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“As you wish, sir.”
Our conversation ebbed as we did a small circuit around the inner part of the fort, but even that revealed extensive damage. Whether from fae, magic-users, or the fire missiles, Canid’s interior had taken much more of a structural attack than it everhad before. That was with our repair crews doing two full days of work.
They were still busily working away as we walked on. I was immensely proud of our support team and would have to definitely set up accolades for them once things calmed down a little.
Not that there was ever any true calm in war.
The walk took much longer than I expected, however, and about halfway through I was beginning to regret my decision to postpone eating. I couldn’t blame them, as the base was still on high alert and morale was so low, but nearly every soldier I passed wanted to say something. It was good to know they were so thrilled that I was awake, but there were only so many thanks and responses I could cook up with no food in my belly and nothing to drink other than mouthwash.
Thankfully, Oren soon noticed I was lagging. Instead of telling me “I told you so,” he started to thank people for me, or request they wait until later when I'd be doing a full circuit of the entire fort. At least he did, right up until Sargent Khan came sashaying up to us.
Probably nobody but me would’ve notice how Oren reacted, but being his best friend certainly had its perks, and one of them was that I could read him just as easily as he could read me.
“Officer Khan,” Oren said in a stiff, awkward voice. Someday I really needed to work with him on his game. Darla was incredibly beautiful, but that was no reason to act so awkward around her. “I’m sorry but Captain—”
“Save it,” she said with a wink before handing me a large, warm ball of tin foil. “Figured you might need this.”
“What is it?” I said, eagerly unwrapping it before revealing three fried, triangular looking pastries that smelled absolutelymouthwatering.
“Two sambuusas and one samosa,” she answered with a grin as I picked one up and took a bite. My senses were instantly filled with utterly delicious and aromatic spices, complimented by rich, delectable meat.
“I thought those were the same thing,” Oren said, and while I appreciated that he was trying, he really was, he came across like he was correcting her.Definitelysomething we needed to work on.
But Darla was as charming as ever. “Nah, sambuusa has meat and onions. Samosa is vegetarian and usually has potatoes in it.”
“Well, they’rebothdelicious, I’m sure,” I said before shoveling the first one into my mouth.
It was both a mistake and a revelation to eat something so delicious. My body and my wolf were thrilled by the idea of something in my stomach, but it also awakened a hunger in me like nothing else. While Oren launched into a somewhat stilted conversation with Darla about other traditional food, I busied myself with shoveling the other two down my gullet as well.
It was probably a sin not to savor food this good, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed calories, and I needed them instantly. It was so warm, savory, and comforting, a soothing panacea across my tongue.
When I finished, I must’ve looked heartbroken, because Darla laughed and pulled another thing of foil from the messenger bag hanging at her side. Was I eating her lunch? I knew I should probably feel guilty, but I still eyed the flat foil.
“Warm naan,” she said simply as she handed it off to me.
This time I managed to consume it at least somewhat civilly. The gently heated carbs hit absolutely right, soothing some of the worst of the hunger pains within me, and with calories came healing. The more bites I took, the straighter I found myself standing.
However, this also meant my senses were now on high alert for any sign of my fated mate. If I’d sensed her on the battlefield, then she had to be a member of our fort…
Unless she was a part of the enemy?
That thought certainly knocked me through a loop. I’d never felt more grateful for the inhibitor bracelet keeping Sargent Khan from being able to casually stroll through my mind. Because if my fated mate was from the kingdom we’d been fighting for so long…
Well, I didn’t know what I'd do.
It made an awful sense the more I thought about it. The fact that I’d sensed her once three years earlier, only for her to vanish. If she was a scout, or a specialist only used for specific occasions, there was actually a reasonable explanation for her popping in and out of existence.
“All right, that’s the last of my goodies,” Darla said, her smile making the corners of her eyes crinkle. “Unless you have any questions, I’ll leave you all the stuff you have to catch up on. I’m sure the list is pretty lengthy.”
“It is” I said, wiping my mouth gratefully. I definitely feltsomuch better.
“Glad to see you up and about, of course. I kept telling old Ory here that you just needed your beauty sleep.”
“Hah, think it worked?”
She squinted at me. “I don’t know, I can’t see past all the rugged handsomeness you’ve got going there. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t have a line of admirers waiting outside the infirmary.”
“I made sure to handle that,” Oren said with pride. “I didn’t want any potential allergens in a healing space.”
