Shackled

Chapter Eight

Everyone was tense, everyone – except for her. Elijah stared at the petite thing in front of him. Her face that had previously been in a cold unmoving mask, was now smirking at him, she knew she had taken them all by surprise.

Even he, as hard to unnerve as he was, was unsettled in the presence of so much silver. It was like all the sudden the air just got a little bit harder to breathe. He could see that even her own pack members felt ill-at-ease in such proximity to her. Yet, despite the fact that she was covered in what was literal poison to their kind, she looked almost relaxed. She hung back on the ankles; her hands shoved deep into her pockets now that her Beta had removed her jacket from her.

A low growl was building in his throat, his wolf agitated in the face of the threat, but also at the sight of his beautiful mate wrapped up in chains. Sure, they were delicate and almost decorative, but they were chains none the less. No wolf should ever be so confined, they were creatures of the wild – meant to run free sans limitations.

His fists clenched at his restraint, he was sure his eyes were flickering as his wolf surged to the surface, eager to eye up his mate. Her reaction to his wolf's appearance was abnormal. Instead of reciprocating, she seemed to sink backwards towards her Beta and away from him. Both himself and his wolf hated her retreat, hated the fact that another male gave her comfort when he wanted to be the one, she would turn to.

Her Beta placed a hand on her arm in reassurance, and he watched as she whispered something to him under her breath. She closed her eyes, her body tensing unnaturally. The fact that she was closing her eyes was odd, she was leaving herself vulnerable, exposedin the face of himself and his pack.

Her Beta noticed his eyes on her and took a step in front of her protectively. Elijah released the growl that had been building for so long in his chest. He didn't appreciate the proximity of the foreign male to his new mate. That and the fact that his view was blocked from her when she looked almost in pain. Her whole body was tense, and it looked like she was holding her breath.

He didn't understand what would make her react the way she had. It was normal for his wolf to come out to greet her, what he didn't understand however was her unwillingness to show him her own. He felt his wolf whine at the rejection he was feeling, sending him feelings of comfort he tried to ignore his own disheartened state.

"Move Beta," he growled out, "or I will have to make you."

The man in front of him stiffened, his body tensing in preparation for a fight.

"You don't want to fight me Beta, we both know who would win." He glanced at the weaker man's form, "And besides, you come to me seeking asylum, seeking my help on my own good conscious, I could hardly be expected to accept someone who would willingly stir up trouble, let alone challenge an Alpha."

The Beta's face darkened at his words, but no matter the taunting tone, they both knew they were true.

"Stand down Jonathan." Her voice sent shivers down his spine, "I think it's time AlphaDubois and I have a private chat." She stepped out from behind Jonathan and once again his little mate surprised him. One of her eyes was her usual chilling blue, but the other was a vibrant gold, her wolf was settled at the surface. He had never seen someone like her before; to have your wolf ascend and in perfect control was unheard of – yet here was this petite woman, standing before him, a complete enigma.

"Follow me," he took some steps towards the stairs, "my men will watch over your pack members and we'll have the kitchen bring out some food, I'm sure you're all hungry after your journey." He could tell they were all worse for wear and it surprised him. It looked like they had been travelling weeks, not the mere days it should have taken them. The only possible explanation would be that they had travelled in human form, which made absolutely no sense.