“Oh my precious, what the hell have I done?” He gasped.
Chapter Ten
Devin could feel the panic the moment it hit Ace’s nervous system. Wrapping his arms around his mate’s neck, Devin stroked Ace’s beautiful thick hair letting his presence and his scent do what words could not. To see his big, strong, dominant mate brought down by the thought of his death was almost too much for Devin to handle. He had already lived many lifetimes and he struggled to find the words that would let Ace know that he would far rather be mated to him for a few short days, than live god knows how many more centuries alone.
“You bastard! I will fucking kill you myself,” A deep voice yelled from the flung open door of the cell. Devin leapt up and crouched on the bed, his fangs and claws bared. It crossed his mind that he was still naked, but that fleeting thought wasn’t important. Not when Kyle was filling the doorway, the anger on his face tangible in the room and Ace still had tears running down his face. No one should ever witness his mate’s weakest moments.
As Kyle came closer, Devin could feel Ace pulling himself together, but Devin was not going to let one rabid wolf shifter hurt his mate. He wasn’t a five hundred year old vampire for nothing.
“Stay away from my mate,” he hissed.
“Get out of the way Prince Devin,” Kyle said mockingly as he got closer still. “This doesn’t concern you, boy. Your mate threatened mine and the Alpha’s going to let him live. I say he deserves to fucking die and I’ll do it myself if the Alpha won’t.”
Devin could feel Ace try and move past him, but he couldn’t let that happen. The Alpha was going to let Ace live. Devin had heard those words as clear as a bell. Even if they were banished it wouldn’t matter, they were both going to live. But that all might change if Pearson caught Ace and Kyle fighting. Even if Kyle was clearly going around Pearson’s wishes.
Ace No!
Devin yelled through their mind link, praying that Ace would hear him.
Devin? What the fuck?
Yes. You can’t fight Kyle. Stand down, please, amatus. Don’t make this any worse.
Hell of a time to find out we have a mind link.
Devin heard Ace’s mutter in his head, but thank the Fates Ace trusted him enough and stayed back.
“You are going to have to go through me first,” Devin said, keeping his focus on Kyle. “Don’t let my size or lack of clothing fool you.”
To his surprise, Kyle stopped advancing, although he was still standing within arm’s reach.
“You are innocent in all this,” Kyle said. “I have no quarrel with you. But I have spent the best part of a month shielding my mate every single day. We haven’t been able to go home, having to stay at the club. I don’t dare let him go anywhere on his own, all because your mate threatened his life. And for what? Because he’s a cat shifter? We’re true mates and I would kill anyone who threatened his life.”
“Ace’s attitudes have changed,” Devin said softly. “He poses no danger to your mate anymore. He just didn’t understand how you could be true mates until he met me.”
“And I don’t understand why a bossy wolf like you thought you had the right to literally put me under 24/7 protection,” came a sultry voice from the doorway. “I’m a freaking assassin in case you had forgotten. More than capable of looking after myself. You could be looking at some serious couch time, mate of mine.”
Both Devin and Kyle turned at the sound of the new voice. So this was Teric, Kyle’s mate. Devin had caught glimpses of the man when he had been tracking Ace but he had never seen the man close up and personal. Definitely a cat shifter, undoubtedly gorgeous with his curly black hair and his bright green eyes. About the same size as Devin, the grace in the man was unmistakable as he moved across the room, Pearson and Dante behind him.
“What are you doing here Kyle?” Pearson said, his low voice calm, but with the hint of a threat underlying it. “You’re my enforcer. I shared with you my decision regarding Ace and his mate as a common courtesy and now you pull a stunt like this. Are you challenging me?”
“No Alpha,” Kyle said immediately, tilting his head to one side and exposing his neck. Devin didn’t know what made Kyle back down so quickly but he could sense Ace submitting as well. Must be some sort of power thing that Alphas had. He made a note to talk to Ace about it later. Teric didn’t seem to be affected so it had to be a wolf thing.
