Pia didn’t smile, and her gaze remained level. “I can take the gryphons,” she said. Eva’s face froze. “For the past seven months, I’ve been sparring with Aryal almost daily. With the harpy, it’s more like fifty-fifty, since she doesn’t pull her punches. She doesn’t give a shit if I’m a female and Dragos’s mate. If anything it makes her hit harder, because she doesn’t like me much. So, you tell me, Eva. Can I take you?”
Okay, so some of that was bluffing. The other woman was a trained soldier and versed in battle, combat tactics and weaponry in a way Pia never would be. If they were in the wild and engaged in guerilla warfare, Pia was pretty sure that if she didn’t succeed in running away from a confrontation, Eva could wipe the forest floor with her. But they weren’t in the wild. On a training mat or in a McDonald’s parking lot, Pia didn’t have a doubt she could take the other woman. That was the certainty she let sit in her gaze.
“You have two choices,” Pia said. “You can either change your attitude completely right now, no second chances, or you can give me the car keys and make your own way back to New York, because I’m not going to put up with your shit. It’s pulling my mind off what I need to be thinking about, and not only that, it’s unprofessional—from the both of us. We don’t have to be girlfriends. We don’t have to like each other. Believe me, I’m pretty used to that by now. But if you choose to stay, you’ve got to come to terms with the fact that, for anything that doesn’t involve a combat situation, you’re not the alpha in this group. I am. If we’re ever facing a fight where you’re the clear expert, that’s a different story, but until then, you do as I say.”
She watched as fury and instinct warred in Eva’s face. The other woman was dominant, and she lived a violent life. Her Wyr side would be much closer to the surface than it was for others. It would be difficult to give up her alpha status without a fight, especially to someone who was an herbivore, not pack. If they were both purely animals, Eva would try to hunt Pia down for lunch.
Of course Wyr were much more than just their animal natures, but even still, some things bled through in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Predator Wyr often had a condescending attitude toward more peaceful herbivores. Usually that dynamic was nothing more than a social irritation, but in this situation, it added more tension.
But she would not want to be in Eva’s shoes if Eva chose to head back to New York. No doubt that was the deciding factor in Eva’s response, along with the fact that the other woman would never abandon her unit. Eva said expressionlessly, “Got it. For this trip, you’re alpha. We done?”
Pia sourly poked at her lower lip as she noted Eva’s specific wording. “No,” she said. “I’m not finished.” She raised her voice slightly for the benefit of whoever was listening on the other side of the door—which by that point, she reckoned, was all the others. “No doubt you all wanted to stay and watch the Games this week, and find out who wins the sentinel positions. And I get that you’re irritated, but you people need to change your attitude about this assignment. I don’t think you realize how important this trip is, or what an honor you’ve been given.”
“We get that you’re special, being Dragos’s mate and all,” Eva said.
“No, knucklehead,” she snapped. She might have to take Eva out into the parking lot and kick her ass after all—whatever the other woman said, Pia wasn’t sure Eva could really give up her alpha status without it, even if Eva honestly tried. “We’re not on some kind of pleasure jaunt or shopping trip, and I’m not just going to have tea and cookies and go shopping with Beluviel. We’re going to try to fix one of the biggest problems the Wyr demesne has right now, repair treaties and better our relationship with the Elven demesne. It’s something Dragos can’t do, since he’s the one who broke the treaties to begin with—the Elves have threatened war if he enters their demesne without permission again, and besides, he has to settle the sentinel issue, which means he has to stay in New York to preside over the Games.”
She could tell when Eva stopped sneering long enough to actually begin to think, and then the shift happened. Suddenly their trip south was no longer an unwelcome babysitting job for an unpopular mate but had become much more.
She continued, more quietly, “The outcome of our trip matters to a lot of people, Eva. I’m not going to risk failure because you and your idiots don’t know how to rein in your snark, or take orders from someone who is not pack and is nonmilitary. I get that your more usual assignment involves solving problems that are more the point-and-shoot kind. If you can’t handle this, say so. We’ll turn around right now and go home, and I’ll start over with another crew that can.”