Warrior (Relentless #4)(177)

“You guys going to hog the potatoes or share them with the rest of us?” Roland asked with a devilish smile.

“Let me.” I took the bowl from Sara and spooned a generous helping of potatoes onto her plate. Taking some for myself, I passed the bowl to Peter, who sat beside me. Then I reached for the prime rib, which had been cooked to perfection. I asked Sara if she wanted some before I put a slice on her plate.

Heb really had outdone himself. In addition to prime rib and roast goose, there was a ham, a whole roasted salmon, and every side dish you could ask for. The dwarf knew how to feed a party of Mohiri and werewolves.

I wasn’t the only one making sure Sara’s plate was full. Tristan and Nate took turns placing food from almost every serving dish on her plate until she held up a hand to stop them.

“No more.” She laughed and waved a fork at all the food before her. “I’m going to explode if I eat all this.”

Peter grinned. “But what a way to go.”

Roland cut into his prime rib and sighed. “I’m going to miss Heb’s cooking when we go home. He’s spoiled me for normal food. Do you think he’d consider coming with us?”

“Do you really have to go?” Sara asked, toying with her food.

Peter grimaced. “Dad’s orders. Trust me, if we could stay, we would.”

“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about what he’s going to do to us when we get home,” Roland said.

“Will he beat you?” Jordan asked. “I read that some Alphas do that when a pack member disobeys them.”

“Maxwell would never do that,” Sara declared. “He’s tough and he can be scary when he’s angry, but he wouldn’t beat someone.”

“Uncle Max prefers the ‘work you until you drop’ form of punishment,” Roland said. “I don’t know what will be worse, him or going back to school and trying to catch up.”

“Ugh. I forgot about school.” Peter groaned. “Thanks for ruining my appetite, man.”

Everyone laughed and the mood at the table lightened, even with Nate’s occasional scowls in my direction. Fortunately, by the time dessert came out, he seemed to have forgiven me. That made Sara happy, and anything that made her smile made me happy too.

That night, I walked Sara to her room, and she looked around as if expecting Nate to pop out and start scowling again. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her tenderly before I said good night. I was disappointed, but not surprised when she didn’t ask me in. She’d been pretty embarrassed that morning, and she clearly didn’t want a repeat.

Two days after Christmas, Tristan and Nate went back to Westhorne. Sara was down for a few hours, but Roland and Peter cheered her up. She told me she hated to think of the boys leaving too, and she got a sad look in her eyes whenever someone brought it up. I was glad Jordan was staying on with us so Sara didn’t have to lose all of them at once.

The next week went by quickly. Jordan, Chris, and I had moved back to Eldeorin’s on Christmas Day, but Chris and I spent the days next door, getting the place ready for the warriors arriving after New Year’s. I saved my evenings for Sara. We were rarely alone, but I enjoyed being with her no matter what we were doing.

I’d planned to spend time with her and get to know her better at Westhorne before everything happened with Nate and then the attack. Here, Sara was safe inside the faerie protections, and I didn’t need to worry about her. I could do my job while she trained and got stronger. And I’d finally be able to court her as she deserved.

Every night, I walked her to her room and kissed her good night as if I was dropping her off after a date. She didn’t ask me to stay, and I didn’t ask to come in. My Mori was impatient to claim its mate, and so was I, but I was determined to let Sara set the pace.

One person I was happy not to see that week was Eldeorin. Aine came by once a day to visit with Sara, but Eldeorin stayed away. He was supposed to come back in the next few weeks to begin training with Sara. I wasn’t sure what that entailed, but if it helped her master her power, I’d put up with him.

Roland and Peter left us the day after New Year’s to drive back to Maine. The same day, a truckload of equipment arrived along with the first warrior unit. Chris and I spent all day next door, helping to get the command center in order. By that evening, we had all the systems up and running.

It felt good to be doing familiar work again, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until I was back in the middle of it. I wouldn’t be going out on jobs as much as the other warriors, but I’d still see some action. At one time, that would not have been enough for me. Being with Sara changed things.

The next afternoon. I came back from the command center to start Sara’s combat training, and I found her and Jordan standing near the pool, which was almost frozen solid. The look on Sara’s face told me her first day of training with Aine hadn’t gone as she’d hoped.

“What happened?”

“Sara froze the whole thing in like two seconds,” Jordan said.

“Incredible.” I knew Sara could use her power to warm the water around her enough to keep her warm, but to freeze a twenty-thousand-gallon pool?

“No, it’s not,” Sara said glumly. “I wasn’t trying to freeze it, just lower the temperature a little.”

“Ah, come on, you have to admit it was funny.” Jordan grinned at me. “Chris had his legs in the water. Luckily, he has demon speed or he’d be a popsicle right now.”