My heart ached. I knew exactly what he meant and hearing him speak about it made me feel much less lonely with my memories of that day. I was about to tell him so when his tears started trailing down his cheeks.
“Oh god, stupid pregnancy hormones!” He wiped at his face furiously then stood up and pushed past me.
I took a moment to recover from the emotional whiplash of his quick departure then hurried into the kitchen after him.
“Want a cup of tea?” He opened the cupboard door where his elegant Goldleaf clay mugs were. I wrinkled my nose. “Mushroom tea?”
Julian laughed like he hadn’t been crying two seconds earlier. “Yeah, alright, I know you’re not a big fan of my infusions, thanks for the reminder. I have your favorite cardamom and chamomile too, doofus.” He put two mugs on the counter with a startling loud thunk.
“Oh! Well, in that case, I’d love tea,” I said, sidling up to the kitchen island wearing an innocent grin.
Julian narrowed his eyes at me before spinning around to get out a box of tea bags for me and a jar of mushroom powder for his weird self.
“So, look, I know you must have theories… What do you think is going down with the humans?” I watched Julian as he spooned out some powder into a mug before I noticed a chip on one of my fingernails. I swore under my breath and ran my thumb over the ragged edge. I’d had my last manicure done only the day before when I was getting ready for Julian’s baby shower.
“I really don’t know,” Julian said, pouring hot water into our cups. Steam rose up and swathed his face in a cloud. He slid my mug to me slowly.
“Thanks.” I wrapped my hands around the mug. The familiar smell of Goldleaf spices comforted me a little, but the possibilities of what could be happening on the frontlines still worried me. “Do you think there’s been an attack?”
“I hope not.” Julian frowned into his mug as he stirred the contents with a spoon. “Maybe they’re running a ridiculous training drill. Or an experiment to see how the population would respond under a real threat.”
“So you think nothing’s going on?” I took a scalding hot sip of tea and grimaced when it burned my tongue.
“No. I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe I’m just scared we’re under attack and Casius won’t come home—”
Julian looked toward the door be
fore I heard the high-pitched beep and whirring of the electronic lock opening, so I knew it was Cas on the other side. Julian always knew when his mate was nearby, even before he could see or smell him. It was one of those fated mate things they shared. I guess it was kind of cool…
“Baby, I’m so glad you’re home!” Julian said, waddling as quickly as he could toward the door.
“I’m so glad you’re both safe.” Casius exhaled like he had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. I was surprised but flattered he cared about my safety, until I considered he might have been talking about his mate and his unborn cub. He bent down to rest his chin on Julian’s shoulder as they embraced. I found myself gazing behind Casius, at the heavy wooden door that had already shut behind him.
“Nic’s not here,” Casius said, looking over at me.
“Who asked?” I blushed and attempted to deflect his presumptuous—and entirely too accurate—assumption with a nonchalant air, and then gave my full attention to the swirling liquid in my mug.
Casius laughed, his voice booming and echoing off the wooden beams on his oh-so-rustic ceiling.
“Nic did.” Casius tried again to get my attention. He didn’t seem to catch on to the implied rhetorical nature of my question. “He can’t wait to meet you. He’s needed on a mission right now, otherwise, he’d be here.”
Julian clucked his tongue. “Stef isn’t concerned about meeting Nic, apparently.”
Casius looked from my face to Julian’s and back. A puzzled frown wrinkled the skin across his sturdy brow. “But he’s your mate.”
I sighed, not really in the mood to explain. Julian could do it for me. I’d had enough of losing people. Julian being one of them. He was my best friend, and he now lived two hours away from me. It wasn’t fair, but that was life. It was painful. So was finding a mate, falling in love, and then having them walk out on me… I’d done it once, wasn’t doing it again.
“I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so—”
“Tomorrow? Why so soon?” Julian looked distressed, and I didn’t want to do that to him, but staying here, seeing him and Casius so happy… I wasn’t jealous, but it was just better I get used to the idea of being without my friend.
I shrugged. “It’s been a long day. I really need to get some sleep.” I rinsed my mug quickly and placed it on the drying rack next to the sink. “Thanks for the tea.” I forced a wide, fake smile before whirling around and disappearing into the guest room. After the door closed behind me, I sank down onto the bed and felt my wolf’s confusion.
I ignored him even though I could feel how much he wanted to see his mate. That was the problem with having a second nature—they constantly tried to influence their other half’s life.
“We’ve been hurt before, buddy. We don’t want to be hurt again,” I told him, as if he could understand me. Then again, maybe he did because he let out a sad sigh. I just wanted to rest. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed with a crossword puzzle book and a pen.
‘Wistfully mournful’ was the first clue my gaze landed on. I sighed and filled out the squares: ELEGIAC.
3
Nicolas
My own Alphas were basically torturing me. I’d spent eighteen straight hours in the observation room, jotting down the crazed rantings of the humans, which was more than anyone should have to suffer. The room was too tiny. The chairs were too uncomfortable. Lachlan did his best to help, but the food was lousy and the coffee wasn’t much better. The place stank like my own musk.
But it was my duty, so I mostly stayed awake by thinking about Stefan. However, tired as I was, the memory of meeting him at the café started to fade and mutate. Were his eyes blue or green? He was blond, right? My exhausted brain began to create a totally new Stefan, but—worst of all—the ramblings from the humans started to leech into my imagination of my mate. I definitely remembered walking toward Stefan and relishing in the look of absolute shock on his face, the undeniable realization we were meant to be together. But then, in my imagination, he’d open his mouth to speak and what came out was, “Resist! Filthy dog! Shame creature!”
