Page 28 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Naomi’s chest tightened, her heart kicked at her ribs, and she breathed through a sob so no one else would hear it.
Col had come so far in his journey. When he’d first gotten here, he’d been so jaded. In so much pain. Allowing the tribe to form was probably the hardest thing he’d ever done, but now, now it was his family. And now he was seeing his mistakes.
He cared for Ryder and Knox and the other younger wolves a great deal. He knew the loss that had been suffered because of choices made by Raish and by himself.
She handed Garth to Ava and went to her mate. Naomi wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed until his arms wrapped around her. Until he buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. Until his racing heart slowed and matched her strolling one.
“I love you so much. And your concern for Rivian’s warriors is admirable.”
“If they have more hostages like Lorelei, we won’t know until it’s too late. If I shift and use my beast to crush them. They will all die. Dragon fire isn’t selective, not in a chaotic situation like the one coming. And these lions are armed with human weapons. If we fight them in turn, we are on a much more even playing field. And their numbers could be vastly larger than ours.”
“If they come for the cabins, you’ll kill them all,” Naomi said, very matter-of-fact. It was the choice he was struggling with the most.
He squeezed her harder and nuzzled her hair again.
“Vraka.” It was Owen. “If they come for the cabins, we would all make the same choice.”
Naomi scanned the room. They were all nodding. Even the women.
“You can only do your best,” Tara said. “That’s all any of us can do. But we have to protect our family. They are threatening our family. Possibly our town. We don’t have any clue what they might do when they realize we live here. They likely don’t know we exist yet. They might think running into Saul was a random occurrence.”
“They won’t be expecting a tribe,” Naomi added.
“The bomb shelter at the MCC was repaired and the door fixed when everything was rebuilt. We have a place to stay where even they wouldn’t be able to threaten the children,” Katherine said. “At least not easily.”
Naomi gritted her teeth. She disliked the bunker because she’d been stuck in it once already. She’d had her babies in that bunker. But Katherine had a point. It was safe. It was secure. No one would worry about the Ka’Lagh lions getting close.
“If this comes into the town, how do we handle that?”
“Connie and Harris are the only ones whoknow.” Katherine’s words hung ominously in the room.
“Do you think these lions will threaten the town?” Tara leaned into Owen’s side. “What do we do?”
Naomi knew Tara was worried about her parents. They ran the general store in Mystery. Everyone who went through the center of town went right past their store. When Raish and his pack had been harassing her, the store had been vandalized multiple times.
“We have to go scout,Vraka,” Dawn said. “No one can make an informed choice about anyone’s safety, if we don’t know what we’re up against.” Tor stood next to his mate, pride shining in his eyes. She was the newest addition to this mix-matched Tribe and everyone loved her, no one more than her tiger.
Kann stepped forward and Penny stepped right up with him. “I am already familiar with the Ka’Lagh, and because I’m a lion too it might give me a slight advantage.”
“And I’m the best shot for a hundred miles. But I need you to take my babies and make sure they are safe. I want them in that bunker and I want teeth guarding them, not just guns.”
A softly murmured consensus crossed the room.
Col tipped his chin down, acknowledging and granting Penny’s request. “Naomi, my love.” He didn’t need to say. She’d known all along she’d be in that bunker. Next to Col, she was the most powerful in the Tribe.
“Start packing a couple of the trucks. We need to get you to the MCC before the next storm blows in tonight,” Col said, command striking a tone in each of their bodies that no one could deny. The whole room jumped into action.
Naomi went upstairs and packed three diaper bags, stuffed to the brim. Then lined them up by the door next to Penny’s already packed ones.
Next to the diaper bags was an enormous black canvas bag. Naomi unzipped the top a little. A holy-shit-those-lions-are-in-trouble smile curved her lips. The bag was full of rifles, knives, and anything else the little weapons expert had been collecting up over the past year.
The men moved swiftly and with purpose.
It was decided that Ava, Tara, Dawn, Knox, and Katherine would all be coming with Naomi to the bunker. That gave them four with animals and six adults for seven babies. It would be seven to seven after they picked up Harris—Katherine’s father in every way that mattered. It would be enough.
Tara’s cell phone rang out in the chaos with a joyful “We are Family” song. “Mom?” She grabbed the phone from the coffee table in the middle of the room. “Mom, speak up, I can’t hear you. What’s wrong?”
The entire cabin stilled.
