by Marcy Jacks
Gold was so angry. So furious at the man. He reached for him again.
The warlock was definitely no warrior. This had to be the fourth or fifth time Gold had grabbed him like this and the man seemed unable to get away before Gold’s fingers could grip his cloak.
He yanked the man up, shaking him hard. “Don’t give me that bullshit! You tried to bind me to you! You said you weren’t even good at this!”
“I wouldn’t do that to you!”
“Bullshit and fuck you!”
Gold stared into those eyes. Those big, blue eyes. He shook his head a little before he could admit to himself he thought they were kind of cute.
“Take this off me, right now. Set me free from this stupid spell, or I’ll kill you.”
“You’ll…” The warlock trembled. “I don’t know how.”
Gold growled. “Not the words I want to hear. Tell me how to break this off!”
“I don’t know! You’re the shifter! Not me! You should be able to break it off yourself!” The warlock hesitated. “Can’t you?”
Gold thought about that, and then he felt a rush of relief.
That was right. He should be able to break this off.
Even if he’d fucked the man and made the claim, there was nothing about a mating that had to be for the rest of one’s life. A mating could be shattered if someone tried hard enough.
It was supposed to be painful, however. He didn’t have anything to compare it to, but Gold had heard of men and women who had died attempting it.
Gold didn’t think he would die. He was a strong warrior, though he wasn’t an alpha. Not in the wolf sense of the word.
Dragons didn’t have alphas. Apparently there was some small difference. Erin and Aiden had described it as being a scent or pheromones that was given off, and the death of a shifter in a broken mating usually did happen with animal shifters.
He should be fine. This would be fine. He wasn’t going to die, and this wouldn’t hurt as badly as he feared.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t sorely tempted to smash his fist into this little bastard’s face.
“I swear to God,” Gold hissed, “if you hadn’t put this spell on me, if you didn’t make me want to not hurt you, I would fucking break your nose. I would shatter all the little bones in your fingers. I’d throw you into a cage in a ditch and keep you there. You fucking asshole. How fucking dare you force this on me?”
He’d meant for that to come out calm and collected. A calm threat was usually the most fear-inducing.
Not that it mattered. The little man trembled with fear, as though he really was struggling to keep from pissing himself.
“I’m…I’m really sorry. I had to get out of there. They were going to—”
“I do not fucking care, so don’t even think about giving me your bullshit sob story.”
He grabbed the man by the back of his neck, gripping hard as he headed through the clearing and toward his house.
He wasn’t about to let this little shithead into his brother’s home, but he needed somewhere to put him.
Mate. That was such a fucked-up concept.
“You’re hurting me!”
“I don’t care.”
Though, in truth, those three little words were almost enough to make Gold pause.
He was hurting his mate? Really?
No. Not a mate. A mating wasn’t forced on people like this. A mating happened naturally.
And not with a goddamned warlock of all things.
“I can walk! I promise I won’t run! That hurts!”
The little man pushed back against Gold’s hands, trying to shove them off. Gold allowed it, for now, but only because he wanted the little bastard to stop struggling.
“You try running and I promise I will catch you. I’ll make whatever those warlocks were about to do to you seem like a walk in the fucking park.”
The man tensed, one hand still clutching at the back of his neck. He nodded. “O-okay.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
He needed to figure something out before his brother got back home.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, and Gold was supposed to be helping Silver and the rest of the guys scout out the property.
Well, at least now with this man here, they had some more information on how that building worked.
The Dog Catchers had dragons with them and warlocks.
That was going to make things a little tricky.
“Um, my name’s Sebby, by the way.”
“That’s a stupid name,” Gold said.
And again, the guilt came back to him when the warlock, when Sebby, winced.
He growled, pushing it away. He didn’t want to get to know this man. He didn’t want to know his name, his life story. None of it. He just wanted to get him somewhere he couldn’t hurt anything or anyone else.
He’d deal with the consequences later.
“Where are we going?” Sebby asked as they descended the stairs to the basement.
“I need somewhere to keep you while I have a think about all this. When my brother gets back, I’ll decide if I’ll outright kill you or not.”
Sebby tensed, his body halting on the stairs.
He looked ready to run, so Gold grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him down the rest of the stairs.
Sebby pulled back against his hand. “You said you weren’t going to do anything to me!”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m your mate though! You said so yourself! You can’t hurt me!”
Not exactly true. Mates hurt each other all the time. Some mates killed their other halves.
Just because there was a call between them to fuck each other, to care for each other, didn’t mean those baser instincts couldn’t be overcome.
Still, it wasn’t good to have the man thinking Gold was actually planning on hurting him.
“Just shut up. I’m not going to kill you. I just need a safe place to keep you.”
“I won’t hurt anyone!”
Gold couldn’t stand the begging anymore. He couldn’t stand that he wanted to believe it and leave the poor man alone.
And here he was pitying him even!
He grabbed Sebby by the collar of his robe, yanking him the rest of the way downstairs, passed the washer and dryer to his small, indoor gym.
