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“What he’s really saying is that he didn’t miss you even a little,” Evan said. I shook my head, and Lukan gave him a gentle shove.

“Well, it’s great about the baby. Please tell Lewis congratulations for me.”

“I’ll do that.”

Evan and Lukan wandered off, quickly finding the other fae enforcers. Frederick grabbed my shirtsleeve and pulled me to the other side of the cafeteria. I quickly saw why. Sebastian was standing against the wall with Benjamin. Reinhold was next to them, and I placed myself between him and Frederick. Leo looked lost, and I grabbed him, pulling him against the wall with me.

“Unless you’d rather go find one of the few feline shifters that we have in the enforcers,” I said.

“Naw, I’m good. I do have to wonder why it is that everyone seems to be congregating toward their own species this time around though?”

I had noticed that. It didn’t take long for me to spot Raiden and Ramsey. They were sitting at a table, looking completely bored.

“Why are we standing instead of sitting?” I asked nobody in particular. Reinhold was the one who answered.

“I’m not sure. I arrived, and there were a lot already standing, so I just joined.”

Leo and I glanced at each other and shook our heads. I grabbed his sleeve again and tugged, pulling him along with me as I made my way over to where Raiden and Ramsey were scowling.

“Trouble in paradise?” I asked as I sat and joined them.

“Naw,” Ramsey said. “Just bored. Raiden is half asleep because Rowan is cutting more teeth and did not sleep.”

I winced. “Isn’t there something you can give him? Your mate is a doctor.”

Raiden rubbed his forehead. “We tried. He was just extra fussy. He finally dozed off once Alexander shifted and curled up with him. Not exactly what we were expecting, but it worked. Unfortunately, we didn’t think of that until around four this morning. I had to get up three hours later.”

“I seriously want my mate, but I’m not sure I’m ready for all of the sleepless nights,” Leo said.

“They’re worth it,” Ramsey said.

“I agree. There are so many more amazing moments than there are not-so-great ones. I adore that little boy more than I can express, but when Rowan doesn’t feel the best, he wants everyone else to suffer with him.”

I felt for the enforcer. It was a difficult position to be in because one didn’t wish for their mate or child to be in any sort of discomfort, and if they were, you wanted to fix it for them.

“Is Rowan doing better now?” I asked.

“It would appear so, yes. He and Alexander were still sleeping when I left. Whatever was causing his inability to calm down seems to have passed because Alexander is still asleep, which means so is Rowan, which is a good thing.”

I winced. “So only you are the zombie today.”

“Apparently so. Having Rowan in our lives is worth it though.”

I nodded, agreeing with that completely. I was excited to welcome our little girl into our family we were building. The room suddenly went quiet, and Leo tapped me on the shoulder. He pointed behind me, so I turned in the chair and saw why.

“Good morning,” Alpha Sergei said. “We’ve called all teams here to discuss some disturbing news that we’ve discovered. The council and, in turn, you, our enforcers, will be going out to put an end to certain organizations that have been brought to our attention. An anonymous tip has pointed us in the direction of certain groups that are holding auctions for omegas. Specifically, omegas in heat.”

There were several gasps around the room, and I found myself clenching not only my jaw but my fists on my lap at the announcement.

“What we know so far is that it is an underground organization that is difficult to break into, and you are only given a day or two’s notice that there will be an upcoming auction. Sometimes there is only one omega up for auction, but usually, it involves a few,” Alpha Sergei continued.

“There are obviously some limitations when it comes to getting an enforcer into the auction,” Master Edison added. “The enforcer cannot be mated because those running the groups know that a mated alpha has little use for any other than his fated mate.”

That meant Frederick or I wouldn’t be useful on this particular assignment. Evan and Leo would though. I glanced around the room, noticing the other enforcers in a different way. Some were mated, but probably just as many weren’t. They would be the ones that would be on these assignments, then.

“We will still be sending out full teams,” Alpha Sergei said, interrupting my thoughts. “Those of you that are mated will remain back at the hotel or other staged area, ready to offer support when needed. We will not only be rescuing omegas that are being auctioned, but also trying to grab those that are controlling the show.”

That made sense. Even if we were able to rescue the omegas involved, if we didn’t capture those who were running things, they would either just have another auction, or they would lie low for a bit before they found some other way to benefit at the expense of others.