Chapter 50

50

THREE WEEKS LATER

" Y ou comin' down to the field, Aves?" Lo asks as she and Sloane walk side by side through the hallway of the squad complex, advancing toward me.

"Yeah, I'm just looking for Cam," I reply, glancing past them down the hall. I'm assuming they're coming from the IT hub, and the new command center for the hunter taskforce is right across from it; a former meeting room that we've converted into the headquarters for our new squad division. "Is he in there?"

"Yep, Madd too," Sloane confirms. "They looked busy, so I didn't want to interrupt them."

"You're a lot more polite than I am, then," I chuckle, breezing past my friends. "We'll see you out there!" I call back to them over my shoulder.

Continuing on down the hall, I slow as I reach the doorway of our division's HQ, pausing to peer inside at what the boys are up to. Madd's positioned behind Cam at his desk in the back of the room, leaning in over his shoulder and pointing to something on the computer screen. While they're talking in voices too low for me to hear, whatever they're discussing must be good news. Cam says something as he swivels around that has my brother cracking a smile, extending a fist to bump his knuckles against my mate's. I can't help but grin to myself while watching their interaction.

As much as I hate to break up such a heartwarming moment, though, we've got somewhere to be.

"What are you boys whispering about?" I cluck, stepping through the doorway and striding toward them.

They both snap their heads up like a couple of teenagers who just got caught smoking behind the bleachers, Cam swiveling his chair back around and Madd sidestepping away from his desk. I roll my eyes in response, chuckling under my breath. I don't know why they can't just admit they like each other.

Madd has been working closely with me and Cam to get the new taskforce up and running, and despite his usual surliness, he's definitely been warming up to my mate. I've caught the two of them huddled together in the back of the room chatting more times than I can count. I think they've finally realized they have more in common besides just me, and if they'd just pull their heads out of their asses, they'd see that this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. But they're dudes, so of course they're being weird about it.

"Just checking in on how things have been going," my brother says gruffly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his athletic shorts.

"And?" I ask, cocking a brow.

Madd flicks his head toward Cam. "Hunter boy just hacked into that new dark web message board we found yesterday and took the whole thing down."

"Hey," Cam growls, cutting my brother a glare. "Thought I told you to stop calling me that."

Madd just shrugs, eyes glinting with amusement and the corner of his mouth lifting.

Yeah, they're totally becoming besties .

"Already?" I ask, sliding my wide-eyed gaze to the man in question.

Cam grins proudly as he pushes up from his chair. "Told you I was good at this stuff, babe. When are you gonna start believing me?"

"You know I believe in you," I scoff, rolling my eyes. "You're a man of many talents."

"Damn right I am," he drawls, beckoning me closer with a flick of his head. "Get over here, I'll show you a few of them."

Madd grimaces, shaking his head. "And on that note, I'm out," he grumbles.

"Actually, we'd all better get going," I say. "The buses just pulled in; we need to get down to the practice field."

"Shit," Madd hisses.

I swing my gaze on him, arching a brow. "Don't tell me you forgot that training camp is starting today."

He heaves a sigh that says he totally did, shouldering past me and stalking toward the door.

After putting plans for summer training camp on pause to deal with the hunter situation, we're finally reinstating it. Though I'm not sure we can still call it summer training camp now that fall's right around the corner. The new recruits are rolling in, bright-eyed and eager to fight for a spot on the security squad, and us squad leaders will be rotating in to train them for the next six weeks. My cousin River is among the new recruits, and she's absolutely thrilled that we're getting the program up and running again.

"You ready to go down?" I ask Cam, tilting my head and crooking a finger.

He licks his lips as he prowls toward me, gaze dropping to the apex of my thighs.

"Oh my god, that's not what I meant!" I laugh, giving him a playful shove when he draws closer.

Cam stumbles back a step before lunging forward, scooping an arm around my waist and yanking me in. "Later?" he asks, sparks igniting between our lips as they brush.

"Later," I promise, smacking a kiss on his mouth and wriggling out of his grip. He catches my hand before I can pull away, lacing his fingers through mine. "Where's Matty at today?" I ask absently as the two of us start for the door.

"Don't know," Cam replies. "He was here earlier, but then he got a call from Blair and took off."

"Poor guy doesn't stand a chance against that girl," I snicker, glancing toward their desks. It's unusual to see them vacant- Matty and Blair have been putting in countless hours working IT for the new division. It's nice to have a team that's so dedicated, but they should really take breaks once in a while.

"So this is just like a meet and greet type thing, no actual training today?" Cam asks as the two of us exit the command center and start down the hall.

"Pretty much," I chirp, swinging our joined hands between us. "Madd'll probably torture them a little by having them run laps or something, but the real training doesn't start until tomorrow."

Even though Cam isn't officially a squad leader, Madd invited him to help out with training up the new recruits, saying he wanted more hands on deck to lighten his load with the squad so he can devote more time to his Alpha duties with our pack. He's never had trouble balancing both roles before, but far be it for me to call out the big ol' softie. He knows as well as I do that training the new recruits is a perfect fit for Cam, given his experience with The Guild. It's a way for him to maintain some connection to his old life while moving forward with his new one.

"My parents are probably here, too," I add as we navigate through the halls. "The old guard of squad leadership always comes out for the first day of training camp."

"Cool," he replies .

