“How did you know it was me?” The voice on the other line asked.
I shrugged, “It’s my job to know things. How are you, Sarah?”
“I’m okay. How are you?” I let out a sigh, “That bad?”
A breathy chuckle escaped, “It’s just very slow going.” I paused for a moment, “Have you given my offer some thought?”
“I have. I also talked it over with my mate. We agreed to move, but he has a stipulation.” She took in a breath, “He doesn’t want me to have to deal with the same bullshit we’ve been dealing with for centuries.”
“I give you both my word you won’t have to deal with that at Storm Industries, and anyone who breaks that will face severe consequences. If it makes both of you feel better, you won’t be the only new member on the team.” I cleared my throat, hesitating a bit before continuing, “We have official forms we’ll need to fill out to file with your clan leaders before you can start working with us.”
A heavy silence fell between us, “That won’t be necessary. The majority of my clan was either killed during the battle or captured after. We don’t have a clan anymore,” she said in a small voice.
“Sarah, I am so sorry.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t a good clan.”
“It doesn’t matter. Daniel and I dismantled my second in command’s clan and she still doesn’t talk about it. What you and your mate have gone through is not a small thing, regardless of how good or bad a clan is, it’s still painful and traumatic to go through what you guys have gone through.” I was the first to break the solemn silence that settled between us, “When can we expect you?”
“The end of the week?”
I glanced at my calendar, “End of the week it is. I can’t wait to meet your mate and I’m excited to show you guys around the complex.”
As we say our goodbyes, I flagged several files before I landed on the most promising file thus far. Siman Izem, Werecat: Lion, Qarun Lake Lion Pride. I quickly checked the time difference between Virginia and Egypt, and shot off an email to Siman with a cc to her pride leaders. I received an email back almost immediately from one of the pride leaders, requesting the necessary paperwork.
Once I sent back the paperwork, I headed to Lavi and Lyosha’s office; laptop in hand. “Sarah will be here at the end of the week, and I’ve heard back from the other candidate’s pride leader. Hopefully we can get her here by the end of the week too.”
“Pride? We’re getting another cat?” Lavi asked.
“Yeah. She’s the best looking candidate we got an application from. She’s from a lion pride in Egypt.”
“Very cool,” Lyosha said. “Have you told Jace yet about Sarah?”
I shook my head, “I just got off the phone with her, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to Jace about it.”
“How do you think he and Finley are going to react?” Mav asked. “I know you guys have a lot of training to stay in control, but you don’t think there will be an issue there do you?”
“Finley doesn’t have as much training as Jace does, so that’s what I’m worried about. I’m also worried about the clan and other dragons here. I’ve made a promise to her and her mate that they wouldn’t have to deal with the things they’ve had to deal with through the centuries.” I sighed, “So we need to have a meeting not just with Industries, but with the clan because there are still clan members living here.”
“How do you think that’s going to go over?” Lavi asked.
I shrugged, “I’m not sure. I think my biggest challenge is going to be Finley because she and her dragon are so protective of Jace, but the clan is too. Now that they’ve had time to get to know him, to train with him, and to see him with Finley, they’re all very protective of him.”
“This will be interesting for sure,” Maverick said.
I blew out a breath, “Yeah.” I kicked Mav’s leg, but addressed Lyosha, “So how’s this going?”
Maverick snorted, “‘This’ is sitting right here. You can ask me.”
I didn’t respond, keeping my gaze on Lyosha, who smiled at me, “It’s going okay. He’s a fast learner, but hacking is tough especially when you come at it without any prior experience.”
I walked over to the pile of files they had on a desk, “What’s in here that needs to get done right away? I’m done training for the day, so I can try to help get some of this off your plate.”
Lavi came over and started leafing through the stack, “These are mostly human assignments. We’re not getting as many requests for help with hunters or even hits on Lyosha’s program. Their populations are too low to continue at the level they were going at before we caught Phil and Joseph made his move.” I took five files off the top and got to work on my laptop. We worked for several hours, Lyosha training Maverick, Lavi and I trading computers as we worked on separate files, all of us laughing and joking.
“Jace, are you and Fin busy?” I linked him as I finished up my fifth file.
“We’re training in the gym. What’s up?” He linked back immediately.
“Can you meet me in my office when you get done?”
“Sure we can finish up and meet you there in like five or ten minutes.”
“Perfect.” I linked back before linking Daniel, “Can you meet me in my office in about five to ten minutes?”
“Yeah so long as you’re not going to push me to train harder.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’ve asked Jace and Fin to join us, so you’re safe.”
Author: Kailan Counahan 