Page 96 of Reign of the Beast

We had to lay all our cards out on the table.

Honesty had to prevail.

It was the only way to build the depth of trust needed for the four of us to work together. No more lone-wolf tendencies could be tolerated.

We had to function as one unit from here on out.

It was a tall order indeed.

But we all wanted the same thing.

To end Draco and protect the supernatural world.

And that was exactly what we would do.

Undermyleadership.

I was going to take back control of the mission.

Ryker had done enough, beyond that actually. He’d handled the burden when I’d been unable to. It was a burden that had never been intended for him. I wouldn’t allow him to bear it any longer.

The risk he’d taken to protect the Guardian Movement had been too much. It should never have come to that. The fact that it had sickened me. Guilt and shame had been nagging at me, trying to consume me. I’d beaten it back with my focus on the mission, on whatcouldbe changed, rather than the brutal realities of the awful things that had already happened.

I’d fix it.

I’d fix everything.

No more near-death experiences.

No more being caught off guard by Draco.

No more.

As I continued to pace the living room, I listened to my men embroiled in a heated discussion, allowing them to get it out of their systems so that we could then sit down and have a rational discussion. Thatwas an impossible feat when they were all so worked up.

They were gathered in the seating area of the living room.

Jaxon had his arms spread out over the back of the couch.

Ryker was sitting forward in the adjacent armchair gesticulating wildly, Lucian perched on the arm mostly observing with that intense brooding look on his face that told me he was compiling all the facts and data rapidly as they spoke, in order to determine the best course of action. As the thoughtful, deliberate decisionmaker of the four of us, I expected nothing less.

Just like I expected Jaxon to be impulsive, emotionally-charged, and reactive.

And Ryker was of course, the know-it-all when it came to the magical side of things, as well as the onward propelling force that yearned to get things done as efficiently as possible. He had answers when others couldn’t see any because of his out-of-the-box thinking.

“He massacred a whole bunch of Guardians and nearly took the rest out!” Jaxon cried. “For fuck’s sakes, I’m not worth that, not worth any of this.”

“You are and it’s not that simple,” Ryker told him.

“Look, Ry, I know you’ve got a whole lot of love for my cock these days, but almost dying to keep that psycho from taking me is going way too far, don’t you think?”

“Check yourself, Alpha,” Lucian said with a warning snarl.

A testament to how far they’d come, Jaxon backed off with a raise of his hands and even offered an apology, “My bad. This is just… fucked. Let me outside your ward and hand me over to Draco. The price is way too high if you don’t.”

“The price will be even higher if we do,” Lucian countered. “Draco would use you and your released power for his own ends.”

“Besides, unbinding you wouldn’t help us right now anyway,” Ryker added.

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