Page 4 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
Electra was Beast’s mate as much she was mine, but I couldn’t let him mess this up. He was too aggressive. Too driven by instinct. I had to do this as a man or I would scare her off.
“You can release your shield,” I said, once I regained control.
Her eyes, glowing silver with power, turned to me. She nodded briskly and with a wave of her fingers, the shield popped out of existence. “You’re bleeding,” she said, frowning.
“It’s nothing. Look, already healing.” All Shifters had accelerated healing but Betas were only a little better than humans. As an Alpha, mine was much better. I was an apex predator.
And my little Pixie was in my sights.
She asked no questions, and I forced my usual politician’s mask onto my features. For the first time in years, it felt wrong. Fake. It normally came easily to me. With my impulsive, aggressive half of my soul locked away, I was naturally emotionally cold. Strategic. Ruthless. Ambitious. It was how I’d climbed to the top of the political ladder. Youngest-ever President of the Council.
“Let me show you the rooms you will be allocated.” In my head, I pulled up the map of the Palace as I led her towards the residential areas of the Palace. The rest of my security were housed in their own wing. No way my mate would be sleeping anywhere near those horny Betas. Rage burned at the thought. My mate deserved something better. And I’d kill any male who touched her.
Her gasp of surprise was music to my ears when I threw open the door to the suite I’d just then decided on for her. The suite was occasionally used by my parents when they needed to overnight in the city. I smirked. My parents would be delighted to be thrown out of their suite if they knew the reason.
Although, again, I had no intention of telling them yet. Courting my mate was private. Or, I thought, as the smirkdropped from my face, as private as anything could be in the life of a man in my position. As soon as I prepared my mate’s breakfast on her first morning in the Palace, my whole team would know of my intentions.
And they’d keep their fucking mouths shut. My lips lifted in a silent snarl.
By both training and nature they would lay down their lives for me and my mate. It was a core part of our culture. As much as I would prefer that they didn’t know yet, I knew I needed to accept that my preference for privacy had to give way to good sense. My team could only protect Elie as my mate, if they knew that was what she was to me.
Plus, I had no intention of stifling my instincts to care for her. A large part of an Alpha’s job was to ensure that his mate was fed and cared for. In all ways. It was my right and my privilege to feed my mate. I wouldn’t be able to do it in public until she accepted my bond, but I’d be damned if I wouldn’t do it in the relative privacy of the residential quarters of the Palace.
My mate deserved to be courted. So court her I would. And any members of my team who needed a reminder of how an Alpha’s mate should be treated would be given a swift and painful reminder.
“It’s too much.”
My mate’s quiet voice broke into my thoughts.
No, it wasn’t too much. It wasn’t nearly enough. It was only step one in my campaign to court my mate. I brushed aside her protest.
The next day she moved into the Palace. I had been so arrogant. I’d thought she would lead me on a pretty dance fora month or so before gracefully accepting my Declaration of Intent. But five years later, I’d progressed no further than when she rejected the invitation to dinner I’d extended after the tour of the Palace. Five years. More than eighteen hundred days. Eighteen hundred days of having her by my side five days a week without being able to touch her. Eighteen hundred nights she didn’t share my bed. Eighteen hundred days and nights of celibacy. Before her, I’d had the sex life of a monk but I hadn’t cared. But from the moment I’d first scented her, my cock was as hard as steel whenever I was in her presence. I’d jerked off so many times that it was a wonder I hadn’t rubbed my cock raw.
And my Beast had bonded to her. Being around her, without a definitive rejection, just the unrequited and demanding mating pull, without a bond to complete us, had driven him mad.
I tightened my shields around his prison. He could never get out.
***
Electra’s scent, light and floral, hit my nostrils as she opened the door to the Small Dining Room. My cock swelled in response, my claws lengthening, scraping the underside of the wooden table. I stood to greet her, grateful that my suit jacket hid my erection. Today her nail polish was an eye-searing purple. I wondered if her lingerie matched. An image of her stunning body covered only in wisps of silk made me almost swallow my tongue.Stop. I couldn’t let myself be distracted by these thoughts, not until I was alone in my bed. When I could take my cock in my hand and imagine that I was plunging into her warm heat.
“Good morning. What can I get you?” I hid behind platitudes as I moved to the buffet, away from her, so thatI didn’t pull her against me and kiss her until she begged me to fuck her. As far as I knew, Electra didn’t understand why I served her food. The first time I’d done it, instinctively offering food to my mate before myself, she’d been flustered and surprised. I’d bluffed. I’d spouted some nonsense about it being more efficient for one person to be standing, not two. She hadn’t looked convinced, but she’d let me do it.
When I’d hurt her… badly… I’d seen how she wanted to throw the plate in my face when I apologised the next morning. I should have explained everything that morning. I should have dropped to my fucking knees and told her she’d had my heart from the moment I’d scented her sweet perfume on the air; the moment I’d seen her face. But I didn’t. And she had accepted my apology, but she’d stopped smiling at me. I’d called her the Ice Queen, and that was what she became.
I grabbed a plate, ready for her to tell me what she wanted to eat. It was a game we played every time. I asked her what she wanted. She asked for one poached egg and a piece of toast. It wasn’t enough for her. Every day I added a rasher of bacon onto the plate. And she would eat it. But one was her limit. I’d learned that if I added two, she wouldn’t eat both.
“I’m not hungry.” Electra’s voice was quiet.
Wait. What? “Are you sick? Do you need to go back to bed?” I turned towards her, glancing up and down her body to check for any signs of illness. Dark circles under her eyes. Pale cheeks. How had I missed it?Uuungh, said Beast in my head.Not helpful, I replied. If Electra and I had bonded, if he hadn’t gone mad, I’d know what was wrong with her.
I should have Declared my Intent the day I’d met her. As my mate she could still have been my bodyguard. I was such a fucking idiot.
Abandoning the plate on the side table, I drew on Beast for speed. Frantically I calculated when she’d had her last period. Sometimes the cramps made her nauseated. In a blink I was by her side. No, her period wasn’t due for another week. “Are you dizzy?” What if she fainted and fell? She could get hurt.
Before she could reply, I scooped her into my arms. I walked to the couch and sat, carefully arranging her on my lap, cradling her against my chest.
And time stood still. My mate was in my arms. She was soft. Warm. Perfect. Every moment in my life that I hadn’t held her in my arms was a mistake. Beast surged up under my skin, pushing sensations at me. He gave me everything all at once.
