Page 12 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)
"And you do this every morning?" his sleepy orc boyfriend asked him, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.
Russell grunted as he loaded a last heavy crate of frozen meats onto a dolly, which was wheeled away by the kitchen staff. He shook his head at Bruin.
"No," he said.
Russell had led the way from the loading platform to inside the kitchen proper, bending down to heft a forty pound bag of rice before he realized that Bruin might need more words.
"Just on delivery days."
Food and supply shipments only arrived a few times a week, after all, so no reason for Russell to be here unless Leona needed him for something.
Following Russell's lead, Bruin did what he could to assist. He ended up being in the way about as much as he helped, tripping on objects more than once, and had to be rescued when he fell into a large bucket, but that was all okay. Russell's boyfriend was trying, which was the important thing.
It also felt nice to have someone taking an interest in what he did. Even Ser sometimes glossed over the finer details of staff affairs, despite having grown up among them.
After giving a great big parting hug to a tolerant Leona, and then making a quick detour to their rooms, he and Bruin wandered over to the Guardian's Quarter in the west wing for some Thursday morning exercising.
One of the buildings had a well-stocked gym with cardio machines, and Bruin found himself a treadmill, smelling morose as he put on the new shoes that Sergiy had bought him specifically for exercising indoors.
After helping him with some stretches, Russell made sure that his boyfriend had a water bottle available, then gave him a pat on the head.
"One hour," Russell said sternly.
Bruin made a face, but started fiddling with the buttons on the machine. "I know. Warm up, intervals, then cool down. Gross."
Russell gave his boyfriend a quick sniff to be certain, but yes, it smelled like just the normal exercise grumbles. Bruin wasn't a fan of the gym, but he'd said that he needed to do some kind of cardio in order to manage some of the harder anchor ritual walks that took him around the valley.
Which did help. Russell had gone with Bruin on all twenty-something hikes that he'd done over the last four months, recharging the vitally important anchors.
But while both he and Rosemary lagged behind sometimes, it was getting less over time, and if his boyfriend wanted to commit to a little bit of exercising, Russell would support him.
Especially since more energy during the hikes directly correlated to more pets for Russell!
He gave his boyfriend a final shoulder pat, then went back outdoors to the training yard.
The dawn was slow to rise in the fall, and though the sky was turning a lighter shade of blue, the sun had yet to peek over the Rocky Mountains in the east. Still, there was more than enough light for his wolf eyes to see the busy yard as the packs went about their morning exercises.
"Hey, big guy! Yeah, you. C'mere!"
Russell looked around, making sure, but the new guardian was beckoning in his direction. He strode over. Maybe they needed help moving something? Sometimes he was asked to help rearrange the obstacle course, and they usually let him shape some of it himself, which was fun.
"We're doing three versus three grappling," the man said, gesturing to four of his friends.He looked young, with a military haircut and dark skin. One of the new garrison troops that had just arrived from House Rhindon. "We need one more, and you look like you'd be a challenge."
Russell stared back at him, and the man seemed to take his silence for assent. He and his friends started moving to a clear spot on the field, and when Russell didn't follow, he looked back at him, an irritated look on his face.
The man probably assumed he was a fellow guardian, but that wasn't Russell. He was a helper. A handyman. An assistant for his father and the other willworkers, like Bruin.
Russell wasn't a fighter. The man was mistaken.
"No," he said, and turned to go. Maybe he should do his exercises outside the gate? There was plenty of soft grass there, it would be fine.
"Hey!"
Russell heard a throaty hiss, and then the man was in front of him in his shifted form. A werecrocodile, it looked like. With his added bulk, he was now nearly the size of Russell, mouth open to reveal his sharp teeth, and close enough that Russell could feel the man's breath on his face.
"What, you're just going to say no and walk away and think that's it, huh? Because you're an active guardian, you think you're too good to train with garrison troops?"
"Or maybe he doesn't like Lady Yi," one of the others said as she came to stand beside him. "And us by association."
Russell tried to step backwards, but found that the remaining three were behind him. He was boxed in.
"Oh, I think you have something, there," a dog shifter said. "His scent changed."
