Page 2 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
I had let the hurt go. In every other way, Bastien Bowden was a man to admire. He looked after the staff in the Palace. He knew everyone by name and never lost his temper. He worked harder than anyone else on his staff and I truly believed in his politics.
I couldn’t even hate him for being a man-whore. Because he didn’t sleep around. Not that it would have been easy. As President he couldn’t just go down to a bar and find someone for a one-night stand. And he couldn’t afford the scandal that would come with calling in a professional escort. But he’d met hundreds of beautiful women in the years I’d worked for him. With careful planning and an ironclad NDA he could have dated one of those women. Plenty of them had made their interest clear. In my experience though, not one of them had seen his true smile. Despite the number of offers I’d seen thrown his way, he would always just give a self-deprecating laugh and excuse himself, gracefully. But I knew that Shifters had high sex drives. Matteo, Charlie and Stefan, the Shifters who formed the rest of the security team often bragged about their sexual conquests of human women. They were grown men who acted like teenagers.Always horny. Some of them would probably cry if they were told they couldn’t have sex for five days, let alone five years.
Sure, I didn’t work every day. I did get days off and vacation time, so maybe I’d missed something. But the guys gossiped like old women. If the President had invited someone for any private time, I’d have heard about it.
So I didn’t hate him. I had never hated him. My life would have been simpler if I had hated him. If he had been a jerk who treated women badly, I could have been comfortable in despising him, and my heart wouldn’t have been affected. That first day when he’d taken my hand, he’d made my heart race and my palms sweat. I wanted him then. And I still wanted him five years on. But I would never get what I wanted.
My breaths grew shallow. My heart sped up. My head swam.
Fuck. I couldn’t have an anxiety attack now. Not today. Today was the first day of the Summit. Grievances between humans, Shifters and other supes would be aired and resolved over the next week. Violence was always possible. And sometime this week, it was probable. Bastien was head of the Moderates and there was always pushback from someone. Whether it was Shifter Nation or Humans First, both radical groups who sought to undo the peace that had lasted since Bastien’s mother had forced through legislation giving all groups equal rights, there was always someone. And in the lead up to this Summit, things had been more tense than usual. More violent attacks on supes by gangs of humans. Retaliation by Shifters. And that wasn’t the worst of it. Only recently, my sister and her new mate, Bastien’s brother Luc, had stumbled on a terrorist plot. While we had no firm ideas of their plans, they’d stolen a journal which contained a coded spell to smother magic. My sister and Luc had almostdied after Calypso had been kidnapped to force Luc to hand over the journal. They had survived, but the journal had been taken.
In the Palace we were all on high alert. Bastien had refused to cancel the Summit. My pre-cog hadn’t fired since Caly had been hurt, but I no longer knew if I could trust myself. If the people who had stolen the journal knew how to cast the spell that had been in it, they might be planning harm right now and I wouldn’t know. I needed to be at my best. I couldn’t afford to break now. The Palace was bristling with armed and dangerous Shifters but if shit hit the fan, I was the last line of defence for the President. I had to believe my magic would give me just enough warning of imminent danger that I could put up shields or use offensive magic. Whatever was required. I could do it. I’d trained for this since my powers had shown. Relentlessly. Tirelessly. I couldn’t afford to fail. I couldn’t let Bastien get hurt on my watch.
I couldn’t fall apart now. Not yet. But after the Summit, I was done. I couldn’t live this half-life any longer.
I gave myself one minute of pretend. Like I did every morning. Just sixty seconds to imagine what my life would be like if I was an ordinary human and Bastien wasn’t the President. If I’d said yes when he asked me out and we’d been able to explore the attraction between us. If we’d been together for five years, maybe we’d be married, with a child on the way. I could see the picture in my mind so clearly. He would kiss me goodbye when he went to work, making sure to bend down and speak to the baby growing in my belly. He’d hold my hand in the supermarket. At night, in our bed, he’d spoon his big body around mine.
My watch chimed, breaking into my daydream. Six-thirty. I forced my emotions back into the box where I stuffedthem every day. Time for another day for the Ice Queen to rule. But after the Summit, I was done.
Chapter 2
Bastien
My Beast sensed Electra long before one of my guards in the corridor opened the door to usher her into the Small Dining Room. It was where my security team and I ate breakfast every day when I was in residence, unless Elie was on duty. If Elie was on duty, the rest of my team, all Shifters, would not join us. Since the first time I’d selected her some food and placed it in front of her, signalling my interest in her as a mate, they’d avoided breakfast to give us time alone. Not that it had done me any good.
In my head, Beast howled.It was a sound full of anguish. Madness. Once, he’d been able to talk to me. When we’d first met her, he’d spoken to me. It had been the first time he’d voluntarily talked to me since I’d locked him inside my mind as a traumatised child.
I could still see the scene clearly in my memories. Even before she entered the interview room, Beast had woken inside his prison, demanding to be released.
A scent washed over me. My nostrils flared as I inhaled deeply, wanting to draw the scent deep into my lungs. Goosebumps rose on my skin and I half stood from my chair, Beast’s instincts telling me to hunt.
“We’re not done yet, Boss,” Ben said, mistaking the reason why I’d moved. I grunted an acknowledgement, ready to move. But I heard light footsteps in the corridor and the scent grew stronger. She was coming to me.
The door opened, bringing with it another wash of the heavenly perfume… and her.
Pint-sized. Raven hair and pale skin. Eyes like emeralds.
And young. So fucking young.
Had I seen her file? I couldn’t remember. I certainly should have read her file, but I’d trusted Luc to short list the applicants and I’d been working eighty-hour weeks. If I had read her file I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed her.
I needed to be closer. I stalked around the desk towards her. She straightened her shoulders. Like she was preparing for battle. A little pixie facing up against Goliath. I wanted to pin her against the wall, dip my head down to hers, hoist her up so that her legs crossed behind mine.
Our mate, Beast said, and I nearly fell over my own feet in shock that he had communicated with me.Bite her, he demanded.She is ours.
The pounding of my heart was deafening in my ears as I drank in the sight of the woman in front of me. My mate. I could hardly believe it. I’d given up on my dream that I would one day have the sort of love my parents shared. I met so many women in my job and none of them had ever caused my Beast to react. No interest. Zip. Nada. I thought he’d lapsed into apathy. And who could blame him, locked inside the prison of my mind.
I righted myself, stuttering something with a suddenly thick tongue. I held out my hand to shake hers. Her hand was small in mine. At my full height of six four I towered over her. Her eyes were deep pools of green, with flecks of gold. I wanted to stare into them forever. Her rosebud mouth was pink and luscious, begging for my kisses. Under the professional skirt, shirt and blazer combo she’d chosen for her interview, it was clear that her body was toned and fit. Claws descended from my fingertips, ready to rend and destroy the offending layers.
Behind me Ben cleared his throat. “Mr President, this is Electra Ferrera, the next candidate.”
This tiny pixie? This delicious little morsel? A bodyguard? For me? My neutral politician’s face deserted me and my eyebrows rose sharply.
The warmth in her eyes faded, replaced by shards of ice. She withdrew her hand and stepped backwards.
Fuck, I had offended her.
“I am well and truly qualified for the job, Mr President. If you will allow me to expand upon my résumé.”
