Watching Chadwick fight the Council’s soldiers had been like poetry in motion.  It had been awe inspiring to witness such an efficient warrior.  That Chadwick was Saber’s mate only made it that much better.

Saber Thorsen had spent his youth as one of the Council’s soldiers.  It still galled him that he’d been nothing more than a puppet in his younger years for a group who thought themselves Gods.  Much to his regret, Saber knew all too well the Council’s evil intent.

His father, Karlin, had been one of the original members of the Council.  He’d helped to bring peace between the species.  Unfortunately, not everyone had wanted that peace.  Saber had been only a soldier for a few years when Refugio Costa had Saber’s father killed.  It hadn’t been a challenge for a seat on the Council as Saber had recently issued.  It had been cold blooded murder.

“I said, let me down,” Chadwick demanded as Saber led him from the conflict raging on around them.

That his mate didn’t fear going toe to toe with Saber had him smiling.  It was something Saber had always worried about finding his mate.  Saber wasn’t an idiot.  He knew he was scary.  Most people ran the moment they met him.  Yet, his mate not only didn’t do that, but challenged him. It had Saber hopeful for a future for them.

“That’s not going to happen, Kitten.”  Just because he admired Chadwick’s spunk didn’t mean Saber was going to give in either.

“I told you not to call me that,” Chadwick demanded.  Claws dug into his shoulder and Saber found his arm going numb.  It had taken just a few moments for Saber’s nerves to fire back to life, but Chadwick had used the distraction and leapt from Saber’s embrace to face him like the warrior he was.

His grey eye’s grew dark as if a storm was coming.  “We may be mates but that doesn’t give you the right to manhandle me.  As you can see, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Saber flexed his arm, making sure he hadn’t lost full use of it.  When he didn’t feel any issues, he smiled at his mate.  “I’m impressed.”

Chadwick rolled his eyes.  “So the fuck what?  Just stay away from me.”

That his mate actually thought any of this was a warning to Saber had him laughing.

Chadwick narrowed those pretty eyes at Saber.  “What the hell is so funny?”

Saber stepped closer until they were nose to nose.  “That you think any of this will stop me from taking what is mine.”  Saber was more than willing to give his mate some latitude but they were still mates.  The sooner Chadwick got that through his head, the better.

Chadwick’s body stiffened at the challenge and Saber found his cock becoming painfully hard as his mate stared Saber down.  Saber had never had a type when it came to lovers in the past.  For him, it was more about convenience than who he fucked.  Yet, when he looked at Chadwick, he knew his mate was perfect for him.  Strong-willed, well-muscled -  a fighter to the core.

“Try anything and you will find your balls removed from your body while you sleep,” Chadwick spit out.  Then, as if dismissing Saber, his mate turned on his heel and stormed away.

For a moment Saber nearly stopped him, but he preferred not to test Chadwick’s resolve to castrate him.  Plus, he’d gotten what he’d wanted.  His injured mate was out of the fight that still raged behind them.  He might have stretched the truth about it being over. 

He might want to go after his mate and prove Chadwick wasn’t as unaffected by him as he pretended, but Saber needed to help fight the Council’s soldiers if they had any chance of winning.  His men would put a major dent in anyone the Council sent their way, but Saber also knew he was still a better fighter.  He’d been training to fight the Council since his father’s death a hundred years ago.

He’d been waiting for the time when he could challenge Refugio and change all that the Council currently stood for.  When he’d received the call from Brecken Shaw, the Alpha of the Snow River Pack, Saber had felt something within him shift.  Up until that moment, he’d feared he’d never find the men and women willing to put their lives on the line to make their world something they could be proud of.

He still hadn’t been a hundred percent sure of Brecken’s assurance that they were challenging the Council until he’d witnessed the sheer determination of each man and woman who fought the Council’s impressive number of soldiers.

As Saber reentered the fray, he saw another batch of soldiers coming from the northeast.  The Council wasn’t pulling any punches.  Not that Saber could blame them.  If they lost today, each member of the Council would be required to fight their challengers.

