I swallowed, wondering if being pulled from classes was a bad sign. But to be honest, the thought of breakfast at the cafeteria, sitting across from that damned alpha jerk—I found myself nodding. “That sounds great.” I’d planned to drop Trix off to them in another hour or so anyway.
So that was how I ended up at the Sabre’s kitchen table, with Trix licking sticky toddler faces and me on the receiving end of three surprisingly sympathetic ears.
Their indignation at my story about the mission lightened my heart. They didn’t know, of course, about what I’d done to Matt. But when I mentioned I was sure Darius would get me thrown off the team, their faces darkened.
“He can try,” Cody growled. “But that guy’s been a bastard right from the beginning. I think we should split up the team. Put him and his beta on another one.”
“Someone on council is pushing for him to be a team leader,” Kitani said. “That won’t change.”
“Well, if he’s in with a bunch of Dires, that won’t matter,” Ryan reasoned. “They’ll just cave.”
I thought of Matt, and shivered. “I’d feel sorry for them. Darius doesn’t give a damn about anything except his own power.”
Cody’s brows couldn’t get any lower. “That isn’t the spirit we are trying to build here.”
Kitani shrugged. “You gotta wonder why he’s here to begin with. I wouldn’t think serving the council would suit an alpha destined to lead a pack.”
“He told us he wasn’t the primary heir,” I mentioned. “That there was a brother who was destined to inherit the alpha position.”
“Two alphas?” Kitani’s brows rose.
“Well, someone has invested heavily in him being here,” Ryan said.
“But—why?” Kitani asked. “Were they getting rid of one heir to keep the peace?”
“It’s possible,” Cody mused.
Someone hammered on the door. There was urgency in the sound, and the Sabres looked at each other before Cody jumped up to answer it.
The door opened to Cara, Tyrez, and Sebastian. I assumed the knocker to be the Dragon. It was fortunate the door had survived the experience.
“We think we’ve found Galeran,” the Watcher said.
Galeran? Who in the world was Galeran?
The name meant something to the Sabres, though. They all stiffened immediately.
Cara walked in and brought the other two with her. The available free space seemed to disappear once the Dragonshifter entered it.
“I’ve already hauled Amadeus out of bed. We’re suspending classes for the next two days. I’ll need the main strike team for this.” The Watcher glanced at Sebastian. “We’re leaving a skeleton staff here while we go after Galeran.”
Kitani stared at her offspring, now happily wrestling with my dog in the living room. Her eyes were flashing like mad, which I now knew meant she was in telepathic debate with her mates.
By the lowered brows, and the way her lip lifted off a lengthening canine, it wasn’t going well.
Sebastian wore a similar expression. I wondered if he was going, or staying.
Cara removed that mystery. “We expect to be gone for a few days. Sebastian is staying here. We’re also keeping Neil and Alex at the academy. Bess will coordinate the gates from this end.”
Why leave Sebastian behind? I would have thought he would be valuable on such a mission. His face appeared even more frozen than usual, but his eyes flashed as though they reflected an inner chaos.
Kitani growled. I shot her a look just as Cody and Ryan stood.
“We’re ready,” Cody said. “Let’s go.”
* * *
As Cara and the other instructors prepared for their mission, I decided to join my teammates at breakfast. After all, I had gossip.