Not the romantic memory I was looking for.
It was almost midday, and I was slumped in the largest chair in the observation room with my legs up on one arm and my head hanging over the edge of the other. My eyes blurred as I watched the humans in their cells. I listened to the older human’s rantings. He hadn’t stopped and I wondered where he got his energy from.
Eli was still quiet. Two trays of untouched food were at his door. Lachlan had taken away the others that Eli had left uneaten. A pitcher of water sat there too, collecting bubbles. I saw Eli approach it a few times, look it over, and then retreat. What a weird guy.
A knock on the door made me jump up, but not fast enough. I was still pulling myself upright when Supreme Alpha Hughes appeared in the doorway and cleared his throat.
I quickly stood, crossed my arm across my chest, and lowered my head in salute to my Alpha. My body was so tired I swayed in place, caught in the inertia of getting up so fast.
“Sir.”
“Nicolas. At ease.”
“Yes, sir.” I stepped back and let my shoulders slump with a heavy sigh.
“You’ve been here since we captured them?” He looked me over as I braced myself against the control desk.
“Yes, sir. Casius’s orders. I’ve been on listening duty.”
“Good man. Anything from the captives?” He stepped into the dark room, leaving the door propped open behind him so a sliver of light streamed in and glared off the monitors. I caught the scent of fresh air washing in and felt a little embarrassed at how musky it must have been in the room. Maybe it wasn’t so wise to have been whiling away the hours thinking about my hot, sexy mate and all the things I wanted to do with him.
“Nicolas?” Alpha Hughes turned to me and frowned.
“Sorry, sir. No, sir. Nothing but the rambling you can hear now.” I paused to let him take in the endless stream of vitriol pouring out of the older human’s mouth as he sat in the middle of his cell and shouted at the camera. “The younger one is quiet now, but he has been repeating the same words. Just resist, and filth.”
“Hm.” Alpha Hughes peered at the screens and sniffed. “They’ve been taken care of, yes? Plenty of water? They’ve been fed?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve given them food and water, but neither of them are eating or drinking.”
“No?” Alpha Hughes shook his head, then tutted.
“Yes, sir.” The dirty plates and empty plastic cups littered across the control desk and stacked in the empty chairs were suddenly very noticeable. Obviously, I’d been eating and drinking. I silently cursed Lachlan for not cleaning them out like he’d cleaned out the prisoner’s cells.
“Hm.”
I waited in silence as Alpha Hughes watched the monitors and listened to the rantings. The older human was ripping his torn-up sheets into even smaller pieces. The younger one was sitting on his bed, staring into space. I almost felt peaceful, being there in the observation room with someone else sharing in the same program I’d been watching for hours. It made me feel a little less loopy.
The room became dim as Casius stood in the doorway, his bulk blocking the fluorescent glow from the corridor.
“Alpha Hughes. Nic. Any progress?”
I shook my head. “Nothing new. Same rantings.”
He navigated around the chairs and empty food trays to stand by us, where we all looked at the monitors together. Having him there made me feel even more at peace. “Are they talking in some kind of code?”
“Maybe. Way beyond my paygrade.”
Alpha Hughes chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s have another Inner Guard make a list of the words used, the phrases they’re saying. We’ll take it to a coder.”
I nodded and made a mental note to ask another of Casius’s guards for help. Mikel would be the best for it. He was good with words.
“Well, then. What do you think we shoul
d do?” Alpha Hughes asked.
Casius was silent. Both were looking right at me.
“Sir? Me? What do I think?”
Alpha Hughes chuckled in that very alpha fashion that Casius also did. “Yes, Nic. You’ve been watching these two for hours, and we value your feedback.”
I ran my hands over my face. “Well, I know we need answers.”
“We do.”
“I just don’t think using any violence against them is…going to help us.” I swallowed and glanced cautiously at Alpha Hughes, trying to gauge his reaction.
He surprised me. “No. Nor do I. It seems they already have a very wrong impression of what we are, and what we stand for. There’s no point feeding that misconception. I really don’t want these two to suffer under our care. And frankly, they need to drink water. That’s a bare minimum of care, and their protest is making me feel uncomfortable. They need to drink something.”
Casius grunted and nodded. “I’ll head in and see if I can persuade them.”
He grabbed an empty pitcher from the control desk and vanished out to the corridor. Alpha Hughes and I focused on the monitors. We watched Casius appear in the cell of the older human, with two of the Inner Guard on either side and a group of troops behind him. I turned up the volume and listened attentively as the human screamed bloody murder and lunged for the Alpha Select the moment he stepped in the room. The guards moved fast—much faster than the human could even detect—and grabbed him. Lachlan pulled a chair into the cell and they secured the man to it with cable ties and rope.
Casius approached with the jug full of fresh, bright blue crystalline water. I wet my lips, thirsty for the taste of that Everglow spring, even though I’d had buckets of it all night.
“You need to drink something.” Casius’s voice came out stern but caring. I could hear the genuine concern in it.
“Filthy beast! Stay away from me!” The human closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.
Casius approached the human with a water cup and a straw. “Please. We mean you no harm. You don’t need to suffer in our care. Please, drink.”