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S ince I didn’t want them to violate the terms of their temporary house arrest, I got both Kendrick and Yelena to sit in their respective doorways. They could just barely see each other, but they were close enough to speak out loud. I sat somewhere in the middle.

“So, which one of you wants to start? Let’s figure out how we got to this point and how to stop us from getting here again in the future.”

“He’s dangerous to my mate,” Yelena snapped. “It’s my job to protect her.”

I glanced toward Kendrick, absorbing his flushed face and white knuckles where his hands were curled into fists at his knees. I turned to Yelena. “She’s my mate too. We have the same job. Do you think I wouldn’t intervene if I thought he was dangerous?”

“You don’t know to intervene. And you probably have a sympathetic bias toward him. It blinds you.”

“I don’t think that’s very fair. Logan is my first bond, and I’ve loved her for years. If I thought she was at risk from being with Kendrick, I would have said something. How is he dangerous to her?”

“He’s manipulating her. He tried to claim her and separate her from you when the lot of you first arrived. Are you forgetting that?”

Kendrick had already been honest with me about his motivations in that regard, and while I wasn’t perfect at discerning honesty, he had sounded sincere.

“I’m not forgetting. I think you might be forgetting how you came across at the beginning, though.

If we were letting first impressions stand, we would have the same opinion of you as you have of him. ”

She frowned, staring back into her suite, avoiding eye contact. “That’s not the same.”

“Because you know your own motivations,” I pointed out. “You knew you weren’t going to hurt Logan, but we didn’t.”

“I don’t want to hurt her, Yelena,” Kendrick insisted.

“Bullshit,” Yelena hissed.

I empathized with Yelena, with her impulse to guard a mate, but that wasn’t going to serve us well. “This is supposed to be a respectful conversation. If you’re not going to try, I am going to report that back to Logan.”

That seemed to cow her. “Fine.”

“Go ahead, Kendrick.”

He sighed. “I think we all know I’m not stupid enough to pick a direct fight with you. I already know it’s a terrible idea to indulge myself in my feelings for your mate. I know you hate me, and you would hate that even more. If she didn’t want me in return, I wouldn’t?—”

“You’re deluding yourself if you think she wants you.”

“Yelena,” I said firmly. “We can both feel her in the bond. You know that’s not true.

Listen, I know it’s hard, and this isn’t the first time this situation has happened.

You’re the Caden here, Kendrick is me, and Logan wants who you think she shouldn’t.

This isn’t about your relationship with Kendrick, it’s about your relationship with her.

You can go on for a while the way you are now, but she’s the one who’s ultimately going to hurt for it. Everyone hurts because of it.”

“You told me you had no bias,” she grit out.

“What I have is an understanding of fate. Logan needs her pack. Why would it turn her eye to Kendrick if he wasn’t supposed to be part of that?

She was already overwhelmed with just me coming into the mix, and we’ve already added you, Haru, and Velda.

She’s trying not to acknowledge her feelings for him out of deference to you, the same way she tried to deny me for Caden. ”

I felt Yelena’s frustration in the bond, sensing every moment she grappled with herself.

Has he done something specific or is this a clash of personalities?

Her gaze snapped to mine. Ask the women he’s claimed. He has a dozen he’s stolen the moment they walked through the door . They’re terrified all the time, flinching at every sound.

“All right, I will. Kendrick, call your claimants for me, please.”

He looked surprised, but complied, the women in question appearing one by one and stepping out of his suite.

“Where the heck did they come from? Your room was empty.”

“There’s a tunnel so they can come and go as they please. It connects to the common area on the prey floor.”

Interesting.

They all looked nervous and twitchy, so Yelena wasn’t lying there. “Ladies, I’d like to speak with you please.”

They turned as a unit to look to Kendrick, as if requesting permission, and he nodded.

Be careful with them, Kendrick’s voice sounded in my head. Predators make them uncomfortable.

I walked with them around the looping hallway so we were relatively out of earshot.

I focused on the one closest to me, a young rabbit shifter. Has Kendrick ever hurt you?

Her eyes widened. Never. Why?

The other Protectors are worried about all of you. We just want to make sure you’re safe.

She nodded. The only time I felt unsafe was when I arrived. Once he claimed me, this place felt more like a sanctuary.

Has he ever forced any of you into his bed? Even a threat of it?

They all shook their heads, looking rather like a pack of flamingoes turning this way in that.

I slept with him , the first one I spoke to said. But I initiated and pursued. He doesn’t touch us once we’re claimed except when our prey instincts get triggered and we need comfort.

A handful of others said something similar.