“Prince Devin,” Pearson continued, almost ignoring Kyle completely which wasn’t easy because the Alpha had to look over Kyle’s head to see Devin. “My apologies for the interruption. My mate and I would like to talk to Ace, and Teric has expressed an interest in getting to know you both as well. Perhaps after you have put some clothes on, you could join us for dinner, both of you of course,” he added when he saw Devin looking at Ace.
The longing in Ace’s eyes told Devin all he needed to know. If there was any chance that his mate could get back into his pack, then Devin would do whatever it took – having dinner with the Alpha and Alpha Mate, and a sexy looking cat shifter was hardly a hardship. He was quite hungry for real food now his blood urge had passed.
“Kyle,” Pearson continued. “You are on Dungeon Master duty for the remainder of your shift. Then you are to head to your own home, and Teric can join you there when we have finished dinner. You are not to come back to the club until you have sorted your attitude. Is that understood?”
Kyle looked like he desperately wanted to argue, but he eventually nodded his head taking one last heated look at Teric before he left the room. Teric was hiding a smirk, which blossomed into a huge smile when Kyle left the room.
“You have to be careful with these wolf shifters,” he said as an aside to Devin. “They think they freaking own you. Doesn’t hurt to put them in their place every now and again.”
Devin grinned too. He had a feeling Ace’s protective nature was just one of the joys he would have to learn to contend with as he learned to live with his wolf shifter mate.
/~/~/~/~/
Ace wanted to pinch himself as he walked behind Pearson, Dante and Teric, with Devin at his side. Food was an important part of wolf shifter culture and Pearson’s offer of a meal was a huge indication that not only was Ace no longer on death row so to speak, but that he also wouldn’t be banished. Wolves did not share food with non-pack except under exceptional circumstances. Ace knew he would still have to suffer a punishment, but he would accept that – regardless of what it was. In that moment, he would give anything to get back into his pack – except his vampire mate of course, and knowing how Pearson felt about other paranormals and the true mate bond, Ace couldn’t see that happening.
For Pearson and Dante to eat with him, in the pack dining room, was a rare honor. In all of his years at the Bound and Bonded club he had never been invited to eat with the Alpha before. Hopeful for the first time since he left the diner, Ace finally started to relax. He hadn’t had a decent meal in days. Now he had his mate, he hopefully had his pack and…okay, he had to get to know Teric too, but that might not be a bad thing. Lord knows he had spent enough time both before he claimed Devin and while he was in his cell, going over all of things that he had done wrong on that front.
It wasn’t until after the food had arrived that Pearson spoke up.
“Ace, Teric told me some time ago that the Shifter Council had labelled you a ‘wolfist’ and that you had been on their radar for some time. Where did you ever get the idea that wolf shifters were superior to other paranormals or humans?”
“My father,” Ace said immediately. That wasn’t a hard question to answer at all. Everything he had known, all of his belief structures had been beaten into place by a father who saw himself as some sort of elite being. When Ace looked up from his plate he could see the other men at the table looking at him, and he realized his two word answer wouldn’t cut it.
“My father was a lone wolf. My mother was not his true mate and he always seemed angry at her, and later at me, for some reason. My first memories were of him beating me for some minor childhood prank. At nights he would sit at the dining table going on and on about the power of a wolf shifter, how they were the dominant species on earth and all others should be submissive to them. He had many, many rigid beliefs and over the years I guess I just absorbed them all without even thinking about them. I grew up being preached to about the importance of being a wolf shifter and that association with others was wrong.”
“What were his opinions about other shifter species and paranormals?” Dante didn’t have any judgment in his voice either, simply asking a question and because Dante was the Alpha Mate, and Ace was trying to be on his best behavior, Ace answered honestly.
“Cat shifters were solitary animals who didn’t understand the importance of pack and couldn’t be trusted. Bear shifters were loners who would kill you as quick as look at you. Horse shifters and other smaller shifter types were meant to be prey for wolves under the natural order of things. No other shifter types understand the importance of being a wolf shifter and the need for pack.”
“That’s pretty ironic coming from a lone wolf,” Dante said. “So what about other paranormals and humans?”