But, if they won, they wouldn’t have to do anything but claim victory.  As far as the Council was concerned, if that meant sending in thousands of men to be killed, so be it.  At least the Council would be victorious.  That was something Saber wasn’t going to allow so long as there was breath in his body.

Since he had shifted when his animal had become enraged at the danger Chadwick had been in, Saber didn’t have clothes to wear as they’d been shredded.  So he shifted back into his Ape form.  Fortunately, with being a bipedal species, he could still fight with his sword.  He’d practiced just that for years, making sure, no matter the form he took, he was always prepared.

Then he headed for the new arrival of fresh faced soldiers.  It galled him to have to kill so many young men and women, who most likely didn’t understand how evil the Council really was, but Saber also wasn’t about to lose his chance of defeating the men and women who had oppressed the shifters of the world for their own power-hungry greed.

With each step he took, the fear on the soldier’s faces grew until several took off running.  Those who stayed tried to rush him all at once.  Saber quickly found himself surrounded, but he never once allowed himself to consider that he might lose.

He’d been fighting for too many years to permit himself even a second of doubt of losing.  Not because he didn’t believe it could happen, but because it was a waste of time and energy.  No matter the odds, one thing Saber had learned over the years, there was always a way.

A growl from his second to the right of Saber reminded him that his most important reason for succeeding when others might fail were the men that followed him.  Saber hadn’t set out wanting to be Alpha of the men who had aligned themselves with him.  In fact, he’d done it kicking and screaming the entire time about having to be responsible for anyone else’s life.

Despite this, over the years, ten men had decided to follow Saber.  It wasn’t an easy life. He demanded a lot from anyone who chose to stay with him.  He had to if he had any hope of keeping everyone alive.  Since he refused to accept any other option than his men make it out of every situation in one piece, relatively, he insisted they train until they were hardened warriors with no mercy for the enemy who felt it was their right to eliminate Saber and his men.

Within a few minutes all his friends had made their way to him.  They had all known how tired those they were fighting beside were getting after battling for so long.  It was imperative these new soldiers, who weren’t exhausted from combat, not reach the main conflict.

Saber and his men may only be eleven, but he knew they could easily take on what he guessed were two hundred men, especially when about a third of them had fled at seeing Saber heading their way.  These weren’t battle hardened men.  Defeating them would be relatively easy.  Saber just hoped the Council was running out of soldiers to send or they would all be in trouble.

The scent of his mate slammed into him, causing Saber to hesitate for a fraction of a second, but it was all the Council’s men had needed to strike.  Before the sword could spear him in the side, Chadwick’s mountain lion leapt through the air, tackling the soldier who’d nearly skewered Saber to the ground, with his jaws locked around the man’s throat.

It was over almost as fast as at it had begun, once more impressing the hell out of Saber with his mate’s deadliness.  “I took you out of the fighting because you were too weak from your injury,” Saber couldn’t hold back the growl in his voice as he chastised his mate.

He knew it was probably his imagination but Saber would swear Chadwick’s mountain lion rolled his eyes and snorted in derision.

“Go back to town,” Saber ordered Chadwick.

Chadwick turned his back on Saber and took down two more soldiers in rapid succession.  As much as he didn’t want to, Saber grinned at his mate even as he kept fighting.  Life with Chadwick would never be boring, that was for sure, and Saber couldn’t wait to get started being with his mate.

His second, Draco, shook his head and yelled, “That kitty has guts.  I just hope he doesn’t get himself killed.”

Saber growled just thinking about losing Chadwick.  There was no way he was going to allow that to happen.  Not so long as there was breath in his body.  Saber hadn’t trained to fight for more than a hundred years for nothing.

That Chadwick didn’t technically need his help was irrelevant to Saber or his Ape.  He was going to protect his mate, no matter what.  Even if it meant having those gray eyes glaring at him like he was the enemy as they were now.