by Jenny Tia
“Yes, you can. It’s fine. Really. I’m not worried about him attacking me.”
“Then what’s with all the pacing?”
“You never get nervous when you’re about to see your fated mate?”
I laughed and slapped Mikel on the back. He smiled, but the edges of his lips twitched with nerves. I brought him into a hug, and he squeezed me tightly.
At arm’s length, I could see the excitement in his eyes. “Even though this is the strangest fated pair of all time… I’m happy for you. But I’m not leaving you without some backup.”
“Alright. Fair enough. Lachlan, you can stick around.”
Lachlan nodded and stood to attention at the edge of the door. I took the other guards with me to the observation room where Alpha Hughes’s bulky silhouette was stark black against the bright glow of the monitors. He grinned solemnly over his shoulder, then turned back to the screens.
Eli was sitting, as usual, on his bed. The cell was clean again. He stared at the door and chewed his fingernail beds like they were lunch. I wondered if he could sense Mikel out there. I remembered how the tugging in my stomach happened anytime I was even close to Stefan, let alone right behind a door. Of course Eli would be feeling it, if he really was Mikel’s fated mate. An inkling of doubt trickled through my wolf. What if all of this was some sort of trick? What if the humans had some way to fool us? Make them attractive to us? The idea wasn’t all that ludicrous because humans and wolves did have relationships, but was all this faked? The thought lodged in my guts and soured me from the insides out.
Lost in paranoia, I jumped as the cell door swung open. So did Eli. He was on his feet, and I held my breath as Mikel stepped into frame.
“Hi,” Mikel said softly. The door scraped shut behind him. Bolts thudded into place.
Eli swallowed and searched Mikel’s face. “Why do you seem different?”
“Different?” Mikel’s voice came out softly.
“You’re different from the others. I feel really weird. What’s going on?” Eli clutched his stomach and took a step toward Mikel.
“Shit,” I whispered. “They are fated mates.”
Alpha Hughes grunted.
“This complicates things.” I exhaled and ran a hand over my hair.
“Maybe. Keep watching.”
Eli stepped closer to Mikel. His face screwed up in a scowl of confusion.
Mikel cleared his throat. “This is really hard to explain, but let me try. There is a special someone for all wolves; that person created especially for them, and when you find them, your heart lets you know. We call it…fated mates.”
“So?”
“Well… You’re mine.”
Eli let out a short laugh. “That’s ridiculous. You’re telling me we’re meant for each other?”
Mikel just shrugged. “What do you feel right now? When I’m near you?”
The captive chewed a nail and looked Mikel over. He sighed and lowered his hand with a sigh. “Well… I feel more at ease than I have in weeks.”
Mikel smiled. “Your wolf knows I would never hurt you.”
Eli scoffed and tried to play it off as absurdity, but his hands were shaking.
Mikel noticed too. “What else are you feeling? Nervous?”
Eli bit his nail again and nodded. “I don’t like this.”
Mikel swallowed and took a step forward. They were so close their mingled scents must be saturating the air between them. Eli’s shaking calmed to a soft shudder.
“I want to help you. I mean, damn, I want to help you so badly it’s killing me to not just break you out of this cell right this second. But there are people your resistance has hurt, who are still being hurt. People I care about. And it's breaking my heart.”
Eli whimpered. I spun to Alpha Hughes and he looked just as shocked. Eli was responding to Mikel’s pain.
Mikel took a step closer to Eli. “They don’t call it fated mates for nothing. You and I were placed together for a reason, and I think that reason is to stop this…war. I don’t want to lose you, Eli, not before I’ve had a chance to get to know you. So, please. Tell me how to stop this war. Tell me how we can have a future without the threat of death hanging over us.”
Eli balled his hands into fists, and he stared at Mikel. Time seemed to stretch out for a millennium. Eli’s gaze was locked onto Mikel’s so tightly I could feel the intensity radiating all the way into the observation room, and then Eli nodded. “Will you promise me something?”
“Of course.”
“If I tell you, can you promise me you’ll stay safe?”
Mikel sighed in relief. “Yes, Eli. For you, anything.”
Eli glanced away, and when he looked back, determination flared in his eyes. “The leader of The Resistance isn’t a human.”
Alpha Hughes growled and leaned closer to the monitors, bracing himself against the edge of the desk. I leaned forward too, eager to hear everything Eli had to say.
“He’s a wolf shifter. Like you. His name is Roland Carter.”
The Supreme Alpha sucked in a breath and tightened his grip around the desk.
“Carter is out for revenge against the shifters. He found the humans, the ones who survived, and he joined them. Helped them. He said he was betrayed by his own kind, and he knew who was responsible for the disease…”
“The disease? That wiped out the humans? Someone was responsible for that?” Mikel frowned, and so did I.
I glanced at Alpha Hughes. He’d shut his eyes and hunched his shoulders, as if in defeat. My wolf growled and I clenched my jaw. A sinking feeling enveloped me and threatened to knock me on my ass. I turned my attention to the monitors and listened.
Eli nodded. “Carter said he could turn the humans into soldiers so they could find justice. He wants to get rid of the beasts—” Eli shook his head, his expression softening as he looked at Mikel. “He wants to get rid of wolf shifters. He wrote the New Book. It’s like a…manual on the evils of beasts. Shifters. He’s shown us how they, you, should be eradicated.”
Mikel grimaced, and tears welled up in Eli’s eyes.
“Shit,” I whispered.
Over my shoulder, Alpha Hughes was shaking like a leaf. I stood up, alarmed. He met my gaze and nodded in defeat. “Roland Carter Hughes is the name of a dead man.”
I held his gaze, determined to hear more.
He cleared his throat. “It’s the name of my dead brother.”
I felt like I’d been hit on the head with a plank. Everything was fuzzy at the edges. I couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying. “Wait. What?”
“Their leader is my—”
Casius burst into the room, sweat pouring from his brow, his eyes burning bright red. His whole body trembled with rage, and I felt his energy hit me like a fist. “There’s been another explosion.”
“Shit!”
“Where?” Alpha Hughes demanded.
Casius inhaled, as though bracing himself against the truth. “The Mansion.”
Get ready for Everglow Pack book 3, Hybrid Mate!
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Hybrid Mate
Get ready for Everglow Pack book 3, Hybrid Mate!
Available Now!
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Guarding His Mate
Everglow Pack: Book 2
Liam Kingsley
© 2020
Disclaimer
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to rea
l people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).