He had to keep the man away from his heavier equipment.
Gold went to the hook on the ceiling and took down his punching bag.
“What are you going to do?”
Gold undid his belt. He looked to Sebby. The man’s eyes flew wide. His body stood slightly crouched, as though his legs were ready to spring. To flee.
“You’re going to get out of those clothes. Don’t look at me like that. You’re going to come on over here, and I’m going to make sure you don’t go anywhere.”
Sebby looked at him then looked at the belt, and he shook his head.
“No.”
Smart, but Gold wasn’t interested in that. He was being smart now, but it had been the stupidest mistake of his life to think he could try taking control of Gold like that.
If he wasn’t going to come on over here peacefully, then Gold had no choice but to go to him. Sebby tried to run, but of course, Gold caught him. The man screamed and kicked, an annoyance, but Gold could handle it as he got the man out of his clothes, tied his hands together with the belt, and hooked them up where the sandbag used to be.
Sebby wasn’t that tall. He had to stand on his toes. The man trembled as though death had come for him.
“Please don’t, please…”
“Shut up.” He wished he had something to gag the man with. He didn’t want to hear any more begging. He didn’t want to listen to this guy and feel bad for the things he was doing when it was literally Sebby’s fault they were in this position.
How dare this little shit head make Gold feel guilty for anything? He wasn’t even supposed to be here right now.
He turned and
walked out of the basement, leaving his new mate there to hang, naked. Gold had to go through the man’s pockets, see if there was something within them that could be used. Something he could learn.
At least until his brother came home. Then Gold was going to have to give him the bad news.
Chapter Four
Because there was only so much that could be communicated specifically through growling, grunting, and other soft noises in their dragon shape, Gold was not looking forward to when his brother, Silver, and the rest of the able-bodied males of their clan returned home.
Aiden and Erin looked to Gold with some confusion in their eyes when they spotted he’d returned before the others. He didn’t explain to them why he’d come back early. He tried to ignore them. They were going to find out about all of this soon enough, so there was no point in hurrying anything along.
When his brother did land, his twin walked over to him and pulled Gold into a hug. The kind they’d never shared since they were still young hatchlings and their parents had…
Well, he didn’t want to think of that. No point in dwelling on the past when there was so much at stake now.
Silver pulled away from him. His eyes blazed a bright shade of red. “Where is he?”
“Tied up in my basement. I took his clothes so he doesn’t have the chance to do any of his hocus-pocus bullshit. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.”
Gold had to catch hold of his brother by the wrist and yank him back when Silver marched toward his house.
“I’ll kill him.”
Gold didn’t want his brother to kill the warlock.
“He’s fine. I can handle it.”
“He cast a spell on you. Kill him and have it end.”
Right. Gold had worried about this. He’d tried to communicate as much as he could to his brother and the other dragons when in the air, but they didn’t know the details. They must have thought the warlock had simply forced Gold to be his chauffeur.
If only it were that simple.
Gold had never seen his brother so pissed. It was kind of strange. He’d never felt his older brother get all protective of him, so now that it was happenings, he had to admit the sensation was more than a little foreign to him.
“It’s fine. Silver, I swear it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine!”
Lightning’s gruff voice came next. “Where is he?”
Gold rolled his eyes. “He’s in my house, okay? I’m taking care of this.”
Lightning glared at him, as though he didn’t believe him. “You caught a warlock and have him locked up in your house and you want me to think he’s fine? That little fucker could have been trying to get me down to him for all I know.”
It was on the tip of Gold’s tongue to tell the man to not make everything about him, but he couldn’t do that. Not right now. Not when there was a good chance he was right.
Warlocks loved finding albino dragons. They made for good ingredients. Everyone knew that.
And that brought about an odd sinking sensation in Gold’s stomach.
What if that was what Sebby had been trying to do? What if he’d wanted to catch Lightning so he could turn him into his little slave?
Lightning would have killed the man. Gold was sure of it. There was no way the man would put up with being forced to obey a warlock or be mated to one.
Lightning’s hatred of those people was so powerful that Gold was fairly certain the other man would be able to overpower any spell and end Sebby’s life.
Aiden and Erin watched from a distance. They seemed to be debating whether or not to come over as the dragons spoke, or yelled, heatedly.
No doubt by now Aiden could see that his mate, Rey, hadn’t returned with his parents.
Gold felt even more guilt. The poor bastard. That had to be hard, and if Gold hadn’t been taken away from his brother and his friends, they really might have been able to make the attack. Everything would have had to go perfectly for that to happen, but it could still have been done.
Silver snapped his fingers in front of Gold’s face. “Hey, snap out of it.”
Gold blinked, shaking his head. “Sorry.”
Lightning glared at him. “That warlock is fucking with your head already.”
“He is not. I was just thinking.”
“You’re under the spell of that Warlock, and he’s going to make you attack us in the blink of an eye. We should kill him.”
