“Deek,” I said, tugging on his hand. “What’s wrong?”
The couple standing with us noticed the change in him and retreated quickly, their eyes wary as they whispered to each other.
“Fever,” he growled.
“Let’s get you out of here,” I murmured, tugging on his hand to steer him out of the room. Fortunately, he allowed me to pull him along.
“Commander.”
Engel Steen stepped in front of us, blocking our way. His gaze shifted between me and Deek, then settled on my mate with a frown.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
Shaking my head and offering him a fake smile, I tried to move around him, pulling a very big Atlan commander in the throes of mating fever behind me. “No, no problem. We’re just very eager to… um, to be alone.”
Engel put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “You have yet to meet the other councilor that just arrived. He will be very disappointed to have—”
Deek’s beast growled at the man’s touch and I instantly remembered that mated Atlans had a no-touching rule. Pulling back from Engel’s hand, I broke the councilor’s contact with my shoulder, but it was too late. Deek’s growl turned into an all-out roar, which practically shook the walls of Dax and Sarah’s house.
Everyone quieted and turned toward us. Before my eyes, Deek changed. His teeth became more pronounced, more like fangs. His chest and shoulders bulged, his arms nearly doubling in size as the muscle fibers expanded into the beast’s fighting mode. He grew nearly a foot taller, his spine elongating as he rose to tower above everyone in the room.
“Deek. Calm down.” I couldn’t help but stare at him, for while he’d been in beast mode at the jail cell, I’d never watched the actual transformation before. It was like watching an old episode of The Incredible Hulk on TV, but at least his clothes didn’t rip and fall into tatters. Seemed the Atlans made their clothes with beast mode in mind.
“He’s still got the fever,” Engel said, wide-eyed, as he put his hands out before him and backed away.
Deek was panting and only my hand on his chest kept him from jumping Engel.
“No touch,” Deek said, his voice that dark, deep rumble I remembered from before we mated.
“Step away, Engel. You shouldn’t have touched me,” I told him.
Engel took another step back. “I regret that now, but that is not what we should be focusing on.”
Dax and Sarah came to stand next to most of the partygoers, who were gathering. The male warriors shoved their mates behind them, just in case. In moments we were completely surrounded by over a dozen warriors whose sharp gazes and tense stance let me know they were ready to take Deek down at any moment.
Oh, shit. I turned to Deek, touched his cheek. “Deek, baby, calm down.”
He wouldn’t even look at me as Engel stepped forward again. It looked as if he might be coming closer, which made me wince and Deek roar.
Engel froze and turned to Dax. “Commander Deek’s mating fever has returned. You must summon the guards at once.”
I wanted to punch Engel for stating the obvious about Deek’s condition, but I wanted to kick him in the balls for daring suggest they drag my mate back to prison.
I whirled on Dax. “Don’t you dare. Just help me get him out of here. I’m his mate. He’ll be fine.”
“No touch,” Deek repeated, his eyes focused on Engel with laser sharpness, his hands tightly clenched into fists. “Mate.”
“Mate?” Engel said, voice incredulous, and a bit too loud for my liking. “She can’t be your mate. Look at you.”
Engel lifted his arm and waved it through the air. Everyone turned to look at Deek, whose eyes were nearly bulging from his head as he processed Engel’s claim. His breathing was rushed and ragged, as if he had just been in battle.
“Don’t listen to him, Deek. I’m your mate. I don’t care what he says.”
Apparently, when being challenged by another warlord, the woman being argued over became invisible, because Deek picked me up and set me down behind him, out of the way.
“Mate!” Deek shouted.
“She can’t be your mate, Commander. Or you wouldn’t be losing control.” His tone wasn’t loud or argumentative, it was patronizing, as if he were explaining two plus two to a five-year-old.
“Don’t mansplain your bullshit to me, Engel.” I shoved around Deek’s giant torso to scowl at Engel. Stupid ass. If he’d just let me get Deek out of here in the first place, none of this would be happening. God help me, I upgraded kicking him in the nuts to shoving a boot up his ass.
“I am simply stating the obvious, dear. You aren’t his mate. You can’t be.”