Mated to the Warrior Beast

Elreth, Aaryn, and Gar stood at the back of the room, while a handful of guards clustered near the door. They’d all been talking, but their voices stopped when he stepped in the door banged.

Ignoring the sudden tension in the room-or perhaps, appreciating it-Tarkyn strode through them, letting them scent his authority so that the guards all shrank back as he entered.

Elreth tilted her head, a warning in her eyes as he strode towards her, but Tarkyn didn’t miss a beat, slapping a quick fist to his chest in salute as he approached, then stalking right up to stand at her toes.

Aaryn feeling Tarkyn’s dominance wafting off him in waves, twitched to get between them when Tarkyn didn’t give her space, but Elreth didn’t look disturbed. She just raised a hand to stop her mate as she held Tarkyn’s gaze.

“Clearly you’re feeling stronger,” she said, her nostrils flaring. He knew she’d scent that he’d taken his mate, but he didn’t give a shit. And Elreth had never been one to taunt on those lines anyway. But he wouldn’t put it past Gar-

“Just needed to blow off a little steam,” the male sniggered predictably.

Tarkyn lifted his lip to bare his teeth on that side, but he didn’t take his eyes off Elreth. “I did it, El. I let you pen her up. So she’s not here to see me tell you that you’re acting like a fucking child who’s scared of the dark and it’s time to grow the fuck up.”

.....

Elreth growled and both Aaryn and Gar tensed.

The guards around the room went still, none of them wanting to draw the attention of the most powerful Anima when they were in conflict.

“I’m glad you’re feeling stronger today, Tarkyn. But this isn’t your-”

“Oh yes it is. You want your Captain, El? You got him. You got me and you left my fucking mate shivering by herself, willing to face her fear because you aren’t. But this is no game and this isn’t you. What happened to the fierce Queen? What happened to the female who wouldn’t let any of us set her down? We get one skilled warrior on our lands and you turn into a housecat scared of the neighbor’s dog?”

“Back. The fuck. Off,” Elreth snarled.

“No, El. I’ve backed down. I’ve submitted. I’ve pleaded with you and it’s not getting through. This situation is fucked. If you want my advice you’re going to get it: Wake the fuck up.

“The only way through this is for you to hear the story that the Chimera tell. They are even greater victims of the humans than we are.

“I did what you asked and I got my mate out of here so you can have your fucking double-check since you apparently don’t trust me to test my mate for honesty-or your brother to scent her for that matter. Now we’re going to talk to these fuckers, right? And you’re going to listen. Because last night I had to watch my mate try not to fall apart while she talked about what she’d been through at the hands of the humans.

“Rika has a theory that they are from the future, that they’re what the humans made when they couldn’t get their hands on us. Do you understand what that means? It means that somehow these beautiful people weren’t brought to life under the Creator’s hand, but by human technology.” Elreth blinked. Tarkyn nodded. But he didn’t stop.

“And my mate-my beautiful mate-was the one who had the soul and humility to look me in the eye when I told her how sorry I was for what she’d been through-and how I wished I waited for her-she told me that she understood it was the Creator’s plan. That unless we had defeated the humans, she wouldn’t even exist and she and I wouldn’t have each other.”

Aaryn shifted on his feet and Gar blew out a breath, but Tarkyn didn’t take his eyes off of Elreth. “Do you have any idea how humbling that is, Elreth? Her story is sick-worse than anything we went through here. And yet somehow she still has the heart to celebrate that those fucked up situations brought her here... to me.” He stabbed his own chest with a finger and leaned right in Elreth’s face. “These people deserve Anima, they were brought by the Creator Himself-freed to come here. And if you step into their path, you will remove His blessing from them. Are you prepared to do that?”

Elreth huffed, her jaw tight. She looked uneasy, but thoughtful. “Of course not,” she muttered.

“But?”

“But I’m also not prepared to let their blessing be our downfall. I don’t doubt that these Chimera were abused-no one does. But that doesn’t mean we can let them remove Anima from us, either. They have been made by the humans, Tark, and raised in violence and victimization. Their Alpha came for us when he was under threat-

“I bet you or Aaryn would have done the same thing!”

“-we can’t just say “Oh, Sorry” and free them. He could kill our people before he understood that we are not the humans.”

“We’ve treated them the same way!”

“No, we have not!” Elreth snarled putting a finger under his nose. “I have put our people at risk by only watching them and not taking them. I haven’t waged war when I could have for the simple fact that that male would have killed me or my mate if we hadn’t had enough guards to help. I’ve let you take one of them as your mate, Tarkyn. Do you think I couldn’t have stopped that?”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I don’t want to, but don’t stalk in here with your tail twitching and tell me that I am the enemy, because I am not. I have people to protect on every side. And until you stand in my shoes-sit on my throne-you do not deign to tell me that I am heartless for being torn between those I know and love, who have proven their loyalty, and those who arrive unannounced and literally out of the bosom of our enemy!”

Tarkyn had to swallow a growl as he and Elreth glared at each other. He knew she was right-it was why he hadn’t attacked earlier. But he also knew Elreth was dragging her feet. She was scared and procrastinating on taking action because of it.

And he’d never let her stay in that place before. So why would he now?

Just as he opened his mouth, Gar stepped in, sliding a hand between them and nudging his sister back carefully.

“So, friends... You’re both right. You both make good points. But that’s what we’re here to sort out today, right? Because we’re all going to go talk to these people and figure this out together. We’re all on the same team, remember?”

“I remember,” Tarkyn muttered. “Do you, El?”