Page 41 of Guardians

He shook his head. “Elias’ motivations are always complex and slightly twisted. I won’t try to explain what’s going on inside his head.”

She let it go. Dwelling on it would just upset her all over again. “Thanks for coming after me. I thought I wanted to be alone, but this was better. A lot better.”

He bent down and brushed his lips over hers. “One of us will always be there for you. That’s one of the advantages of having three mates.”

“When were you going to tell me?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Tell you what?” His smile assured her that he knew exactly what she was asking.

“That I’m mated with three literal lions.” Her brows drew together, and she tilted her head. “Or is Kane unable to shift?”

“Kane can shift. All the coalition leaders can. No one would accept their authority if they couldn’t.”

“I have a million questions, but let’s get through this first.”

Malik wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they returned to the clearing between the tents. A massive fire was burning, and someone was singing a hymn. Several people felt inspired to speak, but restlessness gradually took hold. No one felt safe. Would the wolves return to gather more females?

“Pack up your clothes and personal possessions,” Kane ordered after the impromptu memorial service concluded. “We’ll come back for the rest.”

Lexie understood his urgency. They were losing the light, and he wanted to be safe within the walls of the feline village before nightfall. So did she. If collecting females had been the wolves’ primary goal, they would be back for more.

Diego ordered the Shadows to remain behind and supervise the fire. They needed to ensure that the flames consumed all the bodies without destroying anything else.

“Did someone compile a list of the victims? I know we did a headcount, but do we know their names?” Tara asked as most of the camp prepared to leave.

“Not all of the bodies could be conclusively identified,” Kane said grimly. “The list was completed by process of elimination.”

Lexie shuddered. She didn’t even want to think about how damaged a body had to be before it was beyond visual identification. “And how many are we leaving behind?”

“Twenty-three,” Diego told her. “The worst of the worst were all killed by the wolves.”

Malik rubbed her back, his gaze filled with compassion. “They’ll never be allowed in our village, but Zion might be willing to make concessions for the ones we’re leaving behind.”

Lexie was relieved. She didn’t want to walk away and start her new life while people she knew were left in the wilderness to starve. There was one exception. “Is Babcock dead?” Just saying his name made her nauseous.

“We think so.” Kane hesitated. “There was a body we’re relatively sure was him, but a DNA test would have been nice.”

Lexie nodded then looked at the fire for a long, tense moment. It felt final, as if her past was being burned away upon that pyre.

Malik slipped his arm around her shoulders again and she moved closer to his side.

“Ready?” he asked.

She wiped away one final tear and then nodded. “Let’s go home.”

CHAPTER 7

Darkness had fallen by the time the human refugees reached the feline village. Kane signaled the guards to open the gate, but they hesitated.

“Did Zion approve this?” the head guard called down from the tower. “It looks like you brought their entire camp back with you.”

“The wolves attacked. There was no choice. Now open the fucking gate!” Kane’s voice rang with urgency. It was too dark to see who was up there, but all the village guards fell under his authority.

After another pause, one side of the gate swung open, allowing the refugees to enter. Kane hurried the humans through the gate. He wouldn’t breathe easily until they were inside the safety of the walls.

“Now what do we do with them?” Diego asked after the last human had entered.

Kane glanced around the grassy clearing. The humans were in less danger now, but they looked even more frightened. They’dcongregated in small groups, some of them still sobbing. They were clearly waiting for directions and Kane wasn’t sure what to tell them. The best he could do was deal with the essentials.

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