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agreement in the chamber and several nodded their heads. Destiny glanced at her lifemate, clearly asking him questions. She scowled at his answers.

"You re talking about something that happened centuries ago, Nicolas. Times are different and the world is different. You can't live in the past."

"No, but we can learn from it," Nicolas said. "We lost everything by not protecting our women. Everything . We are down to thirty or so women who can maybe provide one or two lifemates for our males, if we manage to figure out what is killing our children. We cannot afford to think in terms of humans or any other species that have numerous numbers to fall back on. If they choose to forget their women and children, that's their problem, but we cannot. We have to do everything in our power to protect the few that we have."

"You can't lock up the women, Nicolas," Lucian said, "as much as we may want to."

"We could try," Dimitri, one of the single men, muttered under his breath.

Jaxon shot him a hostile look. "You can try, but I wouldn't count on it ever happening."

Gregori stirred, drawing all eyes instantly. "Destiny is correct in that our women and children should be taught how to defend themselves. But I agree with Nicolas on this point. No child and no woman should go unescorted. We have too many enemies and if we can no longer detect them, they could walk through our village and would never be aware of the danger."

Jaxon frowned. "Do you really think any grown woman is going to sit in her home waiting for an escort when she has things to do?"

"We all make sacrifices in times of need," Gregori said.

Jaxon rolled her eyes. "Then you wait in your house for one of us to come escort you. Try it for a few risings and see how you like it." She turned her head and met her lifemate's icy gaze. "If I feel like visiting a friend or relative, I'm certainly going to do it."

"Now you sound like a sulky child deliberately misunderstanding what I am saying to you," Gregori said. "No one wants to dictate to you. The reality is quite simple. We need children, not fighters, and women have babies not men. We have a surplus of fighters and very few women so the task of giving birth falls to the women."

"Really?" Destiny's eyebrow shot up. "So what I'm hearing is that Nicolae should be allowed to fight the vampire, but not me because if I get killed we lose me as a brood mare."

"That is not what I said," Gregori denied.

"That's what it sounded like to me," Jaxon said. "And if she stayed home like a good little pregnant woman, and Nicolae was killed, what do you think would happen anyway? This entire argument is ridiculous. Maybe you're looking for some sign that we should know our places in the home and stay there, but we were not born nor raised Carpathian. We have our own baggage that comes with each individual and some of us need to act. Others need to stay in the home and still others want to heal or research or carry on with whatever work interests them. And that, my friend, is our right."

"I disagree," Gregori said, his voice quiet, but carrying easily through the cave. "You are Carpathian and as such, there are certain differences in our species we cannot get around. Your first loyalty is not to yourselves, but to our people as a whole. We do what is best for all of us, not just individuals. For instance, our first duty is to the prince of our people. Without him, we cannot exist, so his protection must come first at all times. Every man, woman and child should be taught that, respect that and whole-heartedly serve."

"I think all women have proven we're willing to serve the Carpathian people," Jaxon said. "We just don't want to go back to the dark ages when men dictated to women."

Swift impatience crossed Gregori's face. "Do you honestly believe this is about male versus female? This is about saving a species, not women's rights."

"So how is it saving the species to have my lifemate go out and fight the vampire, leaving me at home to worry whether or not he's coming home? If he dies, we both do. The risk is great either way. In a perfect

world, neither of us would be fighting vampires, but the world isn't so