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“Thank you for your time and food, Sargent Khan. It’s time for me to finish the rest of my meal.”
“Of course, sir.” She tilted her head. “Again, it’s good to see you up and about. Just remember to take care of yourself, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
She gave a salute and sauntered off, and no, I didn’t miss how Oren’s eyes followed her longingly during her exit. My man had itbad.
Once she was gone, though, it was like a spell was broken, and he turned to me. “Shall we, sir?”
Despite eating what would've been a light meal for some, I was stillravenous.I felt less like I was going to fall over, but I was even hungrier than before. Shifter digestive systems were so complicated.
“Please,” I said with a soft chuckle before heading in.
I couldn’t tell you how relieved I was to see a full spread across my desk.
I sat down and began shoveling down the food without much grace. But who needed grace when my body was getting the calories it so desperately needed?
If the sambuusa, samosa, and naan had helped me stand up straighter and get through the walk to my office, the roast, sauteed veggies, fruit, beans, and rice were like a shot of adrenaline to my body.
“Would you like me to get more, sir?”
The greedy part of me wanted to jubilantly agree, but I knew I should take it in waves. I'd heard of shifters’ appetites occasionally getting them into trouble by gorging themselves after not being able to eat at all, and then taking even more time healing from a split stomach.
“No, I should finish this first and let it settle.” I filled my cup with what looked like fruit juice, then drained it. “Why don’t you send the scout in?” I thought he had been waiting in my office itself, but he must have been sequestered somewhere nearby.
“Yes, sir. I have him under protection, just in case.”
“I thought as much.”
Oren tilted his head and walked out, leaving me on my own for a few moments. I had to remind myself to chew and swallow while I devoured the spread around me.
By the time Tristan came in, I was under control and definitely feeling more like myself.
“I heard you had news for me,” I said as I motioned for him to sit. “You must have been quite stealthy, being out as long as you were and not being detected.”
Not knowing that his home base was under attack.
“I didn’t intend to be that long. I took longer to return because I was trailing a group of what I believed to be enemy scouts all the way out to their camp.”
Oh? Now,thatwas interesting.
“And were you successful in tailing them?”
“I was. I used the last of my suppressant washes and pills and got close enough that I could pick up on the occasional talking. It was a lot of nothing at first, but I managed to catch wind of an upcoming strike planned against the entire surrounding area of Fort Canid.Includingthe human populated towns and cities.”
That was most unfortunate. “Are you certain of this?”
From what I knew of Tristan, he was a ladies’ man who'd been scraped off the floor several times after getting hammered out on a mission, but he now looked completely serious.
“I am, sir. They’ve already started carrying out attacks on defenseless cities in other areas along the borderlands, far out of our jurisdiction. Ones that are supposed to be well outside of the war zone.”
Tristian swallowed, and his eyes went to the pitcher beside me. I couldn’t blame him for having dry mouth at that moment.
“Help yourself,” I said, handing him my empty glass. Shifters didn’t really need to worry about germs, especially not with other members of our kind.
“Thank you, Captain,” he said before pouring himself some of the sweet liquid and downing it. Once he was finished, he wiped his mouth, and now he looked even graver. “I don’t mean to be a doomsayer, sir, but I fully believe they’ll kill each and every civilian nearby just to create unrest. They want us to haveno allies and disrupt the tenuous peace we do have with the humans.”
Alarm rippled through me, but I did my best to keep calm so I could think clearly.
