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“Don’t call me that,” Jagger mumbled.
He took his mate by the shoulders and made him look at him. “I’ll call you anything I want to, and you will stop being so disrespectful. ” He shook him very gently, seemingly aware of his much greater strength. “Taking our shipment was wrong. Taking me hostage and trying to extort money from my family was wrong. Allowing me to believe you knew who I was and what being my mate meant was wrong! And if you don’t know right from wrong, it will be my duty as your mate to teach it to you. I will spank this ass every day if I have to. Now straighten up and stop acting like a spoiled child. ”
Jagger’s mouth fell open and he could feel a deep flush travel up to his face. No one spoke to him that way! He kept his gaze on Nikolai’s, never flinching, and though he was not showing proper respect by challenging him with his direct gaze, Nikolai nodded his approval.
“Good. I’m glad to see you listen to reason. Jagger, we have a little problem. I asked you if you understood what it meant to be my mate and you said you did. I can see now that you actually had no idea. You’re my mate now, and that means what happened last evening changed you irrevocably. I’m not sure what to do about it. I think we should take a little time to think this through. ”
“There’s nothing to think through. Take me back immediately! I don’t want to be your mate! I never wanted such a thing! I don’t want to stay with a bunch of…of…monsters!”
Nikolai’s tightened his lips, and his eyes turned dark and dangerous
looking. “Be very careful, Jagger. I might just take you up on your demand. ”
“Take me up on it!” Jagger said defiantly. “I want to go back home. Now!”
“Tell me you don’t love me then. Say you don’t love me as much as I love you and I’ll send you home. ”
Jagger narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t love you. I never loved you and I never will! Now take me home!”
Nikolai stared down at him with cold fury for another moment before turning on his heel and leaving the room without another word. Furious, Jagger hurled himself against the door again and again until his shoulder was aching, and he was exhausted. His stomach was cramping with intense pain. Every time Nikolai was angry with him, he felt this same cramping. What had he done to him? Finally, he slumped down on the bed and tried to catch his breath, wondering how he could convince Niki to take him back to his planet. His father would be distraught by now. From down the corridor outside his room, he thought he heard footsteps.
The door opened with a bang against the wall of the room and two of the huge Lycans he’d seen earlier stepped inside to stare at him. Jagger stood up nervously and backed toward the far wall. “Where’s Niki? What do you want?”
One of the two, the leader who’d practically attacked Jagger before, stepped closer to him, a frown on his handsome face. “Come with us now, Prince Jagger. ”
“No!” Jagger held his hands out in front of him as if to ward them off. “Where’s my…where’s Niki? I want to see Niki!”
The two big Lycans glanced at each other and then stepped forward calmly, but decisively, each one taking one of Jagger’s arms to hold him between them. “No one will hurt you, Prince Jagger, but you’re coming with us. ”
“No!” Jagger cried, trying to pull back, but he soon discovered it was useless to struggle. The powerful grip they had on his arms was unbreakable, and they pulled him to the door and down the corridor outside almost effortlessly. Jagger glanced around wildly for Nikolai, but he was nowhere to be seen, and he was becoming more and more uneasy. Where could they be taking him? Were they going to hurt him? Had he gone too far with what he said to Niki? Why wasn’t Niki here with him? He knew he’d made him angry, but surely he wasn’t so furious that he would just abandon him to these huge creatures. Pulling him into a huge bay area, the Lycans finally released him, and Jagger saw a small, sleek transport. He turned a surprised glance to the taller of the Lycans, the one who seemed to be the leader. “What is this? Tell me where you’re taking me!”
“We’re taking you back to your planet, Prince Jagger. Isn’t that what you’ve been demanding?”
Jagger felt stunned. Was it possible? “I thought…Niki said I was his mate, and I couldn’t go home. ”
“We’re not kidnappers, Prince. You agreed to be Nikolai’s mate, and now you say you didn’t know what that meant. You said you wished to return to your family and reject Nikolai. He’s giving you what you want. ”
Stunned into speechlessness, he allowed them to push him into a passenger seat and strap him in. His stomach ached abominably. Leaving was what he wanted, wasn’t it? This was what he’d asked Niki to do, and it seemed Niki had given him what he wanted. Why wasn’t he here to speak to him though? To explain or to at least say goodbye? Why had he left it to these others? Did he hate him now? If he could have just one more minute to speak to Niki, explain to him…but perhaps Niki didn’t want to see him again.
