Mate Claimed (Shifters Unbound #4)(48)
Author: Jennifer Ashley

Iona broke in. “How could Eric possibly have had anything to do with that?”

Eric understood why Graham was lashing out at him. Eric was the closest enemy, and Graham’s instinct to protect his people, especially cubs, was strong. He wasn’t bothered by Graham’s rage—what bothered him was the missing Shifters.

“You’d do anything to weaken me,” Graham was snarling. “Did you make some kind of deal with Kellerman?”

Eric made his voice hard to cut through Graham’s fury. “I wouldn’t kick your ass by abducting cubs, no matter how much you irritate me. Who is missing? Give me specifics, names and ages.”

“Why? What do you know?”

Eric thought about the line of buildings in the desert, surrounded by barbed wire—empty buildings—coupled with Jace’s report about the cages. “I’m not sure yet.”

“I’ll kill you, Warden.”

“This has nothing to do with me, idiot. We need to get those Shifters back.”

“I might just kill you for the hell of it.”

Graham could. He was enraged enough to take out Eric with one blow. Then Iona, Cassidy, and Jace would be on him, and Diego might just shoot him. Graham’s seconds would attack them, and so it would begin.

“Don’t kill me until we find your wolves,” Eric said. “Give me a list of who we’re looking for, and I’ll get my trackers. The cubs are more important than our battle.”

Graham stopped, and Eric watched him rearrange his ideas. “You do know something.”

“There’s a place we found, out in the desert. My trackers and I could never get close enough to see what was going on. I’ll take you there.”

“Tell me where it is, and my trackers will rip it open.”

Eric fixed Graham with a steely gaze. “No. We track, we find, we get them out. My trackers and yours. The humans guarding it have high-powered rifles. If we go in fighting, they’ll best us with bullets, and then every Shifter in Shiftertown could be rounded up and killed.”

Eric saw the acknowledgment in Graham’s eyes. Graham didn’t like it—the man was a fighter, and he hated humans. But they needed stealth right now, not claws.

The human Kellerman might have nothing to do with this, but Eric would find out whether he did. Kellerman was always too cool when dealing with Shifters, as though he had some kind of hold over them that kept his fear at bay. Eric needed to discover what that hold was.

“Round up your trackers and meet me back here,” Eric said. “And we’ll get them.”

He deliberately turned his back, catching Iona’s eye as he went into the house. She followed him.

Iona had never seen Eric like this. She’d seen the seductive lover, the vicious fighter, the man suffering, and the protector. She’d never watched him be leader.

Anything laid-back about him was gone. Eric didn’t stand any straighter than usual, but his air of command was unmistakable. Even Graham had stopped arguing and quietly departed to do what Eric told him to.

Iona found that she too was ready to follow his commands, to her surprise. “What do you want me to do?” she asked. “Come with you to the compound?”

“No.” The word was sharp. “I don’t want to risk any humans finding out you’re Shifter.”

“But I might be able to help with the women and kids. If they’ve been captured, they’ll be scared. They won’t know you.”

“I’ll take some Lupine females with me for that. These Shifters aren’t used to Felines, and they might not trust you. What you could do…” Eric’s eyes were intensely green as he looked down at her. “Can you or your mother get Kellerman to your office? Ask him to come to talk about the house plans or something? I’d like to corner him somewhere away from his pristine office suite and his toadies.”

“Kellerman the Shifter liaison?” Iona asked in surprise. “What does he have to do with the buildings in the desert?”

“Maybe nothing. He might just be an ass**le. Set the appointment for this afternoon. I want a look at the compound first.”

“Eric, if humans have taken the Shifters there, and you steal them back…”

Eric put his hands on her shoulders. “They’ll retaliate? Not this time, love. Humans put a lot of rules on us, but one we make them obey is: Don’t touch the cubs.”

“Good,” Iona said.

Eric leaned to her. “Stay away from Graham’s Shifters while I’m gone. They’ll smell you’re half Shifter, and if they see you’re un-Collared, I don’t know what they’ll do. And you’re still fair game. Best thing you can do is go back to your office, like it’s a normal Monday.”

A normal Monday. Right.

Eric started to release her, then pulled her close again and gave her a swift, hard kiss. “Be careful,” he said. “Come home to me.”

Iona wanted to say the same to him. Instead, she sent him a cocky look. “And if I decide—to heck with Shiftertown?”

Eric’s grip tightened to one she knew she could never break. “I’ll come and fetch you back.”

Iona believed him, and the thought of that chase suddenly excited her.

She saw her excitement reflected in his eyes. “Run as much as you want, Iona. The pleasure will be mine when I catch you.”

Iona didn’t trust herself to answer. Eric gave her one final kiss, and then she had to watch him walk away.

Strange, when Eric had first informed her he wanted her to stay in Shiftertown, Iona had rebelled. Now that Eric thought she’d be temporarily safer in the human world, Iona was reluctant to leave.

Cassidy came to stand next to her. “I know,” she said. “It’s tough to watch them walk into danger. I feel that way every morning that Diego leaves for work. Our need to protect the mate is strong.”

“I’m not Eric’s mate,” Iona said automatically.

“Has Eric told you about the mate bond? Some say—and I believe this—that it’s a magical binding between true mates. Your heart knows it even if you haven’t done the mating ceremonies.” Cassidy looked down at her. “I’m seeing the mate bond now in Eric’s eyes, and I’m seeing it in yours. Especially when you look at him.”

Iona didn’t answer, unsure how to respond. Cassidy studied her with an alpha stare, so like Eric’s.

Iona didn’t quite understand what Cassidy was talking about, but she couldn’t deny the pull she felt to Eric as she watched him walk off now with Jace, or the violent urge to protect him she’d had at the fight. When Eric had showered last night, Iona hadn’t been able to stop herself going to him, knowing he was suffering, and wanting to ease his pain.