AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her husband appeared unrepentant as he straightened his shirt. “You’re my wife. As I said, I’ll be patient as long as you need me to be, but you won’t tell me I can’t hold you or touch you—”
“Sebastian.”
“—because that is more than I can bear.”
She clicked her teeth together as warmth stole over her.
No, don’t fall for it. He used those sweet words on you from the beginning, and you fell for it.
That’s how she got into this mess. She licked her lips and put a hand up to her hair. Although everything inside her wanted to run, she stiffened her back. She had made the decision to help Jack, and that’s what she was going to do. Never mind that she still loved Sebastian. Jack assured her he wouldn’t kill his brother.
Sebastian led the way to the car and nodded to one of the men. The man jumped into action to open the door for them, and Sebastian helped her into the vehicle. He slid in after her, and one of the other men took the opposite side. The driver slipped behind the wheel.
Sophia squirmed, trying not to look scared as she listened to the third man loading her suitcases into the back. She wondered when they retrieved her things. Her car had broken down on the road the night she ran away, and she had left them in the trunk. Sebastian probably sent someone to find them and transfer them to his car.
The third man climbed into the front passenger seat, and they were off. Sebastian gestured to him. “Baby, this is Alex, my right hand man. The driver is Michael, and beside you is Tom.”
She hugged herself. “I met them
at the wedding. You told me they work for you.”
He nodded. “They do, but more importantly they are my Guard. The Guard are the closest shifters to me. They are always at my side.”
She didn’t bother telling him that Jack had already informed her. “There were a few people at our wedding, and you led me to believe they were just employees. You said you don’t have any family except Jack. Is that true, or did you lie about that as well?”
Alex twisted around to glare at her. “You’ve disrespected Sebastian enough for one day.”
His eyes glittered with anger, and she shrank against the seat. Sebastian wrapped an arm about her shoulders and glared at Alex. “You have disrespected me by speaking to her that way. Don’t do it again, or you’ll pay for it.”
Alex growled. “I apologize, Sebastian, but she needs to know her place. No one talks to you like—”
“Quiet!”
Sophia’s eyes grew. Alex’s head went down so fast he bumped his forehead on the seat back. It almost looked like Sebastian’s order forced Alex to bow his head, but that couldn’t be right.
“Sophia is my mate,” Sebastian announced, “and as such she’s to be respected in the same way you respect me. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” the three men echoed together.
She gulped and peeked over at her husband. This was no time to get all cowardly. She made the decision to come back, and she was going to hang in there. Besides, no man was going to tell her she needed to know her place, wolf or no wolf. He didn’t know who he was talking to.
Sebastian took her from her thoughts when he leaned over and pressed his lips close to her ear. “Easy, my love. We can smell your fear, and it…does something to us.”
She jerked away and blinked at him. “Does something?”
He shrugged but didn’t explain, and she recalled the night he came after her. When she kept moving away from him, he followed. It seemed then that he got a kick out of chasing after her. Maybe it gave him a thrill that she was afraid? No, that wasn’t right. She studied his face and then dared to peek at the others. Except for Sebastian, the men all seemed tenser than when they arrived to pick her up. Her fear agitated them.
She took a deep breath and blew it out. Okay, it was time to calm down and to keep her eyes and ears open. While she figured out how to separate Sebastian from the other shifters, she had to protect her heart. Easy-peasy.
They arrived at Sebastian’s house—mansion—and the property swarmed with people. She gazed at all of them as they drove up the driveway. Men and women, mostly gorgeous and handsome specimens of humanity—shifterhood—they stood in small groups talking. When the car drew alongside each, they faced it and bowed their heads in greeting. Sophia was blown away.
To her surprise, not all were good-looking. Some of the men were big but so not cute, and a few women were plain. She’d jumped to the conclusion previously that they were all perfect, but that wasn’t true. Boy, were they big though.
“I don’t remember this many people working in the house,” she said.
“These are the elite.”
“Elite?”
