Page 24 of The Hidden Guardian
“Would you rather it be you?” Lupe asks smoothly, walking around the room. Hands clasped, eyes roving the room. Her back is to me …she’s definitely colder than earlier and I feel the superiority seeping from her now.
“No, but–”
“If Renall didn’t defend you, it would have been him, or possibly you—but a Guardian is a valuable asset these days.”
“So, you’re saying Renall was defending us? Me?”
She nods. “Until you can learn to defend yourself, you will have to rely on Renall’s methods—which are primal, like him. Does that bother you?” she asks, her back to me.
“Well, it didn’t …” Renall’s primal ways had protected me, fed me, kept me warm at night. Without him I never would have survived the journey here. Hell, I wouldn’t have survived the trek out of my own house. “I mean, he’s never shown aggression toward me, but …”
“But nothing. A wolf would never let harm befall their Guardian.”
“Why?”
“Because Guardians are too rare and valuable a commodity around here.”
“Yes, I had noticed there were a lot more male to female ratio.”
“It’s not just that. Guardians are growing rarer by the day. Once a wolf loses a bonded Guardian, he may possibly never be blessed by the Moon Goddess with a new one.”
It made sense—Renall’s protection toward me. The anguish reeling in my gut that isn’t mine. He doesn’t want to lose me. Goddess knows I’ve lost too much already.
“Will that happen again?”
“Until you are mated, I wouldn’t leave Renall’s side.”
“I thought you were the pack’s Alpha, can’t you just give one of those Alpha orders not to attack anyone?”
“And take away their natural urges, it would be like telling you not to breathe.” Lupe scoffs. I think I might have offended her. “Renall is a gentleman for not forcing the Joining on you already, others will not hesitate or be so kind.” Her voice is cold as ice, and when she turns her eyes are icy too.
Others? Urges? Did I just hear her right? Is she insinuating others would force themselves on me? “Where I come from, not forcing yourself on someone is a basic human right.”
“You are not in your world anymore. It’s best that you adapt to our world and fast; otherwise, it will swallow you whole and rip you to shreds. Don’t make Renall sorry he risked everything to come get you.”
Lupe slips out the door and leaves me choking on her words.
Then I hear animated growls resonating outside the door, breaking me from my thoughts. Renall … I’d recognize his voice anywhere. The tension swirls in my gut, indicating he’s not happy. Lupe returns his growl with a series of her own. A flash of anger and resentment trickle through me as well as an emotion I can’t quite place. Whatever they are discussing, Renall does not like what Lupe has told him either.
A few moments after the growls stop, another knock sounds at the door. I peek out, expecting him. Renall stands there with his hands out before me. Apprehension tingles in the air. Fear lingers between us as the seconds tick before I open the door to let him in.
He pauses after closing the door, assessing my body language. Lupe was right about one thing, Renall has been more than a gentleman the entire journey. I rescued him, he rescued me, he made me shoes, fed me, protected me. Now he might be punished for trying to help me at all. Sure, he mistakenly kissed me when I pointed to my lips, but he never forced himself on me orinme. The hungry eyes of the wolves outside, however, I can’t say I would trust any of them to do the same.
Slowly, I lower my guard, sitting on the couch and patting next to me. He pauses, watching me for a second before coming to sit beside me.
I grab the notebook and flip to the page to the Guardian symbol. “How many Guardians have you had before me?” I ask him, pen and paper at the ready. He doesn’t respond right away, so I put up my fingers, “One?”
He nods.
“What happened to her?” I shrug my shoulders and point to the symbol.
He flips through a page of the notebook with a symbol similar to a skull and crossbones.
“Dead?” I whisper as if I didn’t already suspect. “How long ago?”
He draws a landscape with a moon in the sky. Then starts scratching lines. “Moon?” I ask, he nods pointing to the lines. “Many moons.”
“Okay.” That would be why there are no mementos of this former Guardian around the cave. It happened a while ago. “How did you disobey the Alpha order?”
