“Any questions?” Rachel asked the room, and Jason held his breath. Relations between the two units had been civil up till now. Was that about to change?
Davies . . .Rob, Jason corrected himself. He needed to start calling them by their first names.
Robert raised his hand, and Rachel nodded at him to speak.
“No offense,” he began, and all six of Rachel’s unit stiffened. Rachel didn’t so much as flinch.
“But why do we get both of them”—he pointed to Rachel and then Daryl—“in our team? Why don’t we get Jason to make things fair?”
Daryl, who’d remained quiet up to that point, stood and walked to stand between Rachel and Jenn. “We’re all betas for the same pack. What difference does it make if you get me or Jason?” He raised an eyebrow, clearly daring Rob to spell out what everyone in the room knew he meant. Daryl stood there, waiting, all his focus on Rob, who understandably was looking less certain by the second.
What would it be like to be the centre of Daryl’s attention? He wasn’t overly huge by shifter standards, but he didn’t need to be. Even as he stood there, apparently the epitome of calmness, his whole being held this undercurrent of danger. Like at any moment he could snap and you’d never know what hit you. Jason struggled to suppress a shiver and looked away. This was so not the time to be turned on by Daryl’s edginess.
“Cat got your tongue?” Daryl asked softly, and Rob visibly swallowed.
Kevin Brown sat beside Rob, and Jason caught his slight eye roll. “I believe,” Kevin replied,
just as quietly as Daryl, “that what Rob is trying to say is that, in light of the fact we’re here to learn how to be one united pack, shouldn’t each team have one beta from each of the old packs?”
Jason had to admit he had a point.
Daryl smiled, but Jason couldn’t tell from that angle if it met his eyes or not. Knowing what he did about Daryl—granted not very much at this point—he was going to go with no.
“Functioning as a united pack means following your alphas orders, even if you don’t happen to agree with them.”
Kevin shared a look with Rob and grinned. Something about it unsettled Jason’s wolf, and he clenched his fists to calm himself, knowing full well what was coming next.
“There are exceptions to that rule, though, aren’t there?”
Daryl appeared unfazed, like he’d been expecting the question. “There are. And if you’re referring to Cam’s predecessor, his betas removed him from power because his actions and decisions were no longer being made for the good of the pack. He’d become revenge-driven and power-hungry.
As Alpha Cornell is essentially our acting alpha while we’re here, if you’d like to tell her that you don’t think she’s fit to be alpha, then be my guest.” Rob paled considerably, and to his credit, Daryl didn’t even smirk.
Rachel’s unit displayed no such restraint, all six of them grinning widely.
When Rob remained quiet, Daryl raised an eyebrow. “Would you like me to relay your concerns to Alpha Cornell?”
“No.” Rob shook his head.
“So you’re happy with the teams as they are?”
He had a sort of pinched expression but nodded. “Yes. They’re fine.”
“Good.” Daryl smiled wide, and this time Jason easily spotted the amusement in his eyes.
He so enjoyed that.
Daryl gave Rachel a pointed look, and Jason caught the slight twitch of her lips.
“Are there any more questions?” She asked, then glanced around the room, but no one else spoke up. “Okay then. Jenn and I will be making up the cooking and cleaning rotas this morning and will post them in the dining area. Please check them before we leave for today’s task. That’s all for now.
Be back here for ten thirty.” She moved to talk to Jenn, voices too quiet to carry, and Jason waited for the others to leave the room before going over to Daryl.
“Can I have a look at that?” He gestured to the sheet of paper in Daryl’s hand.
“Sure.” Daryl’s scowl as he handed it over wasn’t reassuring at all.
The first paragraph detailed that he and Daryl would be expected to take part in some of the tasks as members of the teams. He skimmed the part about the Capture the Flag task and stopped dead at the next bit.