Surprised a little at the sharp pain this thought caused him, he slumped in the seat, preparing for the takeoff, his eyes still searching behind him even as the door of the transport closed behind him. He still half expected it to open back up and see Niki look in at him with his cocky, confident smile. Jagger straightened in the seat, closed his eyes and laid his head against the seatback as the Lycans opened the space port and piloted the small craft quickly down to the planet’s surface.
In what seemed like only a few minutes, the craft landed and the Lycans grimly took him from his seat and escorted him to the hatch. As Jagger climbed out, he saw his father rushing toward him and he clasped him in his arms, glancing over his shoulder at the Lycans. The big one stood cold and grim by the hatch door and addressed his father, completely ignoring Jagger.
“The Alliance has been notified of your situation, King Larius. I have no idea what actions, if any, they’ll take, but I’m sure sanctions will be put in place. You should prepare yourself and your people. No more trading will take place between your people and the planets of the Alliance. ” The Lycan paused to let the full import of his words sink in. No more trade would be utterly disastrous for their planet. Jagger’s father hung his head in despair. Clenching his fists, Jagger stepped in front of him protectively.
“Surely you understand we were desperate. The Rogers have my mother. ”
“I understand that, Prince Jagger. But taking our relative and our shipment was a criminal act. You should have asked us for our help instead of trying to just take what you needed. You intended to keep Nikolai as a hostage, so in my opinion, you’re really little better than the Rogers. We wouldn’t normally forgive such grievous acts of aggression against us, but Nikolai has asked us not to retaliate, so we’ll respect his wishes. ” His cold glare encompassed the king, Jagger and the soldiers standing nervously around them. “Consider yourselves fortunate. ”
Turning on his heel, he climbed back into the transport. In seconds, the craft lifted up and sped off, climbing rapidly until Jagger lost it in the thick clouds over Jayron. As it pulled away, a tearing pain ripped through his body, taking him to his knees, and he felt a crushing despair. This was what he wanted—wasn’t it? Then why did it feel as if he were dying?
* * * * As Jagger read the message in his hand, the blood rushed from his face, and he had to sit down suddenly. It had been three days since Jagger had arrived back on his planet—three long days of stress and worry and unrelenting pain in his stomach, pain so bad he could barely function. Three long days of listening to the King’s council rage at both him and his father for their mishandling of the entire Lycan affair. And three interminable days of worry that the people would rise up and cast both the King and his son from the throne. In all that time, no matter how much else was wrong, Jagger could think only of Niki. The sight of his own room was unappealing to him now, because his big Lycan wasn’t there, teasing and making love to him. The memory of the things Jagger said to Niki on the ship haunted Jagger now. How could he have told him he didn’t love him? It had been his pride and his anger talking, and he bitterly regretted his words. He went over and over those things in his head, wishing he hadn’t been so harsh, so unforgiving. He wished he hadn’t lied when he said he didn’t love Niki. Because it had been a lie, an awful lie, but Niki had believed him and sent him home.
Then later that morning, out of the blue, a message had arrived from the Lycans. The message had come in on their diplomatic channels, not from Nikolai, but from his leader, Lucas. It was simple and straightforward.
King Larius, we are prepared to offer you a deal. We will rescue your queen and deliver her to you unharmed, while at the same time, ending the threat from the Nilaniums from this time forward. In addition, we will arrange for trade shipments to begin again with your world, and offer you a no-interest loan of a quarter million diamond standards to aid your people in setting up trade agreements. In return for these more than generous considerations, Prince Jagger will surrender himself to our cousin Nikolai until such time as Nikolai should tire of him. After that time, he will be allowed to go free. We are awaiting your decision.
Surrender himself! “I’ll tell them no, son. Don’t worry, please. I’ll tell them it’s out of the question. ” His father put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
