Chapter 186

Michael POV

I walk over to Michael's trailer, watching as he slowly backs out one of his horses. The beast is massive, it's chocolate brown coat glistening in the sun. It whinny's as he steps him out of the trailer, tossing his head up and down. "This is Calvin," Clint says.

"Your horse is Calvin?" I ask with a smile. "What the hell kind of name is that?"

"You ever read the comic, Calvin and Hobbs?" he asks.

"Sure," I shrug. "Maybe." I really can't recall if I have or not, but I do recognize the name.

"Calvin is the main character. He was always getting into trouble, had no self-discipline and was a right pain in the ass," Clint says. "That's how this horse was when I first got him. He still a little bit of a pain in the ass from time to time, he likes to cause trouble."

"How can a horse cause trouble?" I asked, right before Calvin reached over and nipped my shoulder. I yelped and stepped back. It hadn't actually hurt, but it did startle me. Clint laughed.

"Like that," he said between chuckles. "You can pull out the next horse. She's a mare, calm as can be. Her name is Bean," he said, motioning to the horse that was the color of kidney beans and much smaller than the beast he had pulled out before. I stepped into the trailer, untied the lead rope, and then easily led out the mare. "The Alpha said you had a place for my horses temporarily," Clint said. "Lead the way."

I motioned for Clint to follow me out behind our house. I had a small barn with four horse stalls that stood empty at the moment. I had every intention of getting my own horses, since I used to ride all the time when I was a teen. It had been a long time, but I felt like it was calling to me to get back into it. For now, Clint could keep his horses here until he had his own place. "Nice little barn," he said as we led the horses inside. "You planning on using it?"

"Eventually, yes. I wouldn't mind getting a couple of horses. I do like them, just never had time to do much outside of work before now," I reply. "I've got to get to work here in the next week or so. I've been given a slight reprieve so that I can get settled and get Shawna comfortable here. It won't be for much longer though."

"That's good of your father to give you some time. What exactly will you be doing here anyway?" Clint asked.

"I will be in charge of the warriors, training, patrol schedules, that sort of thing," I answered without much thought.

"Warriors?"Clint asked. I had forgotten that he was human and not accustomed to our way of life. He may as well get accustomed to it if he wanted to stay here. I turned towards him after shutting the mare into the stall.

"Clint, how much has Lynn told you about our way of life? Be honest."

Clint scratched the back of his neck and looked away for a moment. He took a deep breath and then turned to face me. "Honestly, not a lot. Obviously, I know you're all werewolves, and about the whole shifting thing. I know about mates and that you have leaders like your Alpha and Beta. Aside from that, I assumed you were much like humans in the way you lived."

"Let me tell you about a few things that might be important to know then," I said, clapping him on the shoulder and walking back outside towards his truck. "First of all, we have warriors, because we have wars amongst our kind. Not just that but with humans too, hunters in particular. And not the kind of hunters you are thinking of. These are people who know about our existence and think we are abominations, so they hunt us. They like to perform experiments on our kind as well, which is sick in my mind," I looked over at him as he leaned against the door of his trailer. He looked like he was contemplating saying anything, so I gave him a moment.

"You are serious," he said. "About these hunters?"

"I am."

"That is some messed up shit," he shook his head and climbed into the trailer for the next horse. "What else?" he asked as he untied the lead rope and led the big bay out.

"We are abnormally strong, we have amazing immune systems, and we heal quickly. We can die just as easily as you, though, but if I got shot, I'd likely survive it easier than you. Unless it was in the heart or the head. At the end of the day, I'm still a living, breathing mammal." I hopped into the trailer and grabbed the last horse, and we strode towards the barn again. "You can understand why the Alpha needs to make sure he can trust you, just based on the small amount of information I just shared with you."

"I can," he admitted. "What about these Guardians?" he asked. "Lynn said you were one prior, and that this is what Cedric's title is. Can you explain that more?"

"The short version is that we are highly trained bodyguards, who are also highly trained killers," I gave him a quick smile, and he visibly winced. "We sign contracts to be assigned to council members or other high-ranking officials, for a period of time. We are paid well for it, which we should be considering we are literally putting ourselves in harm's way to protect someone who couldn't care less if we lived or died. Our entire job is to care about whether they live or die, so it's very one-sided," I told him. "And yes, I was a Guardian. I was released early from my contractual obligations. My council member, who was also the Alpha of a pack in Idaho, was executed for crimes against our kind," I said. "That is another thing about us, we kill our own, but the outside world is none the wiser. A werewolf could own a business that humans frequent, and that same werewolf could be executed without the humans' knowledge. We just put another in charge of that business and act like they moved away. This is also why we helped you and Lynn escape Wyoming. Her Alpha could easily have her killed. Because you're a human, they would kill you for knowing our secrets, and it would be easy since you have no living relatives."

"All of this is very intense," Clint said softly. "I didn't know things were so political and violent. The violence sounds like a lot."

"Honestly, we live pretty peacefully. Our pack here doesn't really have another pack nearby, so we don't have much in terms of wars or interactions with other packs unless we want to have them. Some packs have a lot more happening in that realm, including the one Shawna and Lynn came from," I told him. "You're pretty safe here, everyone is."

"I hope you're right. I'm here because Lynn wants this. I would do anything to make her happy."

"That's the mate bond, my friend," I patted him on the back. "She feels the same way."