“Tell me why you agreed to allow Evie to learn to fight,” Talon urged.
“Alpha,” Ranger paused, straightening his shoulders, “the female is strong willed. Evie has changed over the weeks of training with me. She is stronger, not only in body, but in mind as well. She’s more confident. All she wanted was to know that she had the ability to fight off an attacker if it ever happened again.”
All eyes swung to the door when it was jerked open wide. Evie and Liberty stood on the threshold. “Liberty, you need to leave.”
“No,” the alpha’s mate replied, taking a step inside. The alpha growled low in his throat and looked at all of the males, telling them that if any of them touched his mate, he would kill them himself. “Release Ranger.”
“What?” Kye snarled and pushed away from the wall, marching over to stand in front of Evie. “Why? Tell me why?”
“Because I asked him,” she said confidently, holding her head high. Ranger felt a sense of pride swell in his chest when she didn’t cower or back down from Kye’s anger.
“You put a Guardian in a position that could get him…terminated,” Talon replied. Ranger swallowed hard, knowing that they could put him down for his actions.
“No!” Evie cried, rushing toward the middle of the room. The young female fell at Talon’s feet, tears streaming from her eyes. “Please, do not punish him. This is all my fault, alpha. Please…don’t.”
“Evie!” Kye blurted, trying to move toward his female, but the other Guardians held him back.
“Talon,” Liberty growled, her eyes sparking amber.
“Liberty, this is not your concern,” Talon warned. Ranger could feel the tension his alpha was letting off when his mate moved in front of him. No one missed the protective hand she placed on Evie’s bowed head.
“Females should know how to defend themselves,” Liberty announced, her eyes swinging to each and every Guardian in the room before returning to her mate’s angry gaze. “I will not allow you to punish Evie or Ranger for this.”
“But our laws…” Talon began, but Liberty’s hard gaze stopped him in his tracks.
“I may not have been born into this life, but I do know what it’s like to want to be able to defend myself. My human father made sure that my sister and I knew how to protect ourselves in the event that we were harmed. There is no reason a woman should lay down and wait for a male to save her. Evie wanted this, and I am telling all of you right now…no female in my pride will be denied the right to learn how to protect herself.”
“I second that,” Nova announced from the doorway. She stood there with her mate, Winter. Talon’s second in command nodded toward his alpha.
“I was human once, too. Our mates have a point, alpha. Females are to be protected,” Winter agreed. “But that doesn’t mean we should leave them defenseless. All Nova and Liberty are saying is that, in the event that one of them are taken, they can protect themselves from harm.”
“The males will not stand for this,” Kye growled.
“Oh, Kye,” Evie snarled, her own eyes sparking amber. “Get over yourself and your old ways. I have more confidence than I had even before I was abducted and used as a fucking punching bag for those wolves. I need to know that I have the ability to defend myself.”
“You cannot defend yourself,” Kye replied. “That is my job as your male.”
“Really?” she scoffed, raising a brow. Evie stood slowly from her perch at the alpha’s feet. Ranger noticed a small smile reach the corner of the alpha’s lip when she looked at him for approval to step away.
“You are female and cannot fight,” Kye replied, his voice pleading for her to understand. “End of discussion.”
“Wanna bet?” she asked, punching him square in the jaw.
The room erupted in laughter as Evie shook her fist and turned on her heel, leaving the room as if she’d been dismissed by the alpha himself.
“Ranger, in my office,” Talon announced, although his voice did not hold anger any longer. “The rest of you are dismissed for the evening.”
Ranger followed the alpha back to the office in his home. The pride had all but vanished from the house as if the dinner had never happened. Apparently, word had gotten back that there had been a disagreement within the ranks and everyone fled to their individual homes.
“My mate is right,” Talon agreed after closing the door to the office. Ranger took a seat in front of the desk when the alpha pointed to the spot. “I’m not going to punish you for what you’ve done.”
“I should be punished,” Ranger admitted. One thing he wouldn’t do was lie to cover up what he’d done any more. “I disobeyed a direct order and rule of our pride.”
“Times are changing, Ranger,” Talon sighed, rubbing his eyes. “My mate has made me see that our rules are old and outdated. Women are not like they were hundreds of years ago. In fact, there are several females in our pride who are as strong as our males.”
“Evie included,” Ranger offered. “Alpha, she is strong.”
“I’ve always known this,” Talon agreed. “But my brother will want his vengeance on you.”
“I will accept any punishment he wants to deliver,” Ranger said, lifting his head.
“They are not mates,” Talon reminded him. “He has no right to punish you, and I will remind him of that.”
“Evie knows that I will not be able to train her after she comes of age,” Ranger replied, his fingers steepling in front of his face as he rested his elbows on the armrest of the chair. “I wouldn’t touch her and risk causing her pain. I’m not that type of male.”
“I know this, Ranger.” Talon cursed under his breath. “I just wish you would have come to me instead of doing this behind the pride’s back.”
“It was imperative for Evie to do this on her own,” Ranger replied, standing up to pace the office. “That child has been through more than she is telling any of us.”
“What?” Talon growled, pushing his alpha power toward Ranger.
“She hasn’t told me anything, but I can sense it,” Ranger said, grimacing. “I let her train because she needed to overcome whatever those fucking wolves did to her.”
“Do you think your training has helped her mentally?” Talon asked.
“More than it helped her physically,” Ranger replied honestly.
Chapter Four
“Ow,” Liberty moaned as she wrapped an arm around her belly. The tension around her baby increased and she let out a whooshing breath.
“Liberty,” Evie squealed, rushing to her side. The poor girl looked scared out of her mind. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” she frowned. “Just some uncomfortable tightness.”
“Let’s get you inside.” Evie spoke softly as her face shifted slightly. Liberty knew she was calling out for her alpha. That was backed up when her mate appeared at the backdoor to the house, taking up the entire entrance.
“Liberty,” he gasped, rushing forward and scooping her up into his arms. “What’s going on?”
“I think it was a contraction, but I shouldn’t be having them this soon.” She moaned again, hoping she wasn’t right.
“Call the healer,” Talon ordered over his shoulder as he dropped to his knees and placed Liberty on the mound of pillows and blankets on the living room floor. His hands rested on her stomach, his eyes closing as he concentrated on their child.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. The males could sense things…things she wasn’t completely aware of yet. Savage was able to hear their cub’s heartbeat early on. Could Talon?
“He is strong,” Talon said proudly, but there was still a hard set of worry on his brow. “Our cub is fine.”
Harold rushed into the room, his black bag clutched in one hand. He asked Liberty to tell him everything that had happened. When she told him of the tightness and ache in her belly, he smiled. “Your body is preparing for the birth. I’m sure that’s all it is, but I will check you over just to be sure.”
“Do we need to move her to your office?” Talon asked, pacing beside her makeshift bed.
“If you could give me about fifteen minutes to set up, I would like for you to carry her over,” Harold ordered, pinning Liberty with a hard stare. “No walking until we know for sure.”
“That’s a long way to carry me,” Liberty worried. “I’m not the lightest load.”
“You’re perfect,” Talon said, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
The healer left them alone, promising to call when he had the sonogram machine ready. Talon curled his body around hers, lifting her head gently so it pillowed on his massive bicep. When Liberty started to talk, Talon shushed her with his lips pressed to hers. “Our cub is going to be okay.”
Liberty closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. It worried her that her panther wasn’t even prowling in her mind. It was too quiet in the house as well, but when she looked over Talon’s shoulder, she realized they were not alone. All of the Guardians were there; some were sitting on the couch and others were standing at attention in all of the doorways. She gave them a soft smile and closed her eyes again.