Justin had a moment of panic at the Guardian’s announcement that Eli needed to go to the Boudreaux Clan, but he had yet to inform his boss of all that had occurred.

That would be the same Guardian who currently stared at Justin with enough force he felt the ground tremble.

Cole and Rory stepped away from the Guardian, probably expecting an apocalyptic explosion.

Shit, I so fucked up. “My apologies, Guardian. I haven’t given you my report and should have asked for you to hear that first.”

“Ah, yes. Your explanation.”

Justin caught them all up on what had transpired, leaving out the part about being intimate with Eli, which he’d never embarrass her by mentioning in front of her. But if the Guardian pushed the point, Justin would ask to speak to him in private and share that development.

As he wound down, feeling tired by recounting every moment of the last days, he said, “Bottom line is that Clan Boudreaux is responsible for the attacks on her and I have asked Eli to be my mate. She has accepted, but we are not bonding until we have assurance of Nico’s being sent here. I would like to propose that if Clan Boudreaux makes the bear responsible pay for his actions and they tell Alexandre Romanov they’re okay with Eli staying with me, that we are all willing to forego any vengeance.”

In thinking through all he’d said, Justin felt like he’d laid out a perfect case.

Something about the Guardian’s lack of surprise over this information bothered Justin. Why wasn’t the Guardian up in arms over what Clan Boudreaux had done?

“The San Francisco wolf alpha tried to reach you, Justin, but it was evidently during the time you were on the mountain and without a phone. His message indicated two rogue wolves scented in the area of an attack on Elianna in San Francisco were traced to the Black River pack.”

Justin grimaced over not being the one to inform his boss first about that attack, which seemed forever ago now.

Not slowing down, the Guardian continued. “I spoke to the Romanov alpha who convinced me he was not behind the attack and even offered to send a team to hunt down her pursuers. I was able to dissuade him from that action and convince him we could handle this. Upon my contact with the Clan Boudreaux alpha, he sent spies out among his people and discovered the person at fault. It was the shifter he’d offered Elianna to as a mate.  The same man who had been put in charge of the Boudreaux warriors.”

“T-Bone? The alpha promised her to T-Bone?” Justin’s insides boiled at that thought. T-Bone was the worst kind of man whore.

Eli stood like an unhappy statue.

Nothing showed on her face for those who didn’t know her, but he could feel her anxiety mounting. 

Justin wanted to hug her and tell her all would be fine. That he would fight anyone and everyone for her.

“Yes, T-bone,” the Guardian acknowledged. “The alpha felt it was time for him to settle down and figured the shifter would be honored to have someone like Elianna.  Never did he expect the bear to be so dishonorable as to put her life in danger. He found out when one of his scouts reported back that T-Bone had secretly told some of the men to allow the Black River pack access through Louisiana to distribute their mind-altering drugs. It all unraveled at that point and T-Bone confessed.”

“What’d they do with him?” Justin demanded, unable to shield his anger. 

“The alpha dealt with him personally. Once the alpha felt T-bone had given up all the information possible about the sordid affair and the Black River pack contacts, he gave him a swift death.”

Justin felt no sympathy for any torture T-bone had suffered. That bear shifter would have faced worse from him. In fact, he felt cheated out of taking T-Bone apart, but at the moment he still had not heard the Guardian agree with his plan to keep Eli.

The Guardian continued, “The alpha wishes to make it up to Elianna a hundred times over—”

Feeling anxious, Justin cut in. “Good. He can do that by approving our mating.” 

“If you interrupt me again, you will no longer have a speaking role here,” the Guardian warned.

Swallowing hard, Justin said, “Sorry.  I understand, sir.”

Inclining his head at Justin first, the Guardian addressed Eli.  “Do I understand that you wish to mate with Justin?”

“Yes,” she said in a whisper.

“I would consider it a huge honor for you to be Justin’s mate,” the Guardian began.

Justin let out the breath that had bottlenecked in his chest. He couldn’t hold back his smile either.

“But I am the only person who can tell Alexandre to release Nico and I will not be able to do that until the alpha of Clan Boudreaux informs me you have fulfilled your agreement. He will have guards everywhere the minute you enter Louisiana, to keep you safe.  I give you my word he is capable of protecting you and Nico.  He says his other shifters were upset not to have a chance to court you, so it appears you will have your choice of Boudreaux mates.”

Blood rushed from Justin’s face.

This couldn’t be happening.

Eli straightened her back.  “I understand.”

“No you don’t,” Justin argued.  “Guardian, you can’t do this. She’s my mate. I won’t let anyone else touch her. I promised ...” The rest of that rant stayed inside Justin’s head when his mouth was sealed shut.

Eli touched Justin’s arm. “Is okay, yes.  I must show honor.” Her eyes filled with tears.  “Only love you.” She pecked a kiss on his cheek and stepped away.

She couldn’t accept another mate.

Justin was losing his mind.  He reached for her and ended up frozen in that position.

The Guardian asked Cole to drive Eli to Clan Boudreaux and told Rory to get started working on flushing the titanium out of Justin’s leg.

With a sick expression on his face, Cole told Justin, “I’ll protect her with my life and not leave until I know she’s safe.”

Herc railed, Our mate! Mishka!

Tears were stuck in Justin’s eyes that couldn’t fall, but his heart cried a river as Eli walked away. She glanced back with a sad wave one last time before she was out of sight.