Page 16 of Beast

A slight pinch on my arm and a sharp glare from Marinah made me relent.With a sigh, I extended my hand.Garret stared at it, unmoving.

Marinah made a sharp noise in the back of her throat and pinned him with an impatient look.“This is the part where men play nice, shake hands, and spill the information needed to keep everyone safe.Even I’m tired of waiting,” she said testily.

Snapping out of his fog, Garret quickly shook my hand.His grip was firm but brief.I heeded Marinah’s silent command and refrained from crushing his hand, though the temptation lingered.

“Well, um, I apologize,” Garret said, slightly flustered.“I’ve heard a lot about you both, and I suppose I’m a little tongue-tied.”His gaze lingered on Marinah for a fraction too long, and Beast growled low in my chest.

Garret snapped his eyes away from my mate, and I felt a sense of satisfaction; the tension inside me eased slightly.

We’d kept vital information about Shadow Warriors hidden from the Federation, and the mating rage was one of those secrets.Humans would be horrified to learn that Shadow Warriors easily became savage killers over their mates, at the slightest transgression in the beginning.For Marinah and me, the rage had gone both ways at first and made it even harder to conceal when we were around humans who didn’t understand the rules.Marinah was controlling her mating rage better now, but I didn’t entirely trust it.

Garret, thankfully, chose that moment to address me, pulling me out of my internal grumbling.I focused on his words.“They’re controlling the hellhounds somehow.We think it’s a noise frequency, but we don’t have proof.The hellhounds attacked the village in unison, then left the same way minutes before the Federation soldiers arrived.The witnesses said it was the strangest thing they had ever seen.They also disclosed that the hounds didn’t attack the Federation soldiers.”

He shook his head, frustration etched into his expression.“We desperately need the help you’re offering.”After a deep breath, he added, “I’d like to go with you to hunt the Federation soldiers.”

That was unexpected.I glanced at Marinah.Her expression mirrored my own.We traveled as Warriors, and having a human along would make things complicated.I told Garret as much.

He rested his hand on the table, his fingers splayed.“I can keep up.If not, leave me behind.I’m not a governor in name only.Keeping these people safe is my top priority.”He locked eyes with me, and Beast let out a low grumble.“And I’m deadly.Maybe not Shadow Warrior deadly, but I won’t be a liability.”

I glanced at Marinah again, and she gave the slightest nod.I didn’t agree.He would be trouble, but my mate clearly thought otherwise.

“After we have all the intel, we’ll leave.It shouldn’t be more than an hour.Can you be ready?”I asked.

“I’m ready now,” he replied, relaxing slightly.

“I need to interview the survivors first.”

“I’ll have them brought here,” Garret said.

An hour and ten minutes later, we left to hunt.

Chapter Eight

Marinah

There was something odd about Garret.He said all the right things and acted the way a good politician should.Maybe that was the problem.I had taken on King’s dislike of politicians in general, and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.Trusting him would take time, and even then, I wasn’t sure if I’d fully get there.I was at the wait-and-see stage.

The outpost that had been attacked was about six hours away if we ran the entirety.King, however, didn’t want to waste that much time.Instead, we were being dropped close to the village by parachute.

I had never parachuted before.The thought didn’t terrify me, exactly, but surviving would be nice.I just needed to get the first jump out of the way.Outside of the extremely short Federation instruction in case the plane went down on my original trip to Cuba, I’d had exactly two lessons.My confidence would be higher after I survived.

Over the roar of the plane’s engine, King yelled at me, “Remember what you learned about untwisting your rigging lines if needed!You’ll have plenty of time to set yourself up for landing!”

We stood at the open cabin door, and my stomach felt like it was lodged in my throat.King adjusted my harness one last time and gave me a quick kiss.

I flashed him a thumbs-up that I didn’t feel.King was jumping first, and I’d immediately follow.Labyrinth was next, then Garret, Axel, and finally Beck.King was taking Garret at his word that he could keep up.I had my doubts.

King scanned the terrain, waiting for the perfect time to jump, while I desperately tried to focus on something other than falling.My thoughts drifted to Ruth.Leaving her behind hadn’t been easy.

“You said you would train me!”she had yelled defiantly when she found out I was going with King.

“I will train you,” I had snapped back.“And one of the first things you’ll learn is that the world doesn’t revolve around Ruth.Men, women, and children died.Everyone here is in danger, including you and your mother.I’m putting your safety and everyone else’s ahead of your wants.Get over it.”

She had spun on her heels and stormed off.I didn’t envy Missy, not one bit, and I was sure Missy wanted to kill me right about now.

“It’s time!”King’s shout jolted me back to the present.I ran my hands over my straps, adjusting my backpack beneath the harness.I was as ready as I’d ever be.King jumped, I counted to three and made the leap.Airborne.Falling.At least we avoided the plane’s engines.That had been one of my worries.

Wind whipped across my face, the cold seeping into my bones as we plummeted.King arched his body and drew closer to me.I mimicked his movement, so the land approached faster, which was ludicrous.Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the others.Taking a deep breath, I allowed myself a moment to look at the beauty below.If it weren’t for the wind slapping against me, I could almost believe I was suspended in midair rather than dropping at 120 miles an hour.

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