Page 32 of Warrior

Kill hellhounds.Kill Federation.

So easy for her to say.

Even if I killed all our enemies, I’d have to do it without King at my side.The thought hurt more than I wanted to admit.What hurt worse was that he was willing to let me go.

The sound of feet in the sand and the warmth that rippled across my skin told me King had caught up.He ran a few feet behind me in human form.

“Shift,” I told him.

“I don’t want my post-shift anger to be part of this conversation,” he replied calmly.

With a growl of frustration, I shifted instead.The shirt I’d been wearing when I went into beast form was shredded inside the house, and I was naked from the waist up, but I didn’t care.No one had been on this beach since we arrived six weeks ago.

King reached for my hand, his touch reassuring me, and we walked back toward the house, now miles away.

“Start at the beginning,” I said.“Tell me everything.I’m done being in the dark.”

My world reeled even further as he spoke.Rage built, and I wasn’t sure it would ever leave.

∞∞∞

We returned to the citadel the next morning.The only bright moment came from the sound of small feet pattering through one of the cavernous hallways before Che barreled into me.I twirled him around in a huge hug, his laughter warming a part of me that had been cold all morning.

“My brother should be born soon!Axel says within three days.”He held up three small fingers, his face glowing with excitement, and I couldn’t help but grin wider.

I wiped tears from my eyes and placed him on his feet before squatting to his level.“You’ll be the best brother ever.”

“Che?”a voice called from the hallway he’d just run from.

“Mom!It’s Marinah!She came to play!”he yelled back, his excitement infectious.

Maylin appeared, her belly round and uncomfortable as she waddled into the foyer.I smiled, but her eyes went straight to King.Without hesitation, she moved toward him, her gait awkward, and launched herself into his arms.Tears streamed down her face as she clung to him.

I might have felt sorry for her.I might have taken a moment to remind myself that King was her rock right now, that she was pregnant and vulnerable.

But Ms.Beast had other ideas.

The shift came so fast it barely registered.Raw strength mixed with fury ripped through me.

“Marinah!”King’s voice boomed as he stepped between us, placing Maylin behind him.

Kill.

Ms.Beast didn’t like King protecting this female.My hand swiped out before I could stop, leaving a furrow of claw marks across his neck and shoulder.

“Wow.You’re like my dad,” Che said from behind me, his voice filled with awe, completely unaware of how dangerous I was at that moment.“I didn’t know girls could be Shadow Warriors.”

Nokita rounded the corner like his tail was on fire, grabbing Maylin and pushing her farther behind him.“I’ve got her,” he told King.

No.Eat woman.

“Marinah!”King shouted.

It partially snapped me out of the haze that fogged my mind.

“Can you teach me how to do that?”Che asked innocently, his curiosity piercing the red fog.

It was the combination of both voices that returned my control.I am Marinah.I do not eat my friends.In beast form, it was so much harder, but I yanked Ms.Beast back, forcing her to accept my will, even as she fought me every step of the way.

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