In another moment, he shifted off his back, pulling out, and Jagger could breathe easier, but he found he missed the feeling of his mate being deep inside him. The next moment, he heard the word mate in his head, and wondered weakly where it came from. He’d never used such a word before, though he’d heard Niki use it. Niki pulled him up closer to him then, and he went willingly, wanting the closeness, needing it. He closed his eyes, just for a moment, and felt sleep stealing over him. He was so tired, so overwhelmed with all that had happened to him. Just for now, he would sleep a while, and try to reason with Niki when he awoke. He buried his face in the pillow and allowed the exhaustion to take him under.

When he awoke, he was alone again, and a feeling of abandonment filled him before he shook it off and sat up in bed, looking around him. He saw his clothing now folded and placed on a chair next to the bed, but his boots were nowhere in sight. Jagger’s lips drew together in a firm line as he rose and pulled on his trousers and tunic. If the big bastard thought removing his boots would keep him from kicking in the door, he had another think coming.

He went over and tried the lock, not expecting to find it open, and indeed it seemed firmly bolted from the outside. He began to hurl himself against the door, again with no expectations that he would be able to knock it down, but hoping for some attention from Nikolai, and within a few minutes, he heard someone at the door.

Jagger backed away as the door swung open, and Nikolai stepped in, shaking his head. “Really, Princeling? This is becoming monotonous.”

“Take me back.”

“No.”

Jagger bit down hard on the inside of his mouth to stay quiet as they faced off. He wanted to rail against him, but he knew Niki would only throw him back on the bed and humiliate him again. He had to try to reason with him.

“Why did you take me? Why didn’t your stepbrothers simply take you and leave us in peace? Was it for revenge?”

“You’re my mate, Princeling. You know that—you agreed to mate with me.”

“I agreed to let you fuck me, yes. What has that to do with anything?”

Nikolai looked at him in outrage. “What are you talking about? Are you trying to say you didn’t know what mating with a Lycan meant? I asked you if you knew and you replied you did—rather arrogantly, I might add.”

Jagger flushed. “You changed into a…a…monster. I saw you. I had no idea about that.”

“Jagger, I’m Lycan. What you saw was my wolf form. I changed when Lucas attacked you—to stop him. We can change our form whenever someone threatens us or our mates.”

“But I thought the stories about Lycans changing into wolf creatures was just a myth. I never knew it was true!”

“It’s true,” he said quietly. “We shift.” Nikolai took a deep breath. “Jagger…”

Jagger made a move to jump to his feet and was pulled back down by Nikolai. He puffed out a breath and folded his arms across his chest. “Just stop talking! I can’t stay here! Wherever this is! You have to take me back. My father needs me, Niki. I can’t just leave him. He must be beside himself right now!”

“Your father is a grown man, Princeling. He’ll be fine.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Jagger said, shaking his head.

“Then suppose you explain it to me. And I mean everything—from the theft of our shipment to the whole hostage thing. And speaking of hostages, exactly who is being held by the Nilaniums?”

Jagger dropped his gaze and sighed. “They have my mother.”

“Your mother?”

Jagger nodded. “My mother is a healer. She’s skilled at nursing and using natural elements to cure diseases. She has a reputation for her cures. About six months ago, the Nilaniums came to the castle while my father was away on a hunting trip. They told my mother that one of their men had contracted some kind of disease and asked for her help. She could never turn down anyone in need, so she agreed to let them bring him in. If my father or I had been there, we never would have allowed her to consort with any of them. Of course, when they all came in, they overpowered her guards and took her out of the castle with them. They have kept her prisoner ever since. The bastards ask for more and more tribute to be paid to them every week to ensure her safety.”

Nikolai shook his head disbelievingly. “And you never notified the Alliance? Never asked for help?”

“We don’t belong to the Alliance of Planets—never have. They wouldn’t have helped us. No, we were on our own, and that’s probably why the Rogers targeted us to start with.”

“So who made the decision to steal from us to get the tribute?”

“My father.” Jagger’s head came up at Nikolai’s sound of disapproval, and he clenched his fists. “You don’t understand! This has been hard on him—he’s not himself. My mother is…everything to him. When he told me he’d promised a shipment of bauxite to the Rogers and had no money to pay for it, I agreed to help him. I know it wasn’t right, but what could I do? We would have paid you back eventually.”

