Page 5

King

The powerful bike rumbled beneath me. I’d been working on it for the past month, tearing into the engine like any farm kid who couldn’t resist the lure of machinery. One of the island men had been lending a hand when I hit snags, and now this beauty purred like a dream.

I took the winding turns effortlessly, with Beck trailing close behind. Even with a mate and child, he never slacked on his bodyguard duties. Not that I didn’t try to slip away unnoticed; it’s just that Beck had caught on to my disappearing acts and seemed to always be prepared for them now.

Axel’s schedule had him stationed at the southern end of the island for the week, so that’s where we headed. I could have used the Morse code machine to reach him, but we saved it strictly for emergencies. The small electronic pulse it emitted could attract hellhounds, and we didn’t want to risk it unless absolutely necessary. Our communication with the U.S. was limited to that machine and only for critical updates.

The road twisted tighter as we left the city. Beck let out a loud curse behind me, and I turned in time to see him spitting frantically into the wind. I knew what it meant. A bug had flown into his mouth, and I couldn’t help laughing at his misfortune. The stars and moon lit our path, and the cool night air filled my lungs. For a brief moment, I let myself enjoy the ride and the freedom. I needed this time to clear my head for the next few weeks and prepare for the fight ahead.

The Federation was never far from my thoughts. Missy, Beck’s mate, had been a wealth of information about the resistance. Her people and surrounding groups refused to be part of the sick, twisted minds of the government leadership. Two critical things had been confirmed after speaking with her: The Federation was enslaving humans, forcing them into military service, and they were deliberately luring hellhounds into human-populated areas. Worse, they had begun using the hellhounds to slaughter civilians. The why and how still eluded me, but one thing was clear: their plans were escalating, and we had to be ready.

I’d known for some time that the Federation had bigger schemes in motion, and we’d been preparing. Whether our next step was overthrowing the government or rescuing willing humans and bringing them back to the island, one thing was certain: it was time to act.

Since returning from the mainland, we’d fortified the island. Security had been tightened, and a comprehensive evacuation plan put in place. We also ramped up our sustainability efforts. It helped that the Warriors had adapted to island life with surprising ease. After years of relentless battles, the respite was welcome. But now, the break was over. It was time to fight again, and we were ready.

Things would’ve been simpler if the Federation had kept their word and honored the treaty we believed they wanted. That bridge was burned beyond repair now, and there was no going back. I’d spent sleepless nights trying to make sense of their actions. Their motives had been incomprehensible in the beginning, and they still didn’t add up. But it didn’t matter now. Their reign of terror had to end. The world had endured enough, and rebuilding would require both humans and Shadow Warriors working together to eradicate the hellhounds. The Federation had positioned itself as the greatest obstacle to our goal of stability. They’d made themselves enemy number one, and their time was up.

We would face them head-on. Beast agreed, surging K-5 through my veins and urging me to let him take over. Not happening. I laughed into the wind. I’ll bring you out when I’m ready, not a moment sooner.

An hour later, we pulled up in front of a modest home. The lights were off, but Axel’s vehicle was parked outside. That was enough confirmation for me. “Enjoy your snack?” I asked Beck, unable to resist. It took him a moment to remember the bug incident, and he responded with a grunt.

After five minutes of pounding on the door, it creaked open, revealing Maylin. Her eyes widened, fear flickering across her face when she saw me. “Che?” she asked.

“He’s fine,” I assured her quickly. “A human outpost was attacked in the U.S. We’re leaving at first light. You and Axel are needed back at the citadel.”

Before she could respond, Axel’s hand appeared above hers, pulling the door open wider. “Come in,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on while we pack.”

Beck and I stepped inside the small, single-bedroom home. The modest space revealed Axel’s gentlemanly nature. He was clearly giving Maylin and the baby the bedroom while he made do with the couch. Maylin disappeared into the back as I began filling Axel in on the intel.

When I finished, he shook his head in frustration. “I need someone on the island trained well enough to take over so I can go with you in the future. If one of the Warriors needs me, I won’t be much use to them stuck here.”

Before I could respond, Maylin returned, the baby cradled in her arms. “I can handle things while you’re gone. Go with your Warriors,” she said in her heavily accented English.

Axel immediately shook his head. “You’re my best student, Maylin, but you still need more training.”

