Page 54 of Beast

“They do,” I agreed.

“How the heck do I gain experience?No, wait.I don’t want that kind of experience.They’re your men, King.Don’t do this to me.You can’t.”Her fingers dug into my hip.

I spoke very softly, telling her the truth.“They’re your men now.”

Her agitation reached a new level, and she sat up.“It won’t work.”She slammed her fists on the bed beside me.I fought the urge to smile.Now wasn’t the time.“You can’t possibly feel good about this.You’re the leader of the Shadow Warriors, and I can’t take that away from you.”

“Was,” I corrected.

“How can you not hate me?”

I reached out and placed my finger on the tip of her nose.“You’re my mate.I could never hate you.”

“But I’m a Nova Warrior, and according to your ridiculous books from a time when the men on your planet destroyed everything, I’m just supposed to take over?”

“It’s already happened.The men accepted you as their leader.”

She growled, a low, deep sound rising from her chest.

I sat partway up, lifted her onto my lap, and leaned back against the headboard.“I knew you were special from the first moment you shifted.No,” I hesitated a moment, “It was even before that.You haunted my dreams since you fell down those stairs and landed at my feet.I love you for who you are, every inch of you, human, Warrior, and Nova.My uncle chose me as the next leader because I was the strongest.He was never easy on me, and I did everything I could to live up to his standards.”I rested my head against hers and inhaled the fear radiating off her.“If Greystone had an inkling you existed, he wouldn’t have looked twice at me.From the beginning, I trained you to be a leader.The men on my guard earned their positions.You?You demanded it.”

“No.”She shook her head.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“No,” she said again, her voice more adamant.“I can’t lead thousands of Shadow Warriors.I can’t strategize, nor do I understand war like you do.It won’t work.The men will never respect me as their leader.”

She was the most stubborn woman on the planet.I knew this would be hard, but I didn’t expect to be talking to a brick wall.“Did your squad have trouble obeying your orders?”

“No,” she said, her frustration clear.“They did exactly what I asked.”

I fought the urge to smile again.Askedwas a misnomer.With Marinah, there hadn’t been any asking involved.

“The men recognized you as their leader.No hesitation.No Shadow Warrior in our history has worked as hard as you or come so far in such a short amount of time.You’re the only one who doubts your abilities.”

“King.”She leaned up and placed her palms against my jaws, her gaze locking onto mine.“You are the King of the Shadow Warriors.It’s who you are.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I conveyed what I truly felt.“Not anymore.”

∞∞∞

Marinah

We spent three weeks on the island.Missing Ryan’s funeral was hard.My heart ached every time I thought about him.I would visit his family after we returned.

Missy and Beck came for us and we reluctantly headed back to the main island.Ruth came with them, but she wasn’t speaking to me.She sat at the end of the boat, pouting with her arms crossed and wearing a do not mess with me look on her face.Someone had promised her training, and that someone was me.I didn’t say a word to her.

Beck nodded my way, his head slightly down, and I swore he looked nervous.I hated it and needed something to occupy my mind.King and Beck started talking in low tones about the whistles, but selfishly, I didn’t care about them right now.

“How are the wounded?”I asked Missy.

“They’re up and moving about, even Garret.He’s living with Axel, and he’s in medical training.Axel wants to kill him for overexerting himself, but Garret is strong and obeys the doctor about as well as you do.”

“That bad, huh?”Then something occurred to me.“Is Maylin losing her job?”I asked, concerned.

“No, she’s helping train Garret, and he helps her with the baby, who just started crawling.Baby Boot is under everyone’s feet, and Garret has been a godsend.”She lowered her voice at the end and peeked over at Beck.He didn’t hear her, and she sighed in relief.I got it.If I said what she did, King would’ve been doing his snappy growl thing.

Being around someone who understood the difficulties of Beast mating rage was nice.“Baby Boot will be as bad as Che in no time.”

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