That wasn't it at all, Lady Yi just scared him sometimes, she had always been so fierce and demanding. What was happening? Was he supposed to say something?
"I want to go," he said.
"Nah," the werecroc said. "Maybe after you apologize for insulting us."
Had he? He hadn't meant to, nothing had been intended as an insult.
"I didn't."
"Oh, so now I'm a liar? Maybe instead of a three-on-three, we should do a five-on-one. You can put your muscles where your mouth is."
With his shoulders hunched, Russell made to step to the side, and the man pushed him back into the middle of the group.
Russell was starting to feel sick. He held his hands loosely in front of his chest, a hold-over from when he used to hug himself when he was feeling anxious. Childhood habits returning.
"Shit, what a pathetic fighting stance."
The man swung at Russell, who could only stand there, frozen. The man's fist connected to Russell's left side, at his ribs. It hurt a lot, and Russell made a pained sound. He could smell the surprise off of the other man, who staggered as he arrested his second punch, already in motion.
"You just took it?"
"Of course he did," an unpleasantly familiar voice said, and Russell saw Lady Yi approach. "He's a coward."
Her five pack members formed a quick line in front of her. Lady Yi's eyes passed over Russell, looked at his side, then gave an imperceptible shrug.
"He's also not a guardian," she continued, talking to her pack. "He might appear big and strong, but it's all wasted potential. He has neither the brains nor the temperament for combat, more's the pity."
The werecroc frowned, looking Russell over more carefully, and began to smell guilty. He didn't say anything, though.
"Were you looking to do some pack sparring? I could be your sixth." Lady Yi swung her arms back and forth in a stretch. "Or perhaps she will?"
Jogging over towards them was Marka, in her human form. She raised a hand in greeting once she came to a stop, then frowned.
"Been looking for you, Lady Yi," Marka said. "But is something wrong? It smells a bit tense."
"We have it sorted."
Marka met Russell's gaze, looked at his side with the red mark on it that he tried to hide with his arm, then sniffed the air. Her eyes narrowed.
"Nah, nah, let me rephrase that," she snarled. "What in the kindliest fuck just happened?"
Lady Yi waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Just a small misunderstanding. I assure you, it won't happen again. You have my royal word."
"Yeah, that's not good enough."
The dog shifter bristled, her hackles raising. "You dare question the Lady's word?"
"Mind your tongue, Bonnie," Yi snapped. "Lady Marka is of noble blood, same as I. As such, her insult is mine to answer."
Marka ran a hand through her close-cropped blonde hair, smelling irritated.
"Don't worry your tail, it's not her word I'm questioning, just everything else about this situation.
I am very familiar with the way your pack leader thinks.
Tell me, Lady Yi, what is it that you won't let happen again? "
"My pack mistaking this pup for a guardian, of course."
"Yeah, I thought so." Marka glanced at the werecroc's hands, then turned away and shifted into her golden werewolf form. "Guess it's never too early to be a bitch."
Lifting her muzzle, Marka howled, loud, long, and demanding.
It readily cut through the grunts of exertion and chatter taking place in the training yard and surrounding facilities.
Guardians all over looked in her direction, then stopped what they were doing to rush over, gesturing to the new trainees and other members of Lady Yi's cohort who didn't recognize the order for what it was.
Russell tried to back away from the crowd, but he was caught front and center as they formed a semi-circle around him and the two nobles.
He then met Bruin's gaze, who had followed the rush of others.
His boyfriend hesitated as he looked at the assembled guardians, then strode boldly forward to stand beside Russell.
"Listen up!" Marka said as she began pacing. "It has come to my attention that some of you are unable to tell the difference between fellow soldiers and castle residents. I'm also seeing that most of our new recruits are training only amongst themselves. And that is not the way we do things!
"Whether you belong to one of the five active packs or the three garrison packs, experienced hand or newcomer, longtooth or pup, you are all equal guardians with the same common goal.
We monitor the local Umbral, we defend the Wayiyi Valley, and we take care of those who live here. It is our honor to serve in this way!"
Marka stopped her pacing to stare directly at Lady Yi.