The guests started to murmur.
The fever returned.
Their mating wasn’t true.
Obviously, the alien woman was not his real mate.
He needs to be put away.
How sad. He’s going to be executed.
Chapter Ten
Tiffani
Executed?
The word sliced through my heart. How dare these strangers question what we shared? They knew nothing about our match, of what we were to each other.
But I couldn’t deny the fever had returned.
“Call the guards,” Engel said as he stood, legs shaky. “Tia, hurry and summon the guards. He must be put away. He’s a danger to himself and everyone in this room.” Engel’s gaze turned to me and he softened his voice. “Including you, dear. I’m so sorry.”
Dax was murmuring to Deek, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I moved to stand before my mate, hoping both my touch and the sight of me safe and whole would soothe him. I couldn’t fuck him in front of these guests, but at this point it wouldn’t matter. We’d fucked like rabbits for days and yet the fever had returned to claim him.
As I touched Deek’s hot skin, Engel’s somber gaze watched every move I made. He didn’t believe I was Deek’s one true mate. I could see it in his eyes. I wore the cuffs, which were supposed to be designed to help the males control their beasts. I had no idea how the circuitry worked on the warlords who wore them, but I’d tested the perimeter of my own cuffs two days ago and had collapsed in agony when I’d gone too far from his side. He’d argued with me, not wanting me to suffer, but I’d been adamant about testing them.
And wished I had listened to him. It was like being struck by a Taser.
So, I’d stayed at his side, content to do so, and not because it fucking hurt otherwise. I’d allowed him take my body whenever he wanted. I’d given him everything. Everything. And it wasn’t enough.
I knew that I was no good for him now. I could offer him nothing. No matter how badly I wanted more, I wasn’t the right woman for him. Perhaps Engel was right. Other than the cuffs, we had no proof of a mating bond between us, whatever that even meant. I’d been told at least a half-dozen times that an Atlan’s mate was the only one who could control her mate’s beast. The only person in the universe an Atlan in beast mode would listen to.
Well, I’d failed at that, too.
The guards came through the doors with their ion blasters raised.
“Put those fucking weapons away,” Dax shouted at them. “He’s a commander in fever, not a criminal.”
“He knocked me down. Everyone saw it. I’m sorry, Dax. I know he’s your friend, but he’s dangerous,” Engel countered.
Engel looked to me as he said the last as Deek was put in restraints above his forearms.
The guards started
to lead him toward the door.
“Mate,” Deek growled.
“She must go with him,” Dax insisted.
I didn’t want to leave Deek’s side, but I had not expected Dax to say I had to go to the jail with him. I could do nothing to help him control his beast. I had no idea why he’d responded to me the first time, although he hadn’t been as out of control as he was now.
“He will hurt her!” Tia countered, coming to stand beside me. “You can stay with me,” she said, looking at me with sad eyes.
“She must go,” Dax repeated. “They are cuffed.”
The cuffs. That was why I had to go. Not because I was Deek’s mate, but because the pain would be too great for us to be apart.