Captive Mate - Eliot Grayson Page 0,22

I went on quickly, hoping to pacify him and get him on my side, at least a little bit. Gods, if he ended up siding with Parker I’d be so fucked. “He forced me because he wanted a shaman under his control.”

“How did he force you?” Nate asked. I couldn’t turn my head, but I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. His face was twisted with something like…concern? Sympathy? Whatever it was, it had the corners of his lips turned down and his eyes all soft. What the ever-loving fuck? “I mean, did he have you in chains like these? Or — how?”

“He borrowed a powerful shaman from an allied pack,” I said, my throat tight. “The fucker took me unawares and bound me with magic. And he watched while Parker mated me.”

He’d been jerking off while he watched, too, but that detail was too humiliating to share. Telling them the barest facts of it was bad enough. I didn’t have much shame left, but that had been…a low point.

Matthew’s fingers dug into my jaw, and I yelped in pain as his claws sprouted out, piercing me for a second before he whipped his hand away. I lurched back, rubbing at my chin. Matthew was growling low in his throat, and his eyes had gone completely golden-orange. His canines were extended just past his upper lip.

“We are not handing him over,” Matthew said, and his voice vibrated with an alpha pack leader’s command. “We’re going to meet him at the border and tell him he has no claim. If he insists, we’re going to demand an independent shaman to verify the mating bond, and stall for time until Arik can fill us in on his pack’s strengths, weaknesses, and alliances. Anything to add?”

In spite of the stinging pain in my jaw, and the discomfort of how he was holding me hard enough to make my ribs creak, and the general awfulness of my situation, my cock went half-hard in seconds. I hated alphas. They always walked all over everyone, taking what they wanted and pissing on everything, sometimes literally.

But I’d never wanted to kiss someone so much in my life, alpha or not. Matthew was defending me. Defending. Me. And maybe it was self-serving, but…he was defending me. It had to be a trick. It had to be fake, somehow. He’d just said he’d throw me out naked and let Parker take me if he could.

But he wasn’t, and I felt like I’d been rappelling down a mountain and someone had cut my ropes. He was just assuming I’d tell them what they needed to know, acting like we were in this together. I didn’t have a blueprint for this.

The other councilor, Paul, cleared his throat and spoke for the first time, startling me out of my slack-jawed confusion. “We need a witness. It can’t be his word against ours. And any aggression must be on his side, or we’re fucked if a pack mediator gets involved.”

Matthew nodded, and Ian said, “Nate, I hate to say this, but maybe you should call that asshole vamp. He’s the closest thing to a local supernatural authority we’ve got.”

Nate got up from the table, already busy with his phone. “I’ll ask him if Dor can bring him directly to the turn-off from the main road and meet us there. And extra plus side, Dor can fuck them up if they try anything.”

He stepped away from the table and out of the room, his phone at his ear. Ian gazed after him like an abandoned puppy. Gods, I hated happy couples. Especially when they kept me chained in basements, but also just on principle.

“Any further comments?” Matthew asked, in a tone that clearly said, You won’t have any further comments if you know what’s good for you.

It was Jennifer’s turn to clear her throat. What was with these two? Did they do everything in tandem? “You’re still not in charge, Matthew. It might be the best way to proceed for now, but the council is going to take point —”

“No, the fuck you are,” Matthew said, cutting her off without hesitation. “I appreciate what you’ve done while I’ve been out of my mind. And I know I’ll need to rebuild some trust with the council. But if I’m not in front of this, we’re going to look weaker than we already do. And you know it.”

Matthew stared them down unblinkingly, and I twisted my head around to watch their reactions.