Page 4

Marinah

The "argument room," as I’ve come to call it, was filled with King’s personal guards. Each man had earned his place at the table. They were deadly, loyal, and proven leaders in their own right. Among them was Cabel, who had finally returned after marrying an island woman a year ago. It was good to see him back, even if he avoided smiling or acknowledging me. I knew why, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. At least Cabel had his mating rage under control, and just in time. We needed him.

Beck had taken Cabel’s place as King’s second during his absence, but nothing was said to realign the matter now that he was back.

“Update,” King barked, as he took his seat at the head of the table.

Beck stood and delivered the report. “Two survivors. They managed to hide and witness everything that happened. It began a few days earlier with a message from the Federation. They ordered all able-bodied men and women to report to them immediately as ‘red stripes.’” His voice dropped, fury dripping from each word. Red stripes were death fodder for the Federation.

“There was no second warning,” he continued. “They sent in a herd of hellhounds first. The hounds caused most of the destruction, killing three of the six Shadow Warriors protecting the community. Once the dust settled, Federation soldiers somehow herded the hellhounds out of the village, entered the outpost, and executed the remaining Warriors. They lined up the citizens and murdered all but the two in hiding.”

“The babies?” I whispered, horror gripping me. For years, I’d trusted the Federation. Now, all I wanted was to hunt them down and kill everyone in charge.

Beck nodded, his eyes glowing with rage. “Missy insists on returning immediately to fight alongside her people.” His gaze shifted to King. “I agree.”

A muscle pulsed in King’s jaw; his voice was tight when he finally spoke. “How many Warriors are needed for around-the-clock protection?”

Beck’s brow furrowed as he calculated. “I’d say fifty at each outpost, making it one hundred seventy with the Warriors we have stationed there now.”

King nodded, though his expression was unreadable. “Do you want to lead our men at the outposts, or do you want to hunt down the soldiers who did this?”

Bloodlust ignited Beck’s eyes. “Hunt.”

King had already anticipated the answer and wasted no time giving his next command. “Nokita and Cabel will lead the Warriors heading to the outposts. Marinah, Beck, Labyrinth, and I will form the hunting party. We leave at first light.” His gaze fixed on Beck. “Have two planes prepped for departure with enough provisions for thirty days. We’ll drop the Warriors at the outposts and begin the hunt from the site of the destruction. Alden will take charge here.”

Alden, Beck’s right-hand man, had a quiet, watchful presence, and rarely spoke more than a few words when we crossed paths. He wasn’t someone I knew well, but if King and Beck trusted him to handle operations in our absence, then so did I. I was glad it was him staying behind and not me. If King had suggested otherwise, we would have a serious problem.

From beneath the table, King reached for my hand, giving it a subtle squeeze and a questioning look. His silent query, “Did I miss anything?” warmed me in ways I wouldn’t admit out loud. It was a gesture he’d been making more often, a sign of the growing trust between us, and it filled me with internal pride.

I turned toward Beck, keeping my focus in his direction without fully meeting his gaze, a skill I hated getting better at. “Is Missy returning to the outposts?”

Beck’s jaw tightened; his voice clipped as he answered. “Yes.”

“And Ruth will be with her?”

He simply jerked his chin in affirmation. I shifted my attention back to King. “We’ll need Maylin here for Che. Axel should probably stay too. The island needs him.”

King nodded. “We’ll locate them tonight and have them back before we leave in the morning.” His confidence in my suggestion reassured me that it was the right call.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so thrilled that King took my advice, but I couldn’t help it. My Warrior form was everything I never thought I’d have. The strength, speed, and power gave me confidence in my ability, but I was just learning about strategic planning, and I often doubted myself.

There were still times that I wrestled with accepting who I’d become, and speaking my mind was one of those times. I’d followed the Federation mindlessly for far too long. Now that I had muscle, teeth, and claws to back me up, I needed to let the past go and get beyond the insecure Federation robot, doing meaningless work and thinking each day would be my last. I had to work harder on embracing my mental badass at every turn.

The adrenaline from the meeting and hearing about the attack began to fade, and exhaustion crept back in like an old enemy. Sleep wasn’t even on the distant horizon. There were too many things to handle: checking our gear, preparing for the hunt, and sorting through a million other details. As the meeting broke up, King’s warm hand on my thigh pulled me from my racing thoughts.

