Page 175 of Devoted

Everyone went rigid. This was what they’d been most afraid of. Fury rolled along the bond from Zeke as several other hands drifted towards where their weapons were strapped.

Micah spoke through gritted teeth. “Benji?”

“Human mates may not be separated from their supernatural counterparts unless grand treason is suspected,” Benji rattled off. “Section sixteen of the holy texts, paragraph two, line seven.”

Gloria smiled condescendingly. “Coercing a human into a mating bondisgrand treason, Benjamin. Perhaps you should study your book of laws a little closer.”

I glanced at Benji, expecting to see the same fury that was rolling over the rest of them. But no, if anything, Benji seemed more settled, a small smile playing over his lips. If we’d been in any other situation, I’d have thought he was…amused.

“It’s only grand treason if the human believes he was coerced.” Benji didn’t take his eyes off Gloria as he addressed me. “Sam, were you coerced?”

I cleared my throat, lifting my chin and making myself meet her horrible eyes. “I was not. I accepted the bond willingly, readily, and happily. I’m delighted to be Zeke’s mate. The only coercion that occurred was when you tried to compel me into leaving him.”

If Gloria was surprised at me blatantly calling her out, she didn’t show it. However, pride licked along the bond from Zeke.

“Well there’s nothing to be done,” Gloria said, sighing dramatically. I noted she didn’t deny compelling me. “So long as he truly is your mate, then we will consider the matter finished.”

Fear and fury mingled in the bond, as Zeke fought to keep his cool. “What proof do you need? He’s my mate. You can tell we’re bonded.”

“Not from this distance,” Gloria said. From the growl that ripped from the twins, I knew she was lying. “Seeing as you won’t allow me onto your grounds, Sam will need to come to me.”

Zeke’s rage was a living thing now. I could feel it in the bond. A monster desperate to be unleashed. I tried to pull it back. To calm Zeke. To soothe him.

But he was slipping out of my reach.

“No,” Micah said, subtly stepping in front of me. “You can assess Ezekiel instead. Sam stays here.”

“Are you refusing a direct order again, Micah? Do you not remember what happened last time?”

Micah bared his teeth in a lethal grin. “I believe it ended with me walking out of your court, my mate unharmed at my side.”

Zeke was still seething. His muscles were locked as he prepared to launch himself at a second’s notice. “Sam is not stepping over that boundary without me.”

Gloria’s smile slipped into something deadly. “If he does not, we will take it as an act of rebellion.”

“Careful, Gloria,” Micah said warningly. “Such threats should not be thrown around lightly.”

“It’s not a threat.” Gloria’s smile widened. “It’s a promise.”

Zeke’s temper roared, a storm about to be unleashed.

Remember.My brain was screaming at me.Remember.

“Well?” Gloria’s voice was ringing with triumph. “I’m waiting.”

I took a step forward and Zeke snarled, throwing an arm up to stop me. “No, Sam. No fucking way.”

“She’s threatening to go to war over me,” I hissed.

“She’s threatened far worse in the past,” Nox muttered.

Nate and Theo drew closer to me, one on either side. “She can take you over our dead bodies.”

Yeah, that was what I was afraid of.

‘They’re all going to die, and it’s your fault.’

Gloria sighed dramatically. “Enough of this posturing. Human, you have thirty seconds to step over here, or we will take it as a declaration of war against Heaven and God herself.”

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