Nikolai didn’t say anything, but the look on his face said he didn’t believe a word. Once again, Jagger tried to jump to his feet in anger and once again, Nikolai jerked him back onto the bed. Jagger lost his temper again and took another swing at Nikolai. Nikolai caught his fist in his hand and took him down to his back, pulling his wrists over his head. “Let me up! Let me up, damn you or I’ll…”

“Stop trying to fight me. You need to learn pack discipline, and there’s no time like the present. I’m an alpha, and your mate. That means you submit to me, and make no mistake, you will submit. Lower your gaze and expose your throat. Do it now!”

Jagger trembled in his arms, his gaze shooting daggers at Nikolai for a long, tense moment. Finally, he dropped his eyes and turned his head. Nikolai’s voice was quiet but firm. “I’m going to let you sit up again, but you will remain calm and stop jumping to your feet to run away. Do you understand?”

Jagger cast him a sullen glance, and muttered something under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“I said, I understand. But I hate you for this!” The minute he said the words, he felt a hard twinge in his stomach. A quick flash of anger flitted across Nikolai’s face, but it was quickly gone. He gave him a steady regard.

Nikolai’s lips twitched and he bent to whisper in his ear. “You can hate me all you want to, but you will do as I say. Sit up, love.”

“Don’t call me that,” Jagger mumbled.

He took his mate by the shoulders and made him look at him. “I’ll call you anything I want to, and you will stop being so disrespectful.” He shook him very gently, seemingly aware of his much greater strength. “Taking our shipment was wrong. Taking me hostage and trying to extort money from my family was wrong. Allowing me to believe you knew who I was and what being my mate meant was wrong! And if you don’t know right from wrong, it will be my duty as your mate to teach it to you. I will spank this ass every day if I have to. Now straighten up and stop acting like a spoiled child.”

Jagger’s mouth fell open and he could feel a deep flush travel up to his face. No one spoke to him that way! He kept his gaze on Nikolai’s, never flinching, and though he was not showing proper respect by challenging him with his direct gaze, Nikolai nodded his approval.

“Good. I’m glad to see you listen to reason. Jagger, we have a little problem. I asked you if you understood what it meant to be my mate and you said you did. I can see now that you actually had no idea. You’re my mate now, and that means what happened last evening changed you irrevocably. I’m not sure what to do about it. I think we should take a little time to think this through.”

“There’s nothing to think through. Take me back immediately! I don’t want to be your mate! I never wanted such a thing! I don’t want to stay with a bunch of…of…monsters!”

Nikolai’s tightened his lips, and his eyes turned dark and dangerous looking. “Be very careful, Jagger. I might just take you up on your demand.”

“Take me up on it!” Jagger said defiantly. “I want to go back home. Now!”

“Tell me you don’t love me then. Say you don’t love me as much as I love you and I’ll send you home.”

Jagger narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t love you. I never loved you and I never will! Now take me home!”

Nikolai stared down at him with cold fury for another moment before turning on his heel and leaving the room without another word. Furious, Jagger hurled himself against the door again and again until his shoulder was aching, and he was exhausted. His stomach was cramping with intense pain. Every time Nikolai was angry with him, he felt this same cramping. What had he done to him? Finally, he slumped down on the bed and tried to catch his breath, wondering how he could convince Niki to take him back to his planet. His father would be distraught by now. From down the corridor outside his room, he thought he heard footsteps.

The door opened with a bang against the wall of the room and two of the huge Lycans he’d seen earlier stepped inside to stare at him. Jagger stood up nervously and backed toward the far wall. “Where’s Niki? What do you want?”

One of the two, the leader who’d practically attacked Jagger before, stepped closer to him, a frown on his handsome face. “Come with us now, Prince Jagger.”

“No!” Jagger held his hands out in front of him as if to ward them off. “Where’s my…where’s Niki? I want to see Niki!”

The two big Lycans glanced at each other and then stepped forward calmly, but decisively, each one taking one of Jagger’s arms to hold him between them. “No one will hurt you, Prince Jagger, but you’re coming with us.”

“No!” Jagger cried, trying to pull back, but he soon discovered it was useless to struggle. The powerful grip they had on his arms was unbreakable, and they pulled him to the door and down the corridor outside almost effortlessly. Jagger glanced around wildly for Nikolai, but he was nowhere to be seen, and he was becoming more and more uneasy. Where could they be taking him? Were they going to hurt him? Had he gone too far with what he said to Niki? Why wasn’t Niki here with him? He knew he’d made him angry, but surely he wasn’t so furious that he would just abandon him to these huge creatures. Pulling him into a huge bay area, the Lycans finally released him, and Jagger saw a small, sleek transport. He turned a surprised glance to the taller of the Lycans, the one who seemed to be the leader. “What is this? Tell me where you’re taking me!”