Her free hand went to her hip, her eyes narrowing into daggers aimed directly at him. “Who do you think handled things before the great and mighty Shadow Warriors arrived? The women, that’s who. Men fight, and women mend the wounds. That is our job.” Her accent thickened with her anger, making her words sharper, but the meaning was clear to all of us.

Behind me, Beck muttered under his breath, “Don’t let Marinah hear you say that women have a place.”

Maylin didn’t miss a beat. “I am capable, and there are other women who are capable too. Go fight,” she commanded before turning on her heel and marching back into the bedroom, the baby held tight against her chest.

I glanced at Axel, raising a brow. “Anything you need to tell me?” The tension between him and Maylin was palpable, and I couldn’t ignore it.

Axel sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. “Don’t worry. The woman drives me mad, and at the same time, she’s a medical genius. She’s smart, sarcastic, and moody. If it weren’t for the baby, I’d have ditched her a long time ago.”

From the back room, Maylin’s sharp voice rang out. “I heard that!”

Axel rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath before saying, “It’s a sister-brother thing. We love to hate each other.” Despite his words, the corner of his mouth twitched upward, betraying an underlying respect and fondness for Maylin.

With that settled, Beck and I helped them gather what they needed. Axel alerted one of his assistants at the small clinic, instructing them to take over in his absence. Written communications would soon be sent across the island to ensure everyone was on high alert. I couldn’t imagine the Federation attacking us directly, but given their unpredictable and increasingly erratic behavior, we had to be prepared for anything.

The ride back to the citadel felt agonizingly slow. The rumble of the bikes drowned out any chance of conversation, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Inevitably, those thoughts circled back to Marinah.

She was incredible. She was a miracle. And she was one reckless move away from giving me a heart attack.

There was no fear in her, and for someone who not long ago was terrified of just about everything around her, the transformation was mind-boggling. The mental adjustment I’d needed to make wasn’t easy. I’d hoped that being hunted as part of her training would dim that untouchable spark in her eyes just a little. Instead, it had the opposite effect. She’d bested me and Beck both, and instead of restraint, she felt more invincible.

Due to my mating rage, the Warriors had little knowledge of her capabilities. Beck, at least, had an inkling. He’d seen her in action often enough. Marinah wasn’t just a Shadow Warrior; she was something more and I was still trying to fully understand what that was.

There was something different about her beyond the obvious. Beyond being the only female Warrior among us. It was a nagging itch in the back of my mind, especially when I watched her in Beast form. Something about her movements, her aura, the sheer power she exuded. It was like a puzzle with one missing piece that I couldn’t quite grasp.

And it was driving me crazy.

We, the Shadow Warriors, were an alien race. We came to Earth after destroying our home planet through centuries of infighting. Our history texts, passed down to each Shadow Warrior leader, served as a grim reminder of the price we paid for our arrogance. I inherited the volumes from my uncle, who made it his mission to ensure I learned from the mistakes of our forebears. He forced me to read them early, long before I was old enough to fully grasp their weight. Even as a teenager, I found them fascinating, though I barely skimmed the small sections on female Warriors that were in the main texts. After Greystone’s death, I read only a small amount of the female texts. The women Shadow Warriors hadn’t existed for over two hundred years, and it had frustrated me to read about them. If I were honest, I would use the word saddened. When the females disappeared, it left a hole in the remaining male warriors. Even I had felt it generations later. Then Marinah exploded into our world.

Her mother, Dinah, was descended from one of the female Shadow Warriors who came to Earth alongside the first generation. Unfortunately, her secrets died with her. When my ancestors first arrived, they brought their aggressive ways with them, threatening the fragile human population. The female Warriors, unwilling to witness history repeat itself, left the men to forge their own path. This departure forced the male Shadow Warriors to change. They abandoned their ways of war and turned to farming, pouring their energy into the hard work of feeding the Earth’s growing population.

If we had more than a handful of texts from the female Shadow Warriors, we might understand their legacy better. But they took key volumes with them. The originals, not copies and left us with gaps in our knowledge. Marinah had scoured the books I’d given her, but the answers we needed were missing. We had to find those lost texts.

Beast rumbled below the surface, restless as always. He’d come a long way, transitioning from wanting Marinah dead to wanting to control her. Even I knew how pointless that was. Marinah was a whirlwind, a force of nature no one could contain. She was as much a part of me as Beast was. When he demanded submission, her beast defied it. She belonged to no one, and the sooner Beast came to terms with it, the better for both of us.

I revved the bike and let the engine roar as I picked up speed. Marinah was waiting.