Page 44 of The Bookseller and the Alpha
I gasped. When he put it that way the answer was obvious. “Electra.”
“The Summit.” Marguerite and Luc spoke in unison, the words ringing with Shifter magic.
Oh fuck.
Luc turned to me. “We need to go.”
I nodded. We might be in a hurry, but I was going to show my best manners. “Thank you for the meal. It was delicious,” I said to Marguerite as I pushed back my chair. I was still oddly hollow inside, but the meal had helped and I was no longer so weak that a puff of wind would send me to my knees.
A smile touched her lips. “Don’t thank me. Luc did a lot of the work. I put him to work before he wore a hole in my floor waiting for you and Simon to be done.”
Oh, wow. He had cooked the meal and served it to me. Standing, I turned to Luc, who had risen to his feet beside me. “Thank you,” I told him, sincerely, hoping he could see that I understood the significance of the meal.
“My pleasure,” he rumbled. Then he picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. My eyes widened and I had to clench my thighs against sudden arousal. Oh gods. I needed a fan. Anda new pair of panties. This man was going to make me melt into a puddle. Luc’s smile was wicked and showed a hint of sharp teeth.
Chapter 50
Luc
“What are you?” My mate waited until we were inmy car on our way back to the city before she asked her question. When I’d kissed her knuckles her pupils had dilated until the black almost completely swallowed the green. My cock had thickened in my briefs, pulsing painfully. It hadn’t gone down since, which was fucking uncomfortable as I drove.
I sighed. I knew this question was coming. I also knew I was going to have to tell her at some point, but now wasn’t the right time. She was a human and we were the rarest of Shifters. I didn’t want her to panic. If I told her, she would want to see my other form. Then I’d need to tell her that I’d never shifted. That until I’d met her, I’d had no intentions to ever shift. Although now I was less sure of that.
“Later,” I said. “I promise, I’ll tell you all my secrets. Just not yet.”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll hold you to that.” She squared her shoulders. I could see her shields in place again. She didn’t like that I was keeping secrets from her. Fuck.Every time I thought I was making progress I met another roadblock. Had a douchebag ex-boyfriend lied to her? Cheated on her? I would find him and rip his head off.
Instinctively, Beast sent a pulse of reassurance down the bond. She rubbed her chest, sensing it. Her eyes narrowed. “What was that? Was that you?”
I had to tell her something and I had promised myself I wouldn’t lie to her. Not ever. Carefully I said, “It was my Beast. He doesn’t like you being in pain.”
“Oh, okay.” She thought for a while, chewing on her lower lip. I had to fight the urge to lean over and kiss the tender skin better. “How can he do that? We aren’t… mated… yet.”
“Not fully, no. But my Beast has started to bond to you.”
I sensed that she wanted to ask me more, but her phone rang. “It’s Elie,” she said, answering it.
“It’s getting worse,” I heard Electra say. “You’ll be in danger. Soon.” Beast snarled in my chest. No-one hurts my mate.
“I’m being careful. Luc is barely letting me out of his sight.”
“That sounds interesting.” Elie’s tone was teasing. “Do tell.”
“None of your beeswax,” said my mate. “But I did want to tell you something important. Actually, I’ve got news for you and Luc has news for you and the President, if he’s there.”
“I’m here,” came Bastien’s deep voice.
Caly switched the phone to speaker and put it in the centre console. “You go first,” she said. “I don’t want to waste the President’s time.”
“You tell him. You understand the spell.”
Nerves made her voice a little higher than usual, but the summary she gave Bas was concise and precise.
“It’s only part of the spell,” she said as she finished.
“Likely the other part was stolen from a warehouse,” I added.
“Are there more? Where did they come from?”
