They were laughing at me, and I don't blame them. I simply can't lead hundreds of men, scratch that, Shadow Warriors. I have no idea what I'm doing. I replay the entire meeting in my head. They're like children, and I can't believe I need to point them in a direction and tell them what to do. Stupid. And King's gone through this for years. Labyrinth mentioned Cosway, and it reminded me I need to check on her. I begin my search and eventually give up and ask one of the door guards. He points me to the outside courtyard. I find her there, playing with the kittens. "Pretty butterfly," she says when she notices me. She's a rather pretty butterfly herself now. Soap, water, and good food make her look younger. Someone also took a chisel to her teeth. I'd place her in her mid-twenties. "Hi, Cosway. Do you mind if I join you and play with the kittens?" She pushes the calico in my direction, and I grab him before he scampers off. "He likes the pr

King's hand slides across my shoulder causing me to turn. Comfort and strength show in his striking blue eyes. He's dressed in military fatigues in place of his usual "tear you apart" Shadow Warrior gear. The fatigue shirt stretches at the seams trying to cover his broad chest and shoulders. I prefer his leather chest straps for their practicality, and to be perfectly honest, they show his muscles to their best advantage. Today we're dressed in outpost military attire and covered from ankle to shoulder. If we shift to our Warrior forms, the material will shred and our Beasts won't care if we're nude. I spent too many years thinking I was human to want to show my naked bits and pieces to the people at the outpost. We'll deal with that problem if shifting becomes a necessity. The outpost has grown to three times the size it was during our last visit. Not in the least pretty, it's a ragtag mess that somehow manages to appear organized. Humans slapped together houses, huts, and ca

Landan says a few words as we walk away from the cabin. His voice dies out when he realizes I'm paying no attention. He's quickly learned the nuances of dealing with Shadow Warriors, and he makes his escape with a muttered excuse of checking on things, whatever that means. My Beast has fully accepted Marinah as Alpha. Unfortunately, there are two beings inside this body, and I personally wanted to bite her head off for dismissing me so abruptly. I no longer have delusions over who could kill who. Marinah takes her training seriously, and every Shadow Warrior has seen her change into a deadly fighting machine even when she's not in Nova form. She's been working on that too. Her control isn't great and pulling forth her Nova takes a lot out of her. If she's angry about something, it's easier which doesn't make her happy. She wants absolute control over each facet of her Warrior, and I have no doubt she'll achieve it, eventually. Beast finally grumbles, mate. I want t

Mate, Beast chides. Wet mate, I whisper back with an internal laugh. Flinging Marinah into the water satisfies something inside me that's been missing for far too long. I have all of two seconds to enjoy my self-satisfied state before I'm attacked from behind. Claws sink into my back and wrap around my face, going for my eyes. A three-hundred-pound mountain lion is out for my blood. By the time Marinah appears above the water's surface, I'm in a battle for my life. The noise coming from my throat is not that of a Warrior. A claw catches me in the forehead and teeth sink into the side of my face. "If you hurt Callie, you're a dead man," Marinah yells between coughs while spitting out water. "She's the devil," I shout back on a strangled high note while trying to save my left eye from being gouged and possibly eaten. The hellcat is plastered to my head, doing everything she can to skin me alive. Dripping wet, the darn thing probably weighs three pounds.

During the next twenty-four hours, we receive no demands from the Federation for Knet, not that we expected any. Knet has information they want and to them, he's little more than an animal. I never completely trusted Knet, but he's one of my people so his loss affects me. The soldiers who attacked us simply disappeared. At least the ones we didn't kill. I'm sure having a submarine makes that easier. From what we know, soldiers landed, a group captured Knet, returned to the sub, and left soldiers behind to kill as many humans and Shadow Warriors as possible. Those who stayed behind are dead now and still my rage simmers. I turn the corner and see Maylin and Missy talking. Missy is Beck's mate and Maylin is Nokita's. They're both pretty and neither changes into an alien monster. And yes, I'm being petty. I simply don't want to deal with them right now. Missy wastes no time getting up in my business and both women block the hallway. "You haven't slept. The only way you'll be