We take the stairs down to the first floor, then push through the large set of double doors to exit the squad complex, walking out onto the practice field to find the last of the new recruits disembarking from the busses that brought them in from the six-pack's territories. The whole field is a flurry of activity, some of the kids still hauling their luggage over to the side of the building while others huddle up in groups, chatting amongst themselves. I throw up a wave to my parents as I spot them in the far corner, circled up with their friends and watching the action unfold. My Uncle Theo is glaring across the field, and I only need to follow his line of sight to find my cousin River.

She's chatting with a couple of friends, but as soon as she looks up to see me and Cam striding across the field, she comes jogging over to us with a bright smile.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," she squeals, practically bursting at the seams with excitement.

"From the look on your dad's face, he can't either," I joke, slowing to a stop and folding my arms across my chest.

Riv rolls her eyes. "Well he'll just have to get used to it, won't he? He knew I'd leave home eventually."

"Did he, though?" I ask, sticking out my tongue teasingly.

She waves me off, turning her attention to Cam. "Are you leading training, too?" she asks hopefully.

"Guess so," he nods.

"Sweet, make sure to give me high marks," she replies, batting her lashes at him.

"You know the rules, no preferential treatment," I remind her.

She turns to meet my eyes, arching a brow, and we both crack a smile before sharing a quiet laugh. Officially, we're not supposed to favor any recruits over the others, but it's hard not to where my baby cousin is concerned. She knows she's a shoo-in for the squad; training camp is just a formality.

I sweep my gaze over the crowd of recruits on the practice field behind her, sizing up the fresh meat. "I see Seb turned up," I remark, nodding in his direction.

Riv doesn't bother turning around to look. "Yeah, whatever," she mumbles, waving a hand dismissively.

"You ever gonna tell me what happened between you two?"

"You'd have to ask him. He's the one who suddenly became too cool to hang out with me."

"Hm," I grunt, narrowing my eyes in consideration as I gaze over at Seb. He's a head taller than all the other recruits gathered around him, many of which are doe-eyed she-wolves fawning over the hot up-and-coming Alpha. "Where's his other half?" I ask, suddenly realizing that his future Beta isn't beside him like usual.

"Ace isn't going out for the squad," River quips. "I heard through the grapevine that he's gonna apprentice at his dad's tattoo shop or something."

"It's weird seeing Seb without him," I murmur, watching him for a moment longer before returning my gaze to Riv. "Well, you'd better get back to your friends, we're probably getting started soon," I say. "I'll try to tell Madd to go easy on you guys today, but no promises."

River blows me a kiss, spinning around and jogging away, while Cam and I head over to join the other squad leaders. We naturally drift toward Madd and Sloane as we approach. I was always the third musketeer to the two of them, but now Cam rounds out our group perfectly, even if he and Madd don't want to admit they're becoming friends. Four musketeers just doesn't have the same ring to it, though.

When I mentioned to my brother the other day that Cam and I were thinking about moving out of the packhouse and getting our own place, he started dropping some pretty heavy hints about making our current living situation permanent. I guess Mason's mate has been freaked out ever since he was injured in The Guild's attack and has been pushing him to retire early, so the Beta rank in our pack may be up for grabs. And while we've never had a female Beta before, Madd seems to think it's about time that changed. Whatever happens, I'm definitely up for the challenge.

"Ready to scare the crap outta some kids?" Ares asks, rubbing his palms together eagerly.

Archer barks a laugh. "Says the kid who was in the last class of recruits," he teases, giving his brother a playful shove.

"Let's line up and get our intimidation on, eh?" Iver remarks, glancing over at my brother. "You ready, Madd?"

"Born ready," he replies with a wolfish grin, running his tongue along his upper teeth.

We all fall back to form a line in front of the crowd of recruits, my brother on one side of me and Cam on the other. I straighten my posture, planting my hands on my hips and hardening my stare as I look out at the trainees on the field, playing my role to a T. We're always tough on the new recruits to ensure they're prepared for what's to come.

It doesn't take long for them to notice that we're looking their way, the crowd on the field immediately quieting as they turn to stare back at us apprehensively. Madd steps forward, folding his arms across his chest and lifting his chin as he waits for the last remnants of idle chatter to die down. Then he claps his hands together, silence falling as he clears his throat and cups his hands around his mouth.

"Listen up, recruits!" he calls, launching straight into introductory announcements and delivering them with so much command that half of the kids immediately pale.

As he rambles on, I slide my gaze toward Cam, our eyes meeting and the corner of my mouth lifting in a smile. He looks like he's totally in his element. He's come a long way since I first met him as my warden through the bars of a cell, but he still hasn't lost that bad boy edge I'm so fond of. He's settling into shifter life more and more every day, he's fully integrated with his wolf, and he's made major strides with getting to know his family. He's also fitting in seamlessly with mine, and he's even started joining the guys for their daily workouts. I never expected to fall in love with my enemy, but now, I can't imagine my life without him in it.

Madd finishes his speech by directing the new recruits to run laps around the track and they all quickly scramble away to begin, Cam drifting toward me and wrapping an arm around my waist.

"What?" he asks, pulling me in close until his hips are flush with mine.

"Nothing, it's just nice that we get to do this together," I say, grinning up at him adoringly.

He leans in to plant a kiss on my lips. "Love you," he murmurs.

"No matter what," I whisper back.

Cam pulls away, furrowing his brow in question, and I titter a laugh. "It's just something my family has always said," I explain. "Like no matter what happens, we'll always love each other."

"I like that," he muses, smiling to himself as he leans back in to kiss the tip of my nose. "No matter what."

THE END