It wasn’t too far off what I had suspected after talking to him, but having the confirmation straight from the source was useful.

Thank you all for your honesty .

“Why are you asking us?” a songbird shifter asked. “Is this because of the fight with him and Protector Yelena?”

“Related to it, yes. Packs coming together can be messy and complicated. I don’t think the other Protectors have the full story, so they formed their own opinions that don’t put Kendrick in a very favorable light.”

The first rabbit frowned. “We appreciate the other Protectors for the home they’ve given us, but it seems like they do that quite a lot.”

“It’s easy to miss something you don’t know exists,” I said carefully.

“You obviously know I’m a panther, so I had no idea how much prey instinct stays with you guys and how difficult that can make navigating this place.

A conversation should’ve happened a long time ago to help them understand, but we’re trying to fix what we can now, even if it’s a little late.

Yelena thought you all were nervous because Kendrick was hurting you, not because your instincts were screaming at you every time you were around the other Protectors. I’ll make sure they know now.”

A squirrel shifter stepped to the front of the group.

“Thank you. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying.

I think it’s important people get credit for that.

He does have a temper on occasion, but he keeps it to himself, which is miles better than most shifters I’ve had to deal with.

If you’re worried about him hurting the witch, I wouldn’t.

From the rumors I’ve heard, even if he tried, it sounds like she would be able to turn him into a venison steak pretty fucking fast.”

“Not inaccurate,” I acknowledged.

“Everyone needs an advocate,” she continued. “I don’t love that you’re a cat because honestly I have a running scream in the back of my head that you’re going to eat me, or him, but I appreciate you trying to get to the truth. And on that note, I need to leave your presence. Good luck.”

Once she broke the seal on leaving, the others followed, a few casting apologetic glances back at me, the last in the group facing backward while they retreated as if she were the lookout and I was about to pounce.

I returned to my spot, equidistant between Yelena and Kendrick. “They all say Kendrick has never hurt them. They’re nervous because they shift into prey animals and we scare the shit out of them without realizing.”

I watched the truth of it sink into Yelena, her expression crumbling, her hands moving up to hide it. “Oh my gods. This whole time? Why didn’t any of them ever say?”

I shrugged. “That’s a conversation you’d have to have with them. I’m just the messenger. The important thing here is that it reaffirms Kendrick isn’t hurting them, so you can’t use that alone to decide he’s going to hurt Logan. If you have another reason, I’m open to hearing it.”

Thank you.

I turned back to Kendrick. You’re welcome.

“Yelena,” Kendrick began, uncertainty marring his features, “I swear on all the gods I don’t want to hurt Logan. I know you want to protect her and I respect that, and I know just as much that we’ve never particularly gotten along, but we’re on the same side.”

She took a deep breath, raising her face to look at both of us. “It’s never felt like we were on the same side.”

“How the hell did you guys form a nest to begin with if you have all these shit opinions about each other?”

“That was a Council decision,” Yelena said. “There was a need, and the five of us were able to fulfill it. I doubt any more consideration than that was taken.”

“And none of this came up since the nest was established?”

Yelena shrugged. “I have a long memory, not a perfect one.”

“Sometimes I feel like the nests are basically an HOA from hell,” I said with a bitter laugh. “Everyone has their own agendas, no one outside of it has any real power, and the only way you’re getting out of it is to move.”

“An apt description,” Yelena agreed.

“Logan wants Kendrick. I know that much is obvious to all three of us, and he’s not as subtle as he thinks he’s being about wanting her back. Do you want this pack to be like a fucked-up HOA none of us can move away from? Or can the two of you commit to figuring your shit out?”

“I’ll commit,” Yelena said, refusing to look at either of us.

“Me too.” Kendrick nodded.

“I’m sorry I tried to eat you.”

Obviously caught off guard, Kendrick laughed. “Honestly, it was almost a fucking relief it was finally happening instead of the threat hanging over my head.”

“No one is allowed to eat anyone,” I said firmly, then added, probably very stupidly, “Unless we’re talking about eating pussy, in which case, feel free to take care of our girl.”

Tension hung heavy in the air for one hot, miserable second before both of them broke, laughing with a hint of hysteria.

“Good gods, panther.” Yelena huffed, but some of her frown had disappeared. “You truly have a knack for the inappropriate.”

“Yeah, but it worked. I’m going to report back to Logan and the doctor. Hopefully we can get you two out of house arrest and move forward. If you have any additional shit, sort through it before someone comes back to check on you.”

Neither looked particularly happy, but I wasn’t nearly as worried as when I had first come up.

“Process what you’ve learned, and be good until I get back.”