His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series by Sandra Antoni (the reading list TXT) 📗

“Chelsea, I know that we haven’t known each other long, but this is just how it is with mates. I know that we still have a lot to talk about, but I don’t want to be without you. I need you with me. Do you think you could be happy here with me?” he asked, and I felt the familiar tears filling my eyes.

“I already feel like this is home, Zeke. I fell in love with this place the moment I laid eyes on it. Same with you,” I told him, and an amazing smile spread across his face. Then he pulled me against his chest.

After taking another shower, we finally made our way to the bedroom. As I crawled into the bed, I thought about what he had told me. No other woman had shared this bed with him. He had saved this room for me. It really had felt like coming home.

Chapter 15

Ezekiel

When we crawled into bed that night, Chelsea peppered me with questions. I took that as a good sign that she was finally accepting what she was. She asked about the mate bond, and I told her everything. She seemed relieved to finally understand what had drawn the two of us to each other in the beginning.

She also asked me about the pack. There was a certain hierarchy in the pack, and it was my responsibility to lead them. I told her what it meant to be the alpha of a pack. Pack discipline fell to me, but the pack was my family. I shared in their achievements, their disappointments, their successes, their new births, and their deaths.

Keeping the peace was also my responsibility, along with working with other pack alphas on situations that affected shifters as a whole. It was also my job to deal with the council, although, that was my least favorite thing.

The council thrived on their power, and their word was law in the shifter world. They had never quite accepted the fact that some shifters mated with humans. They felt like humans would interrupt the sanctity of the shifter blood lines. I had heard stories of the punishments they had dealt in the past to anyone who broke what they considered our most sacred law.

But times had changed since then. Although most shifters mated with shifters, there were some who had taken humans as mates. That usually happened when a shifter could not find their shifter mate. The council saw this as a breach of our most sacred law that prevented humans from finding out what we were.

Their reasoning was that humans were fickle. It was their opinion that a human mate would turn on a shifter and expose our world. What they did not understand was that love did crazy things to people. It could even protect our way of life.

Chelsea had many more questions, but I finally had to silence her. We had plenty of time for questions, but right now, it was late, and she needed sleep. I wrapped my arms around her, and she fell asleep almost immediately. I was glad because my brain was still in “go mode”.

We still needed to figure out who was after Chelsea. Someone wanted her dead, and she would not be safe until we figured out who that was. Unfortunately, the only one who might have answers was her father.

Governor Adams had made a name for himself in the shifter community. We’d had no idea that he was one of us. Just his name sent a shudder through me. He had been fighting every law that our lobbyists had tried to get passed. But suddenly, it all clicked.

He had loved Marissa. His human wife had been dead for twenty-eight years, and he probably thought that his daughter was dead as well. He was punishing the council. It all made sense now. He had worked his way through the ranks of the human world until he finally held a position of power where he could make the council pay.

The wheels in my head continued to spin as I held Chelsea in my arms. I had started something for her. I had started the search for her father, and now we knew who he was. I needed to follow through on that for her. Tomorrow, I needed to speak with Brady. We had some phone calls to make.

With that decided, I closed my eyes and relaxed against the pillows. I had found my mate and she was safe in my arms. There was nothing that I would not do to protect her. I closed my eyes and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, Chelsea was still asleep when I woke up. I stood from the bed without waking her and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. Then I left the bedroom. Brady was already up and sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee. It was still early, and I figured the women were all still asleep.

“We need to contact the governor,” he said before I could say anything. I headed to the coffee pot and poured a cup. Then I turned and leaned against the counter.

“I was thinking the same thing. He might know who is after Chelsea, and I owe her this much for starting all of this. Do you think he knows that she’s alive?” I asked him. That had been the biggest question on my mind.

“How could he? If he had searched for her, he would have never thought to look under Marissa’s maiden name. They were married, after all,” he replied.

“Do you have contacts who can reach him?” I asked, and Brady nodded.

“Then get it done,” I replied. Another nod and I knew that it would be his first priority.

The next matter on my list was a Christmas tree. I would love to take Chelsea to pick out one together, but I didn’t want her leaving the house. She was safe as long as she stayed inside.