Taken by my mate
Chapter twenty-two

Covyn

They obliged, checking every inch of the room before stepping out into the hall with me. The door no longer even closed and I ground my teeth that she should sleep in there.

“Sorry about that, I’m betting he took the time to pick the lock, but I didn’t have that kind of time.” Spencer apologized, backing away from me.

I shook my head. “I’m not upset with you, I’m upset this happened at all. I was away from her for less than two hours, and I moved the meeting to my office so I wouldn’t be too far to make her marks ache, but still someone tried this.”

“You already planned to get her a private guard, so until then pull the guards from somewhere else to watch the doors while she sleeps,” Ellion offered. “Or just bring her to the meeting, let her sleep in her chair in the corner.”

“I’ll watch her,” Spencer countered. “You know I never listen passed my name during these things, I’m one of the best fighters we have, and you know I’d never harm her.”

“Do you want to be a part of the selection for her personal guard?” I asked.

“I would,” he confirmed, “but you’ll have a hard time replaceing someone better than me.”

I looked at him curiously. “Would you want the position full time? It is a demotion from pack beta to personal guard, and you would no longer be second in line to rule if I die.

“On top of that you would no longer be protecting the Luna if that happened. You would lose your rank.”

“I don’t consider it a demotion to protect the Luna,” Spencer stated. “And I can still assess the fighters. You aren’t likely to replace anyone else that can. It would be my honour.”

Ellion seemed surprised by the exchange. “Did I just lose my partner?”

Spencer nodded. “Do you trust the security on the inside of the room enough for me to park myself outside the door?” He asked me, but he knew I didn’t.

I had stairs up to my balcony so I could take late night runs off the grounds and Evadiene had already proven the bathroom drain pipe to be sturdy.

“I’ll place the order for new doors, you can sit yourself in the room, but I swear…”

He put his hands up. “I won’t touch her, and I will protect her with my life.”

I nodded, I trusted him, of course I did, but when it came to Evadiene… and she was already so mad at me.

Me and Ellion left to go downstairs, join the others for lunch and finish our meeting. Spencer’s decision to remain as her guard was a surprise to everyone.

Ellion was the more serious of the two, but Spencer was more qualified to take over for me. He had a lot more experience, and he was stronger, but no one would ever vote him in and he wouldn’t fight Ellion for it. Whether it was right or not, people wanted their Alpha to have a mate and with Spencer’s mate already dead, they wouldn’t trust him to be a stable leader. I knew he would protect Evadiene not only as my friend and Beta, but as a man who knew the feeling of losing their other half.

It was an effort to stay focused. I think it was for everyone with the lingering thoughts about dealing with Garett Wright.

“I want the matter of Garett out of the way. I would like to inform Alpha Stone, and his Beta before dinner about his son,” I began, and with my tone and the snarl to my words the room became tense around me.

“What is your decision?” Ellion asked me.

Wise, I thought that he should speak first. He knew it was my call and was trying to placate me before making my decision.

“As much as I’d like to send him home in a body bag…“ I gruffed, “Evadiene was right about making enemies, but we can’t let this go unpunished. The rest of his pack will be gathered and kept in the prison with him. Garett will receive thirty lashes for touching a marked female, as will any of his men that knew what he was planning. His pack will be barred from attending any training with us for the next five years, and the men here for life, but he will still pay yearly.”

There were mumblings and I growled. “What is it?”

“Thirty lashes?” McLain asked. “We might be better off with the body bag..” His snide tone wasn’t lost on me but before I could snap at him…

“The Luna may have a point, giving him an unforgettable fine but allowing his father to dish out the physical punishment could form a connection with the pack that we don’t currently possess,” Blake added thoughtlessly.

Leon was agreeing, “and he will be going back missing a finger, everyone will know what he did…”

She knows nothing of our culture aside from the terrible things that happened to her mother. From her attitude in front of my Betas, to affecting my meeting…

“I will not trust the father of a man like that to dish out his punishment for attempting to rape my mate!” Everyone shrunk back in their seats with my volume.

“And all his missing finger is going to do is bring up the story of why he had the nerve, because he had stollen her scent after watching her dance in a club.” I groaned thinking about how she had probably even flirted with him, maybe given him a private dance like the one I had purchased.

Had she thought he was attractive? She might have even spoken sweetly to him the way she did Sal and his men in the front row, and the bastard couldn’t understand that it was an act, that her job didn’t reflect real feelings and wasn’t permission to touch her.

