“Jackie, stop.”
Jackie refused to stop. He dropped his stuff so he could claw at the arms holding him prisoner. Ice spread through his stomach as he struggled. A nauseating, sinking despair wrapped around him when Boone’s arms simply tightened.
“Please,” he begged.
“Jackie,” Boone said in a voice much softer than Jackie expected, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Jackie gave a choked, desperate laugh. “You’re a shifter.”
“Yes, I am,” Boone agreed, “and I won’t hurt you.”
Jackie was furious at his vulnerability to Boone. Just being held against the bigger man made him want to curl up and purr.
“I don’t believe you,” he spat out contemptuously.
Something sad flashed through Boone’s brown eyes. “I know, but it’s the truth. No matter how you feel, you are my mate. I’m incapable of hurting you.”
“Then let me go.”
Jackie’s eyes widened when he was suddenly freed. He took a quick step back out of arm’s reach. He doubted he could get away if Boone decided to go after him, but at least he wasn’t pressed up against the guy anymore.
He could breathe.
Barely.
“Why do you want to talk to me?” Jackie asked.
“Because you know about us.”
Jackie’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “So?”
“That kind of information is dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“I know that!” He was not an idiot.
“We need to know how much you know about us and who you’ve told.”
Jackie shook his head. “I haven’t told anyone. I was warned not to.”
Boone’s eyes darkened. “By who?”
“The council.”
Boone’s eyebrows rose swiftly. “You’ve spoken to the Feline Council?”
“Well, Elder Hamilton, but he said he was from the Feline Council.” Jackie’s face clouded with uneasiness. “Was he lying?”
“No, no. Elder Hamilton is one of the council members. In fact, my brother Simon is training under him.”
“Oh yeah, I remember him.” The brown-haired man had shadowed Elder Hamilton’s every step.
“You’ve met my brother?”
Jackie nodded.
“When?”
Jackie opened his mouth to answer, then remembered where he was and who he was talking to. Or at least, what Boone was. He snapped his mouth shut and shook his head. Meeting Simon and Elder Hamilton was during a time he’d rather not talk about, let alone think about.
