Page 22

King

I mourned Beck’s loss, but Marinah’s absence tore me apart piece by piece. The constant, gnawing sense of danger over her pushed me closer to the breaking point until I couldn’t handle the static void I was in.

I had to act.

Getting away without Nokita wasn’t easy. He’d been trained by Beck who was the best tracker we had. Escaping Beck had always been a near-impossible feat. I bided my time carefully. At dinner Nokita had a lively discussion with a few of the men giving me an opportunity. I slipped quietly into the night.

After evading the perimeter guards, I shifted, and Beast slid to the forefront. My entire body hummed with the release of pent-up energy. I ran at top speed, allowing Beast to lead. He knew exactly where we were headed.

Mate, he whispered into my soul.

In three hours, we covered over seventy miles, avoiding hellhounds and humans. By the time we reached Federation territory, it was a little after eleven. Marinah pulled at every cell in my body, tethering me to her even if she wasn’t aware of it. Beast felt it too, and I was counting on her to listen to her own beast.

Finding her in the sprawling underground compound would be the hard part. It could take hours to zero in on her exact location, and I didn’t have hours.

I slowed to a jog when we reached the massive concrete wall surrounding the capital. Beast’s nose worked the air, and I felt his disdain. The wall was made of nothing but cement, with no steel reinforcements. This wasn’t a stronghold; it was a death trap. Greystone had advised the Federation to use metal. They hadn’t listened. Typical.

“Find her,” I told Beast.

We continued for another mile before Beast leapt over the wall, taking us inside the city. The air here was thick with the stench of sickness and death. Beast’s nose had sniffed out one of the human encampments the government set up. I widened our circle to avoid it. I didn’t need to see what lay inside to know it would only make my rage boil.

Ten minutes later, movement in the shadows caught my attention.

Mate. Beast’s voice was a low growl in my mind.

We were close. Very close. Marinah was nearby, and I wasn’t leaving without seeing her.

Patrols could hear us, so I couldn’t call out. Marinah was running in beast form, her powerful strides echoing through the night, but she was heading in the wrong direction. She might sense my beast, but it was clear she didn’t understand what it meant. Her movements were loud and unpolished, more like a racehorse than the stealthy warrior she needed to be. That would have to change.

Silently, I picked up speed, closing the distance between us. When I was close enough, I grabbed her by the waist and swung her around, narrowly dodging her claws as she instinctively lashed out, trying to take my head off.

Mate. Beast’s voice rumbled with satisfaction.

Marinah reacted with a tactical move I’d taught her, yanking me closer and angling for my throat with her teeth. She didn’t recognize me yet, but then something shifted. Her beast stopped fighting, her body went limp, and she leaned into me.

Her scent filled my lungs, grounding me in a way nothing else could. The missing part of my soul hummed to life, and I knew I was whole again. Slowly, she turned to face me. Her long snout quivered, and to my surprise, I realized she was crying.

Tears. No self-respecting Shadow Warrior cried, but here she was, proving once again that Marinah was unlike any other.

“Shift,” I murmured into her ear, my voice thick with emotion.

Our bodies transformed, and as soon as we were fully human, I pulled her flush against me. Her lips were waiting, and I claimed them, grinding my mouth against hers with a hunger I couldn’t hold back. Her fingers tangled in my braids as mine gripped the nape of her neck, anchoring her to me.

Her taste, her scent, her everything. It consumed me. My hands roamed over her bare skin, feeling the slight shiver beneath my touch.

“Are you okay?” she whispered against my lips when I finally allowed her air.

“Beck didn’t make it.” The words tasted bitter, but I let them out, pressing my forehead against hers and allowing my grief to surface, if only for a moment.

She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close, offering comfort in the way only a mate could. There were no platitudes, no useless words to dull the loss. Just her presence, giving me the strength I needed.

For these few minutes, holding her was enough to rebuild my determination. I didn’t want to let her go, but I knew I had to. There wasn’t time to linger. Even though my need for her was almost unbearable, there were more urgent matters to address.

I had to leave her again, but not before she reminded me what I was fighting for.

I pulled her tightly against me, leaning back against the wall as I kept her close.

“Tell me everything,” I said, running my hands up and down her back, reveling in the feel of her body.

Her voice, husky with tears, filled the space as she told me about her life within the Federation. Beast growled low and deep when she spoke about her old co-workers and how she’d shared pieces of our secrets with them. We both knew she needed allies within the government, people she could trust. She’d found them, but the risk of betrayal loomed over us both.

