I scurry down the path. I just need to get this reunion over with as quickly as possible.
Colter strides up quickly and swipes in before I can open the door for myself, so I duck under his massive arm. We make it down a long, carpeted hall lit by electric candelabras before we encounter two generals striding out of a meeting room with my other two mates. Ridge and Kylian were summoned to give briefings on their rescue campaign all morning, so we had to divide and conquer.
Ridge gives me a nod, his jaw still working as he hands a sheet of paper over to Colter. Kylian, however, bounds right up to me and lifts me into a hug that presses me tightly against him. That broad chest, the hint of his tattoos peeking out beneath the black collared shirt he's wearing, the masculine scent of him…
Unconsciously, I move my nose to the base of his neck and inhale until my eyelashes start to flutter.
Behind me, Colter and Luka exchange harsh words with Ridge, and I'm jolted out of completely melting into Kylian. I wriggle out of my alpha's arms and smooth down my dress as I turn to face them.
"Next week!" Luka is shaking his head. "That's too soon."
Ridge gives a shrug. "Orders are orders."
They must have gotten the news of their deployment. The air fills with their frustration and fury, so potent and yet impotent at the same time. Because my mother has chosen to attack full throttle.
I glance from face to face, a thousand different sensations pinging through me, panic swelling my limbs, fear dissolving my bones. But underneath all that roiling mess is a rock in my gut. A solid certainty…because I know my mother's plans, but I also know my own.
And my men need plausible deniability for the things I plan to do. So, I stiffen my jaw and reach forward, taking the paper from Colter's hand as if I don't know what's on it.
By order of the monarch of Hypso, you will report for duty to Epithesi base by Friday, December 12…
Even though I knew exactly what I was about to read, my eyes start filling up as the blood drains from my face. An ache rolls through my chest like fog off the ocean, thick and fast and full of shadows. We're going to have to separate.
My brows lift, and I have to swallow down a whimper, which lodges in my throat like a stone.
"Brylee!"
Of course Teddie finds me at the worst possible moment. He's got impeccable timing.
I spin to see my brother walking toward me, looking far better than I expected. He spreads his arms wide, a huge grin breaking across his face.
"Poopsicle!" he calls.
HE. DID. NOT.
Radioactive missiles launch from my gaze.
That fucking bastard! In front of my mates!
My brother just smiles smugly down at me as he wraps an arm around my shoulders and spins me so that I have to see Alpha Team X's reaction to the most humiliating, in-private-situations-only, bastard-initiated nickname of all time.
"Alpha Team X, this is booger-eater, also known as the toddler who pooped literal strings of spaghetti that our nanny had to pull from his butt," I say.
Kylian cracks up, a snort blasting out that turns into a howl as most of the others chuckle.
I glance up at my brother, noting that despite the pep in his step, the deep shadows are still there beneath his eyes. He’s also become gaunt…
Ted seems annoyingly immune to my embarrassing overshare. His mind must be on other things right now.
Is he feeling sick?
My arm tightens around him, and he squeezes me back.
But then he surprises me by nodding respectfully toward Ridge. "Thanks for rescuing my sister."
Ridge gives a single, silent nod.
And suddenly things feel serious, the way they address each other. How their gazes drop to me and soften.
