Page 42 of Guardians

“They need food and shelter,” Kane mused. “Flynn oversees housing. I can’t start assigning cabins without his permission.”

“I’ll go find him.” Diego jogged off toward the dormitory where Flynn and Levi had relocated when they offered their cabin to Tara and Bianca.

“What the hell is going on down here?” Zion’s voice boomed through the clearing, snapping every head in his direction. He stormed toward Kane, his strides long and purposeful.

Kane squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. He knew this fight was unavoidable, but he hadn’t wanted the conversation to take place in front of the humans. “The wolves attacked. Hundreds of humans are dead.” He moved closer to Zion and lowered his voice. “They were completely defenseless, but the wolves didn’t care. They just slaughtered them anyway.”

Zion’s eyes narrowed and his fists clenched as he looked over the ragtag group. They were filthy and traumatized, half-starved, and despondent. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with them?” he responded in a similar whisper. “If we feed them and shelter them, they’ll have no reason to cooperate with the alliance. It’s hard enough to keep all of us alive. I’m not running a goddamn charity!”

Lexie gasped and then moved up beside Kane, resentment smoldering in her green eyes. “We just watched over a hundred people murdered in cold blood. How can you worry about the alliance?”

“Lexie,” Malik warned from behind her. “That’s enough.”

“The alliance is theonlyreason you’re here,” Zion growled out. “My people need mates, so I’m willing to tolerate humans. If you cannot adapt to our ways, that decision can change.”

“Don’t threaten me,” she shot back, openly glaring at the pride leader.

Zion moved closer, forcing her to tilt her head way back. “You’re a claimed mate now, human. Start acting like one!”

Kane wrapped his fingers around her upper arm and tried to pull her away from Zion. The stubborn female dug in her heels.

“I don’t give a shit if I’m claimed or not,” she yelled right back. “Your attitude is inexcusable!” She poked him in the chest with her index finger as her tirade continued. “I’m not suggesting you abandon the alliance, just show a little compassion.”

Dismissing Lexie with a scowl, Zion turned to Kane. “We’ll discuss what to do with the humans in the morning. Tonight, you will teach your mate appropriate behavior, or I will reassign your coalition. My guardians must set an example for the rest of the village. Maybe a few months of hard labor will motivate you to stop indulging your female.” Without giving Kane the opportunity to respond, he turned around and stormed off toward the lodge.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Malik flared. “Talk about inexcusable.”

Lexie turned on Malik and her volume built right along with her ire. “It’s inexcusable to expect common decency? Even in the wild lions grieve! Zion was being an asshole, and I don’t regret telling him off.” Twisting away, she returned to the milling throng of humans, doing what she could to keep them calm.

Diego returned a few minutes later with Flynn and Levi in tow. “We just passed Zion,” Flynn said as he reached Kane. “He looked like he was ready to string someone up by their toes.”

“Yeah, that would be our lovely mate,” Malik told him with a sigh.

Kane pushed his fingers through his hair, exasperated by the entire situation. “Lexie pissed him off so badly that he threatened to reassign us to some thankless, backbreaking task.”

Diego’s brows drew together, and he glanced around for Lexie. “What the hell did she say to him?”

“It wasn’t so much what she said as how she said it.” Malik shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “Zion doesn’t deal well with insubordination.”

“I’ll deal with her disrespect when we get home,” Diego promised, his voice low and cold.

“Her misbehavior reflects on all three of us,” Kane stressed. “We need to discipline her together.”

“I agree,” Malik added. “She needs a strong reminder of our expectations.”

“Maybe I don’t want a mate after all,” Flynn said with a subtle smile. He was clearly amusing himself at their expense.

Kane heaved a sigh of frustration. The last thing he’d needed tonight was Lexie’s rebellion, especially when that rebellion was aimed at Zion. The decision to bring the humans here challenged Zion’s authority and now their mate showed open contempt. She’d taken a tricky situation and made it a whole lot worse.

“Did you figure out where to put our guests that will cause the least disruption?” Kane asked Flynn.

Flynn nodded, all hints of amusement falling away. “We should be able to fit most of them in the new dormitories. The rest can use the surrounding cabins. That will contain all the females within two adjoining clusters, which will make them easier to supervise. There’s only a handful of males, so they can bunk with us. Levi and I will make sure they’re not harassed too severely.”

A rockslide last spring wiped out four cabin clusters and a section of the perimeter wall. Luckily no one was killed, but it made housing uncomfortably crowded while the structures were rebuilt. Zion decided to increase the capacity of all the dormitories while they were at it, so the construction had been done in stages. The first two clusters reopened a few months back and the craftsmen were putting the finishing touches on the final two now. There was minor work yet to be completed, but all the buildings were habitable.

“That should work,” Kane agreed thoughtfully. “Zion wants to meet with me in the morning to discuss long-term plans for the females. He’s sure to be hostile, but it makes sense for you to be there too.”

“He’s pissed at you, not me,” Flynn pointed out. “I’ll be happy to watch the fireworks.”

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