Quiet. I slammed into Beast, forcing him back harder than I probably needed to.

“How are you communicating with them?” I asked once Beast settled, though tension still simmered beneath the surface.

She hesitated, her expression shifting into something unreadable. Finally, she whispered, “Love notes.”

“Come again?” I asked in confusion.

She let out a breath, crossing her arms defensively.

“We’re using acrostic code,” she explained, clearly anticipating my reaction. When my brow furrowed, she continued, “It’s writing sentences where the first letter of each word spells out a message, and those words form sentences to pass information. Landan and I are writing love notes to disguise the code.”

“Love notes?” I repeated. The two words tasted bitter as they left my mouth. The meaning hit me like a punch to the gut, and a red haze clouded my vision. Before I realized what I was doing, my fist smashed into the cement wall a foot from her head, sending shards of gray dust cascading around us.

“King!” Marinah said, grabbing my arm. Her voice broke through the fog of rage, but not enough to stop the storm brewing inside me.

“King!” she said again, this time slamming her fist into my jaw. The sharp pain snapped my attention back to her, and I finally focused on the warmth of her hands cupping my face.

“They’re just notes,” she said softly. “Only used to hide the code. He has never touched me, not even a handshake. He’s a friend. He knows what I feel for you.”

I rubbed my jaw, her words finally cutting through the haze.

“Marinah,” I sighed, the tension draining from my shoulders.

I pulled her closer, pressing my lips to hers in a desperate kiss that carried all the emotions I couldn’t put into words.

“I love you,” I whispered and pulled her back into my arms for another kiss.

She was bare, warm, and mine, something I could no longer resist. Lifting her effortlessly, her legs wrapped around my hips, pressing her body tightly against mine as I deepened the kiss, pouring everything I couldn’t say into it.

“I need you,” she moaned, her breath hot against my lips.

Her hands traveled to my zipper, unfastening it with an urgency that mirrored my own. There was no grace, no thought of coordination as our bodies came together in a frantic rhythm. At one point, a sound from the other side of the wall made me clamp a hand over her mouth, silencing her soft moans as she continued to move against me, taking everything I gave her. Even in human form, our beasts merged, their energy a swirling tempest binding us in ways no words could describe.

Her body tensed and then shuddered with release as she whispered my name. I held back a growl as my own release quickly followed hers. The sensation of being wholly connected to her left me replenished and ready to take on the world.

There was no other woman made for me but Marinah. She was everything and filled a void I hadn’t realized existed. She called to the deepest part of me that I had never revealed to anyone including Greystone. He’d saved me from myself, while Marinah was the missing piece of my soul, making me whole.

I had waited my entire life for this. This woman. This connection. This love.

As we clung to each other, her chest rumbled softly against mine. For a fleeting moment, I thought she might be crying. I leaned back, brushing my hand against her cheek, only to find her biting back laughter instead.

“Am I too loud for you, your majesty ?” she teased, her voice a playful whisper.

I narrowed my eyes, a slight grin pulling at my lips. “You’re too everything for me,” I admitted.

And she was. I had never thought I could have this level of need, of craving, of completeness. Marinah was mine in every way, and yet, I knew I’d have to leave her again soon. Nokita would be coming with the Shadow Warriors, tracking my scent and cursing me every step of the way.

“Your everything, huh?” she murmured, her smile softening as she rested her head against my chest.

She didn’t quite understand.

“You’re my air, the blood in my veins, the reason my heart skips beats when you’re away, and the soul that’s split in two without you.” I pulled her closer, brushing my lips to her ear and whispering, “You. Are. Everything.”

Her tears glistened in the dim light, and I gently licked them away, savoring the salty proof of her emotions. I kissed her nose, a soft touch to anchor us both.

“Show me where you jumped the wall and where your sleeping quarters are. I also need to know where Labyrinth and his men are positioned.”

“You shouldn’t come inside the underground,” she said softly, her sad eyes reflecting concern that pinched Beast’s pride.

“I won’t,” I assured her, even as Beast rumbled his displeasure. “I just need the general location of your room in case there’s an emergency. We’ll also need a place outside the wall where the Warriors can hide when we move closer to the city.”

Her lips trembled as she whispered, “I love you.”

I gazed into her mesmerizing eyes, their depths drawing me in, pulling me under.

“I love you, Marinah,” I said, the words simple yet heavy with everything I felt that no language could truly capture.