He leaned in close, his breath brushing my ear. “I’ll see you before takeoff. I’m going after Axel myself and will bring him back along with Maylin. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.” His lips touched mine in a brief kiss before he stood and strode away.

I sat there, the last Shadow Warrior in the room. Alone.

No, not alone, I corrected myself sharply. I had a family now, people who loved and cared about me. They were my friends. For so long, it had just been me and my father. After his death, it had been only me, facing the world on my own. But that wasn’t the case anymore. I stood, feeling the strength in muscles that had once been weak and unremarkable. Even my balance was something else entirely; predatory, lethal, instinctive. It was what I was designed for.

A thrill coursed through me. Without even shifting, I could feel the sheer power of who I had become. I was a Shadow Warrior. I had hellhounds to kill, the Federation to face, and a broken world to rebuild.

Piece of cake.

∞∞∞

I checked on Che before heading to my room to organize our gear. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find Ruth curled up on the floor beside him, but I was. How long had this been going on? She had taken a pillow from Che’s bed and was using it beneath her head, with one of his blankets draped over her. It took me a moment to understand why she didn’t just climb into Che’s bed to sleep. It wouldn’t have been unusual at their age. Then I noticed the slight flash of silver in her hands. Ruth was clutching a knife, holding it fiercely even in sleep. She was doing it to protect Che.

I quietly closed the door behind me and sighed. Training with Ruth would be delayed, something she definitely wouldn’t like. I shrugged it off internally. There was no time to agonize over something I couldn’t change. I pulled out our military packs and started going through them. These bugout bags were familiar to me by now. Every man, woman, and child on the island had one, each stocked with seventy-two hours’ worth of supplies and weapons.

We’d come a long way since returning from the U.S. territory. Housing areas on the island were now equipped with alarms to warn them of approaching hellhounds. Every human adult willing to fight was being trained to kill the hounds and anyone else who posed a threat. Our community wasn’t just surviving; we were learning to fight back and provide food and shelter to thrive.

I glanced around the bedroom. Both King and I were naturally neat, and the room reflected that. The only thing out of place were my clothes draped over the edge of the laundry basket instead of inside it.

The peacefulness of the room hit me, giving me pause. These past months had been the happiest of my life. King had opened his world to me, and I was finally accepted. It was a heady feeling; one I never planned to take for granted.

I never felt I fit in the new world after the collapse. I was out of place and had a keen sense that something was missing. Now I understood what that something was. I wasn’t fully human, and I spent my life carrying around a part of myself I didn’t know existed. Finding my beast gave me peace. I smiled and got to work.

Bags first. Once I’d finished checking them, I headed out to find Alden. He was in the armory with Cabel and Nokita, deep in a discussion about the firepower they were taking and what would stay behind. Guns were a topic King’s guard had been working on for a while, or more accurately, ensuring we had enough ammunition. We’d managed to stockpile more than ten thousand rounds, enough to make our guns a legitimate option. While swords were still the best weapon against hellhounds, guns were necessary for dealing with our human enemies.

I walked over to a long rack of AKs and pulled one down. It was the rifle I’d been practicing with, and to my own surprise, I’d become a slightly better-than-decent shot. When my claws didn’t interfere, I actually held the best record for distance target shooting, a fact that annoyed King’s men to no end. I ran my hand along the rifle, a grin forming. For someone who had once been terrified of guns, I’d come a long way. Some of the men named their rifles, and the thought of doing the same had crossed my mind more than once. “Bertha” ran through my head, and I decided it fit. A rifle named Bertha just seemed like the kind of weapon that made people stay out of your way. Grinning internally, the name was now settled.

The men continued their conversation without acknowledging me. They knew I was there; their awkward shifts from one leg to the other made it clear. The whole mating rage thing was still a hard adjustment for me and because of it, the men didn’t know how to act. Sometimes the discomfort between us was almost comical.

I placed the rifle back on the rack and turned to Alden. “I need to talk to you about Che. He needs to be watched closely while King and I are away.”

Alden didn’t even bother turning his head toward me. “The humans will be safe,” he said, his tone clipped and, dare I say, testy.

I didn’t miss Nokita’s grimace at Alden’s disrespect.