The thoughts had me snapping the pen in my hand and I flicked it into the bin and grabbed a tissue to wipe the ink before it stained. Wolven are territorial, and I knew Garret had made himself believe that because he had stollen her underwear that it gave him some entitlement. I hated the idea that other men could have thought the same, that Garrett could have followed her home after his training camp was over. As unfortunate as this happening was, I was glad she had been somewhere where she could be helped. At home alone, a wolven creeping into her apartment while she slept or got ready for bed would have easily overpowered her.

“Alpha?” Ellion questioned carefully and my head looked towards him. “We don’t need to decide right now. We could even just inform him of the facts and see what he offers before making demands.”

“Twenty lashes,” I bargained, “but I will not lower myself into accepting less after what he’s done.”

My men bowed their heads and stood to leave, taking their folders with them. I would dish out his punishment myself tonight before dinner, then maybe I would be calm enough to deal with seeing Evadiene. I should have given her a personal guard the day she told me about what happened to her mother. Now… my poor girl must think I can’t take care of her either.

——

Evadiene

I couldn’t sleep any longer but my room was dark. I heard rustling by the door and could see the faintest outline of a person’s back with the glow of a cell phone.

“Who’s there?” I asked, but Sequoia slept soundly beside me and I wasn’t worried.

“Just me.” Spencer’s voice was clear and gentle. “Meet your new personal guard.”

I laughed. “Isn’t that a down grade from Beta Warrior?”

He turned and looked me in the eyes as I sat up. “Absolutely not.”

My heart could have stopped with the cold certainty of those words. There was pain there, but I didn’t ask what it was. There would be time for him to trust me with that story.

“What time is it?” I reached for my phone on the table, it was useless for most things but the clock would work.

“4:50 pm. I would have called Daley to try and wake you in twenty minutes for dinner.” He turned back around. “Take your time getting ready. I’ll be here to escort you when you’re done.”

I slid off the bed and went to the bathroom, washing my face, brushing my teeth and my hair. I didn’t look rested, I looked more tired than I should for sleeping most of the day.

When I came out of the bathroom Spencer had opened the curtains and I noticed there was a balcony outside I hadn’t seen before. My garbage bags were in the corner and I dragged them into the large closet.

I had grabbed some clothes, and shoes from my house. Nothing fancy, mostly summer clothes from a bin under the bed that they hadn’t noticed, so I came out in a maxi dress and doc martins.

Looking at myself in the bedroom mirror, I knew Covyn was going to hate it. So I told Spencer I was ready to go.

Spencer didn’t say anything, his face a perfect indifferent mask as he opened the door and walked with me. If Covyn was going to ignore me in all the ways that mattered I would be all he expected.

But at the doors to enter I hesitated…

Fresh hair, dress,.. it was a big difference from the image of being carried wearing Covyn’s clothes. At the end of the table he was seething and Spencer pulled out my chair for me to sit.

“Where did you get that?” Covyn questioned.

“My apartment. It’s one of the few things they didn’t shred because it was away with my other summer clothes still,” I returned casually.

“After what happened..?”

I reached over and pinched beside a drop of blood on his shirt with a smirk. “You wanted to look strong? Well what says that better than me coming in here, like this, after what you did, after what happened.”

He looked at Spencer who I knew had no idea which punishment had been chosen and back to me. “You have no idea what I chose to do.”

I stood up, and moved to his lap. Wrapping my hands over his arms I guided them around me, running my finger tips over his knuckles, that weren’t raw, then flipped his hands over to the palms, replaceing one red and marked.

“I’m smart enough to figure it out love. You should be glad. I am a direct challenge for anyone to dare, and my confidence shows I trust you as alpha.” I whispered everything into his ear, letting my lips drag over it and making a clear show of pulling on it with my teeth.

He was between groaning and growling at me. “You guessed, and if I had gone a softer route..”

“I would have apologized, taken your shirt to wear over top for dinner, and more than made up for it in the bedroom later.” I gave a soft honest giggle into his neck

Now he was groaning and I felt him twitch slightly beneath me just at the thought. “But now?”

I slid off his leg, trailing my hand behind me before moving back to my chair. “You’ve also bit me twice now. It seems that you are the one with making up to do.”

I saw him look around at those watching, and knew he wasn’t going to see what he expected.