Chapter Thirteen
All that was running through their minds was the same thoughts on repeat: No more hunting. No more enforcement. No more shadows and blood and endless roads.
Gods they all thought. No more tracking dangerous individuals...no more protecting the supernatural community from exposure... nor humans from attacks. No more travelling to obscure and small places and sleeping in the car...Now they're meant to protect someone. Gods above.
“Who will we be protecting?” Joshua asked, dread and hope tangled together.
Kat laughed outright. “Gods, you’re worse than my mates.”
Then she said the name they least expected.
“Anabelle Wyatt.”
The four males didn’t move. Didn’t breathe properly. All of them stood where they were, frozen by the name their queen just uttered. Like their entire world shifted on its axis.
Rian’s knees nearly buckled as his breath left him in a rush, something fierce and reverent burning behind his eyes.
Joshua stared, stunned, his chest aching with a mix of awe and terror.
Cameron closed his eyes briefly, as if offering thanks to every god he’d ever known and Dominik went very, very still, so many emotions threading through his control.
Gratitude hit them all at once. Not loud. Not explosive. It settled deep, heavy and reverent, like something sacred being placed carefully into their hands.
Dominik bowed his head first, slow and deliberate. Rian followed, then Cameron, then Joshua. Not because they were ordered to, but because it felt right.
“This is… beyond generous,” Cameron said quietly. “Thank you, High Queen.”
Joshua nodded, jaw tight. “But it’s also our gods given duty,” he added, voice firm. “She’s our mate. Protecting her isn’t something we need incentive for.”
Kat studied them for a long moment. Then turned her head slowly toward him.
“Gods,” she said dryly. “Do I really need to spell it out?”
She stood, moving to lean against the table, gaze cutting back to the four men.
“I’ll be paying you to do exactly what you were meant to do,” she said.
“Love her. Protect her. Be there for her.” Her eyes hardened just slightly.
“Without another job getting in the way. Without orders pulling you in opposite directions.” She pointed at them one by one. “From now on, she is your sole focus.”
Dominik inhaled sharply. “This,” he said, voice rough with emotion he didn’t bother hiding, “this is a gift.”
Joshua shook his head once. “We shouldn’t be paid for something we would’ve done anyway.”
Katarina lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Really?” she asked mildly. “Because when you’re out on assignment, who’s with her?”
Silence slammed down.
Joshua opened his mouth. Closed it. “Fuck,” he muttered. “We just—”
“I know,” Katarina said softly, cutting him off. “And it’s honestly a miracle you’re all still standing with how much the universe likes testing you.” She smiled faintly. “Consider me your fairy godmother.”
Rian let out a breath that bordered on a laugh, disbelief flickering across his face. “You’re giving us… freedom.”
“I’m giving her safety,” Katarina corrected gently. “You’re just the means.”
Cameron straightened. “Do we report directly to you then?”
“Gods, no,” Katarina said immediately. “You’re working for me in the sense that I’m funding you. But I don’t want reports. I don’t want updates.”
She waved a hand. “I trust you.”
That landed harder than any command ever could have.
“You only come to me...or the Council...if her life is in danger and you need help,” she continued. “Which we will give without hesitation.”
She sighed softly. “I’m not trying to control this. I’m just… trying to do a good thing.”
Dominik met her gaze. “You are.”
Rian swallowed. “We won’t fail her.”
“I know,” Katarina said simply. “But hear me clearly, protecting her doesn’t mean controlling her. She has a right to her fear. Her anger. Her choices.”
Joshua nodded, chastened. “We’ll earn her trust.”
Cameron spoke again. “And the tracking weave?”
“It activates at dawn,” Katarina replied. “You’ll find her quickly. But remember, no revelations. No claiming. No bond talk.” Her gaze sharpened. “Not yet.”
Rian winced. “That’s going to be… hard.”
Katarina smiled knowingly. “Welcome to matebonds.”
She straightened fully, queen once more. “You’ll bring her to me. I’ll handle the truth. While you find that demon. After that, you guard her like the world itself depends on it.”
The four men bowed again...deeper this time.
Not as soldiers. Not as agents. But as mates who had just been given the chance to do this right.
And as they turned to leave, purpose thrumming through every step, one truth rang clear in all of them: For the first time in their lives: They weren’t hunting monsters. They were protecting home.