Page 57 of Beast

“I can’t do this,” she said, her voice muffled.Then she looked up at the men, her frustration etched into every word.“I mean, I.Can’t.Do.This.”

They remained silent.

She met each man’s eyes.Beast didn’t make a peep, which meant the three weeks alone with Marinah had helped calm the mating rage.It couldn’t have come soon enough.

“You can’t seriously think I’d make a better leader than King?”

Silence.

“Argh.Someone say something, anything,” she demanded.

Beck lifted a finger.“If I may?”

The question only irritated her more.“Whatever it is, just say it.”

Unlike the usual Beck, his voice was soft when he spoke.This was new.He usually managed to inflect a sneer in his tone, particularly when dealing with me, specifically when I was being difficult, though I was sure he’d have a better word for my volatile behavior.

“Greystone trained King to take over as leader when the time came,” Beck began, his gaze flicking briefly to me before looking away.“From reading our history, this can be a very volatile time for Shadow Warriors.King’s transition was seamless.The biggest reason was that our Beasts accepted him as the true leader.No internal quibbles, no desire to challenge, just absolute acceptance.When you morphed to Nova, it happened just as quickly.My Beast knew.King’s Beast knew.”

Marinah stayed silent for all of two seconds.“And that’s supposed to make this easier?”

I stepped in to help her out.“He’s telling you this so you understand.You are our leader.Our queen.”

“Don’t call me that again,” she snapped.

“Yes, your highness,” I said, my tone just enough to provoke.

Her glare practically shot flames, and I watched as she fought for control, struggling internally with Ms.Beast.It went on for several minutes.The men looked everywhere but at Marinah.Meeting her eyes would be difficult for them now.They’d avoided looking at her out of deference to the mating rage, but now, she was alpha.Soon, even she would feel the effects.

I wasn’t planning on mentioning it.She’d figure it out on her own.

She slowly inhaled, then exhaled.And again.Her fingertips started tapping the table, and she finally blew out a huff of air that sent hair flying off her forehead.“I don’t even know where to begin.What exactly am I supposed to tell you to do?”

Now the men started shifting uncomfortably.They needed a decisive leader, not someone trying to get their bearings.But that wasn’t Marinah.She was the type to jump into a pit of snakes, okay, maybe not snakes after her last adventure with one, but she handled whatever was thrown at her and moved on to the next target.She’d adjust.

“Say something.You can’t just throw me out here and expect me to swim.I need help.”She turned her eyes to me, full of frustration.“Help!”

I opened my hands in a calming gesture.“We need to debrief what happened in the U.S., go over what went right, what went wrong, and where we can improve.”

She blew her hair off her forehead again, this time in relief.“Perfect.We’ll go around the table.”She looked at the men expectantly.

This was a disaster.The men shifted awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.She turned to me in desperation.“You go first.”

Finally, an order.Maybe not an intentional one, but it was a start.

I laid everything out, beginning with our preparations before leaving, which had gone smoothly, and leading up to finding the soldiers in the city and our confrontation there.

“Our departure from the island went smoothly, but I think it could be better,” Beck added when it was his turn.“We need a metal building at the airport to store supplies.It would make it easier than transporting them when we need to leave quickly.”He shot a quick glance at Marinah, then lowered his eyes.

It took her a second to respond, maybe because we’d caught her daydreaming.“Good.Great,” she finally said.“You’re in charge of getting the building set up.You’ll need to assign someone to maintain the supplies.”

She turned her attention to Labyrinth.He wasn’t someone who usually had much to say, but when he did, it was to convey something he felt strongly about.

Labyrinth blinked slowly.We always wondered if his brain was like his muscles; massive and requiring extra effort to activate.“The decision to remain in the city after our confrontation with the Federation was wrong.It placed more lives in danger, and we were fortunate Nokita found us when he did, or another outpost might have been destroyed.”

Marinah nodded, not agreeing or disagreeing.“So, you vote we let those weaker than us die.”

He nodded.“With all due respect, Garret knew what he was getting into when he came with us.”

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