Page 18 of My Shifty Bodyguard

Minutes later, we’re at pack headquarters. I see Jesse helping Lane out of her car. My cousin Nero is holding the hand of the tall, pretty Viking-like woman who is his mate. Cole is already there, standing next to his fated mate Alexis and his mother, and the pack council is there. It looks serious.

He runs up in front of them, and I have no choice but to follow.

He shifts back to human form, so I do too.

“What’s so urgent? Why are we here? Whose fur is on fire?” Jesse arches an eyebrow at him. I suck in my breath.

“There is no fire. Alpha, Alpha Genetrix, Secundis in Imperio.” Dax nods at Jesse and his mother and then Cole, using their formal titles. My Murder Mountain Mate is all about the formality. I find it sexy.

But right now, I’m very worried.

“I have a very important announcement to make.” Dax’s voice booms loudly through the crowd.

Jesse and Cole exchange glances.

“Violet is my fated mate!” Dax pronounces dramatically, his voice ringing through the air. I suck in a worried gasp and stare at the crowd, waiting for the outburst of fury, of condemnation. We’ll be in so much trouble. They’ll all hate me. They’ll tell me to leave immediately.

“We know!” Jesse, Cole, his mother, Nero, and approximately fifteen other shifters yell at the same time.

“You…know?” Dax’s eyes widen.

“For the love of fate,” Jesse groans. “How could we not? The way your voice changes when you talk about her and you get all snarly and your body stiffens…”

“The scent of pheromones from your mating rut drifting from your house through the woods…” Cole adds, and everyone nods vigorously.

Oh my fates.

I blush furiously, my face heating up, and slide behind him in the hopes that I can just disappear.

Where’s a giant sinkhole when you need one?

“The other day, when we brought up the fact that your father was trying to arrange a political mating for you, we thought you’d say something,” Jesse says.

“But it was way funnier that you didn’t!” Cole adds cheerfully, which earns him a low, rumbling growl from Dax.

“So…you are not angry that this may cause problems with Violet’s father?” Dax asks.

Jesse frowns. “I don’t love it, but now that I’ve met my own fated mate…” he seizes Lane’s hand, and she smiles at him adoringly, “I understand that once you feel that pull, once you meet the one that the universe has fated for you, there is no denying it. We’ll have to find a way to make this work. I mean, there’s no reason he should be upset about this. Clan Rowan is old and highly respected throughout the shifter kingdom.”

I step out from behind Dax. “My father and my mother were fated mates,” I say. “He doesn’t like to talk about it at all, but I’m willing to bring it up when I’m talking to him, because I think it’ll help.”

“If he questions the veracity of our bond, we could call in a truth mage,” Dax says.

Jesse agrees. “Not a bad idea. The pack will pay for it.”

“The Rowan family will pay for it,” Dax says. “It’s a matter of family honor.”

“In the meantime, why don’t we have a “welcome to the pack” luncheon right now? Jesse can have our chef whip up something right now,” Lane calls out. “And we need to plan the mating ceremony!” She winks at Dax. “Will you follow the mating ceremony tradition followed by your Alpha?”

“I will not,” Dax says gravely. He glances at me. “I will explain some other time. Jesse chose an…interesting outfit for his mating ceremony.’

I smile at him, but my heart is stuttering in my chest. I’m not so sure that my father will be all right with this. I don’t want to cause trouble for the Moonstone Pack, or, especially, Dax.

“Well, we might as well get dressed,” I shrug. The headquarters will have extra clothing for us.

Nero, who’s wearing his security uniform, holds up his hand and appears to be listening to something on his microphone.

He glances up at Dax. “There’s an unknown wolf near your home, Dax.”