Alden clearly thought I was challenging his abilities, so I softened my tone, just a little. “I care about all the humans, but as you’ll remember, Che is part of the Shadow Warrior family. He’s young and has a knack for finding trouble. Granted, not as bad as Ruth, but he still can’t be fully trusted. He pushes his mom’s patience to the limit on a regular basis. It would make me feel a lot better if I knew you were keeping a closer eye on him.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Nokita’s lips twitch, but he remained silent.

This time, Alden turned just enough to give me a side-eye glare before speaking. “All humans are safe with us,” he grunted, like that added emphasis would make his words more convincing. Or maybe just more irritating.

I took a deep breath, mentally telling Ms. Beast that no, we were not going to kill Alden tonight, even if the idea held appeal. I didn’t know him well, and after this exchange, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. He turned back to his conversation with Cabel and Nokita, acting like I wasn’t there.

This was not going to work, and I had to do something.

With a powerful leap, I landed directly in front of Alden and let out a roar. It wasn’t on par with King’s bone-shaking, wall-rattling growl, but it was more than enough to command attention. It was also enough to rupture a human eardrum, but Shadow Warriors weren’t so fragile. It hurt, sure, but he would live.

My body wanted to shift, the urge bubbling just beneath the surface, but I fought it down. I was going to stay human unless Alden forced me to go hands-on. My eyes burned with barely controlled fury, and I silently counted to ten to keep my anger in check.

“ Kill ,” Ms. Beast whispered.

“ Shut up ,” I snapped, focusing on Alden.

His eyes flared with heat, the telltale sign of a Shadow Warrior struggling to suppress the change. He knew I had challenged him, and now he had to decide how far he wanted to take this. What he didn’t know, however, was that I had the advantage. Even immediately after shifting, I had full control of Ms. Beast, a level of control he couldn’t claim over his own beast. While most Shadow Warriors were “point and kill” machines in that first hour after the change, I wasn’t. I was a thinking, plotting, calculated killing machine, more dangerous than Alden could ever imagine.

Ms. Beast reassured me we could take him. And for once, I didn’t doubt her.

The temperature in the room spiked as the K-5 churned beneath our skin. Even Nokita and Cabel felt the pull, as they struggled with their beasts. Alden’s reaction, however, was harder to miss. King had told me Alden was strong, loyal, and a fierce fighter but had a reputation for not getting along with others. It kept him out of the personal guard. Watching his struggle now, I decided it was worth exploring his issues further.

I stayed close to him, deliberately stepping deeper into his personal space, escalating the challenge another notch. The other men knew exactly what I was doing. Roaring earlier hadn’t been a conscious choice; Ms. Beast had acted on instinct, knowing precisely what was warranted. Now it was my turn to see how far Alden would let this go.

The tension in the room eased slightly when Alden’s shoulders dropped. His gaze shifted to the floor. “I apologize,” he said, using a lower tone. He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t like being left behind when the fight is in the U.S. I’m on edge.”

As apologies went, it was decent. And honest. Ms. Beast stirred again but I mentally commanded her to stand down. Extending my hand, I offered him a chance to reset. Alden stared at it for a moment before grudgingly taking it. The contact was brief, but I knew King would scent Alden on me later, and that would require an explanation. Still, Alden had backed down from a challenge, and this simple gesture felt necessary, even if it broke the unspoken “mating code” among Shadow Warriors.

“We have work to do,” Nokita interjected after a few seconds, breaking the tension. Alden immediately snatched his hand back and looked embarrassed.

I didn’t blame him. Having a female in their ranks after years of an all-male “club” created its own challenges. Add to that the complications of the mating rage, my still-developing knowledge of war dynamics, and my adjustment to the physical capabilities of my new form made it a lot for all of us. The learning curve was mental as well as physical.

And still, Alden backed down.

Ms. Beast purred in satisfaction, and it took everything in me not to indulge her urge to strut. Another time, I thought, pushing the feeling aside. Turning back to the weapons, I pulled Bertha from the rack again, her familiar weight settling comfortably as I slung the strap over my shoulder. Next, I grabbed two Makarovs from the lower shelf and secured them to my belt. King had been teaching me about Russian weapons, which were the standard fare in Cuba when the Shadow Warriors arrived. While the AK was still my preferred companion, I’d grown equally capable with the Makarovs.

I was about to leave when Alden’s voice stopped me. “I will watch over the child,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied, meeting his gaze briefly before turning to go. This time, I allowed a little extra kick in my step, just for Ms. Beast.