Ace looked across at Devin, who gave him an encouraging smile. He really didn’t want to hurt his mate, but he couldn’t lie either.
It’s okay amatus,
Ace felt in his head.
I know your feelings have changed since you met me. Answer your Alpha Mate.
Taking a deep breath, Ace said as quickly as he could, “Humans are weak and useless for anything. They should be submissive to all wolves because they can’t protect themselves and used for sex or chores only. The Fae are sneaky and will make promises that they don’t keep so should be avoided at all costs. Demons are inherently evil and should never be allowed on earth and vampires…”
Ace closed his eyes. He didn’t want to hurt Devin, but it had to be said. “Vampires are the soulless who walk the earth praying on everyone in a mad lust for blood – their only goal in life to take the life force of others and they kill for sport rather than need.”
“Well, that must have made your meeting Devin a bit of a shock,” Teric said, ever the master of the understatement.
Looking down at his plate, Ace ignored Teric as he tried to pull in the scent of his mate, trying work out what the man must be feeling. Ace didn’t really know how
he
was feeling, so trying to get handle of Devin’s emotions was doubly difficult. He knew he felt ashamed and had battled enough with his guilt when he sent Devin away the first time they talked. He also felt incredibly stupid because he had caused his mate considerable harm by leaving him for five days on his own. A semi-decent wolf shifter just wouldn’t do that.
You needed time to sort things out amatus. I don’t hold that against you and never will.
Devin’s soothing voice rolled through Ace’s head, and it did make him feel better.
Don’t ever doubt that you are perfect for me in every way,
he sent back, hoping that Devin got the message. From the sweet smile and the waft of arousal that suddenly hit Ace’s nose, it would seem that his message had been received.
“Surely someone around you must have helped shape you into the wolf you became? I mean you have loyalty and understand the pack hierarchy and your place in it. That had to come from somewhere.” Pearson’s voice sounded curiously gentle and not for the first time, Ace wondered about Pearson’s story. No one knew a lot about their Alpha’s history, but the man had some very definite ideas of his own.
“That would have been my mother,” Ace said softly as he thought about his lovely mother. She had been beautiful and kind, and loyal to a fault because she never said anything negative about his father, no matter how badly he treated her.
“She didn’t get a lot of time to spend with me, because I was with my father most of the time. But she would talk about the pack she came from and the values of being in a pack. We lived in a remote area. I never had contact with any other paranormals until after I left. Only a few humans and my father hated them with a passion.”
“What made you leave your father?” Devin asked, and his hand was a soothing cool touch on Ace’s arm.
Ace ducked his head, a little embarrassed. That was not the sort of the story he wanted to tell his mate, but his Alpha was apparently waiting for an answer if the enquiring gleam in his eye was any indication.
“I shifted for the first time when I was fourteen and quickly realized I preferred men to the women my father kept pointing out to me. He caught me in a compromising position with a human male when I was fifteen and beat the living crap out of me. Apparently wolves don’t have same sex mates either. We had a duty to provide pups for the pack. I knew that I couldn’t hide how I felt or who I was attracted to, so I left before he killed me like he threatened to. I was on my own from then until eight years ago when I found out about this pack.”
“So this is the first pack you have been in?” Ace wasn’t sure how to handle his Alpha’s surprise. His lack of pack status had been clear on his application form. He had learned most of his Dom skills from working with humans and hadn’t even known packs like the Washington pack existed until a human hook up mentioned the club as a place where he couldn’t get into. Ace had looked it up purely and simply because he figured if a perfect human sub couldn’t get into the club then something paranormal must be in the air.
“Yes Alpha.” Ace didn’t know what the strange look on Pearson’s face was, but the man was looking at Teric who shrugged his shoulders.
“None of this was on Ace’s file,” the cat shifter said. Teric looked at Ace and explained. “When I was sent here to deal with Faro, I was given the files of club members who might pose a problem, or who had been brought to the Council’s attention. You had come up because you have had some run-ins with humans and other shifters before. The Council was only concerned because there had been a few times when you almost let your wolf nature out in human situations. But there was no information on who your parents were, why you acted the way you did or anything.”