“Worry about your own shit, and I’ll worry about mine.”
Silver shook his head. “You’re saying this prisoner made you into his mate. That’s a whole other kettle of fish.
And that was a reminder Gold really could have done without.
He rubbed at his face, wishing he were anywhere else other than right where he was.
He was just supposed to watch the rear, make sure nothing came at his brother or his friends while they did their fly-by.
He wasn’t supposed to come home that day with a mate he didn’t want or need.
A warlock mate on top of that. It was some kind of sick joke.
“Did he say why he did it?” Storm asked.
Lightning snorted. “Who fucking cares why he did it? He’s a warlock. That’s all you need to know.”
“He said something about being punished by his elders.” Might as well get that out in the open. “He’s not a very powerful warlock. I guess they wouldn’t have wanted him around.”
“I’m going to see him.”
Lightning moved toward Gold’s house before Gold could stop the other man. He reached his hand out to grab onto him, but Lightning moved too fast. Even as Gold shouted at him to stop, to not even think about going inside his house or anywhere near his prisoner, Lightning stormed ahead.
And the man of course knew exactly where to go. He’d been inside of Gold’s house before. He knew where the stairs were, and he descended them quickly, ignoring Gold’s shouts for him to stop.
Silver and a few of the others followed behind. Most of the others, Gold didn’t see who, stayed back and he didn’t care either. He wanted to go after Lightning before that stupid idiot could do something stupid.
The man burst into Gold’s basement gym before he could stop him.
By now, Gold was furious. He reached out, finally grabbing Lightning by the shoulder just before the other man could make it to Sebby, spun him around, and clocked him hard across the jaw.
Lightning’s head flew back, but he kept his balance.
“I said cut it out!”
Lightning straightened himself out real quick. He looked at Gold with a dead expression in his eyes.
Gold stared back at him, waiting for the asshole to make a move. For him to do something that would let Gold hit him again.
When Lightning didn’t move, Gold felt himself getting antsy. “You touch him, and I’ll rip you apart.”
Lightning snorted, shaking his head as though disgusted. “Right. I think that little mating spell he put you under already took effect.”
“That’s enough, Lightning.” Silver stepped forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with Gold. “That warlock is Gold’s responsibility. If he wants to keep the man alive, then he’s going to do that, and you aren’t going to do shit about it. Understand?”
Gold was stunned to hear those words, though he tried to hide it.
His brother was really going to give him full authority over the warlock?
Gold had tried not to look at Sebby when he’d come back down here, but he didn’t have a choice. He glanced to the side, and there he was. Right where Gold had left him, hands stretched high above his head, stomach and chest exposed as the man stood on his toes.
He hadn’t said a word to anyone. He just stared at the people around him with wide eyes, as though waiting for someone to make the killing blow.
“Why is he naked?” Blaze asked.
More of that guilt that Gold hated so much swirled around inside him. “I wasn’t going to risk that he was hiding some magical shit in his
robes.”
“Yeah, but naked?”
“Why? You like what you see or something?” Gold snapped, unable to hold back as he glared at the man.
Blaze flipped him off.
Gold wanted to attack him, too. He wanted to go after everyone right now. He was so fucking furious with everyone and everything.
He’d wanted to keep Sebby down here, away from prying eyes, and now most of his friends were down here, staring at his mate. His nude mate.
The only person not down here was Rey. He must be upstairs explaining to Aiden why he hadn’t been able to free the man’s parents yet.
And Gold wanted to put a blanket around Sebby’s shoulders and cover his body. He didn’t want anyone looking at Sebby like this.
Only Gold was allowed to do that.
“This warlock took your brother hostage and forced a mating on him.” Lightning spat on the floor, his face twisted as though he were about to be sick. “You’re seriously going to let that fly?”
Silver looked to Gold. “What you do with him is up to you so long as you can keep him away from the rest of the clan. Got it?”
Gold nodded. He probably agreed to that a little too quickly, and he knew this conversation was far from over, but he was willing to take what he could get at this point.
“I’ll take care of him.”
He glanced back at his mate, who silently watched him, terror in his eyes. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else or himself.”
He looked back at the naked man he had tied up. Sebby ducked his head, as though he were ashamed.
Being nude in front of people would do that. Gold didn’t understand what his problem was, however. Warlocks, like the animal shifters, were supposed to be used to being naked.
This guy blushed as though people seeing his dick hanging out was new to him.
Lightning didn’t seem ready to let any of this go. He growled low in his throat at Sebby then at Gold. “You keep that fucking thing on a leash, or I’ll take care of him for you. Understand?”
Lightning shoved his finger into Gold’s face, and Gold abruptly shoved his hand away, glaring back at him. “Yeah, I got it.”
And he’d never been more furious in his entire life.
Silver sighed. “Whatever. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get out of here. Gold, uh, not that I want to tell you what to do with your prisoner or anything, but if he is your mate now, maybe you’ll want to get him down from there and put him into a good set of clothes.”