The other alphas had wandered off on their own business, but Alice had stuck around. She was sitting perched on the edge of one of the big pine tables. The way her sharp eyes scanned the line-up made her look every bit the eagle even in human form.
“This is our dragon shifter, Serenity Drake,” Nate said, pitching his voice to carry through the room. He stumbled slightly over my full name, so used to using the nickname I was most comfortable with. “On her first visit here, she wanted a chance to meet and speak with all of you. As your alpha, I know you’ll do your kin proud.”
We weren’t telling them the full reason for this gathering, but I knew word had passed on about my talk with the rogue. They knew this was more than just a friendly chat.
“Hi,” I said to the first guard in the line, dipping my head slightly so he could catch my scent. He did the same in return—a ferret. He looked it. His dark eyes studied me warily from his pointy face. But he was tough, too, his arms ropey with muscle. “Like Nate said, I’m Serenity, but I really prefer if you call me ‘Ren.’”
“Mitchell,” he said. “It’s an honor to meet you, dragon shifter.”
He didn’t totally mean it. I could taste his hesitation. But that wasn’t new. I’d gotten the same impression from about half of the other group too, as if they weren’t quite sure their kin were better off or worse with me around.
“What made you volunteer to serve as a guard here?” I asked.
His gaze slid to Nate, and I sensed nothing but warm devotion from him then. “It is the greatest honor to be at my alpha’s service. If I save my kin even a little trouble on his behalf, I couldn’t ask for more.”
I caught a thread of what he didn’t say in the dip of his voice. He blamed the trouble they’d just had here on me. Well, fair enough. The rogues wouldn’t have launched their assault if they hadn’t known I was on my way to the estate. I’d gotten the same vibe from the other doubters.
Of course, some of Nate’s kin still gave off those wafts of dragon-shifter awe I was in the process of getting used to. A little farther down the line, a mountain goat shifter bobbed on her feet almost giddily as she bowed her head to me. Her eyes shone with excitement.
“I heard you got the truth out of that rogue with your dragon fire last night,” she said after she’d answered my questions. “That he couldn’t do a thing to stop you! It sure is a good thing having a dragon shifter around again.”
“I’m glad you think so,” I said with a smile. I just hoped I could live up to her expectations.
I’d spoken with about half of the guards when I reached a muskrat shifter who greeted me with a wide grin. It should have looked friendly, but there was something slightly twitchy about him that set my nerves humming.
I gave him the same greeting I had the others. His bow was a little jaunty. I’d have liked him if it wasn’t for that aura of discomfort he was giving off.
“The name’s Orion,” he said. “Big name for a little guy. My mom had the idea it’d make me more impressive.”
The corner of my mouth tugged into a smile despite myself. “You must be decently impressive if your alpha chose you for his guard.”
“Ah, I do what I can. A little stealthy sneaking here, a little rat-jitsu there.” He winked.
Again, I was struck by the sense that he wasn’t anywhere near as at ease as the front he was putting on was meant to imply. He wanted me to laugh and move on. And the sooner I did, the happier he’d be. But the emotions roiling beneath his jaunty demeanor weren’t annoyed or skeptical.
No, if anything he was scared of my attention. Hmm.
Well, I’d let him think he was getting what he wanted. “Keep up the good work, then,” I said, and moved on.
None of the other guards rubbed me the wrong way. When I reached the end of the line, I could see several of them shuffling their feet, eager to be dismissed. They’d just finished a long shift on duty. With this scheme, I’d probably irritated all the ones who already weren’t impressed by me.
I touched Nate’s arm and leaned close to him. “They can all leave except Orion. I want to have a one-on-one chat with him.”
Nate’s eyes darkened. “You think he’s in league with the rogues too?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “So don’t go into full grizzly mode on him right away. There’s just something off about him. Different from the ones who are just thinking I might be causing more problems than I’m solving.”
Nate bristled. “If anyone says anything—” he started, and I patted his arm.
“It’s fine. I don’t blame them. Let’s find out what’s going on with the muskrat, all right?”
Subtlety might not have been Nate’s strongest point, but he managed to single Orion out without being totally obvious about it. My bear shifter ambled over to the doorway before telling the guards they were dismissed. As they filed past him, stances relaxing, he caught the muskrat shifter and tugged him to the side.
“Just one more thing I wanted to go over with you,” he said, as if it had nothing at all to do with me. A couple of the other guards looked over curiously. From across the room, I felt the tension clench through Orion’s body.
No, he wasn’t happy about this development at all.
Alice hopped off the table. “Should we go somewhere a little less... expansive? I feel better when I’ve got the walls closer at my back.”
“Yes,” Nate said. “I think a little privacy is in order for this talk.”
“I... don’t understand?” Orion said as Nate ushered him to a side door at the other end of the hall. “What’s this about?” He carefully did not look at me.
“I think we’ll figure that out once we’ve gotten to the talking part,” Nate said. “Come on.” He gave the muskrat shifter a light cuff to the head to nudge him onward. Maybe not that light, actually. The smaller guy winced.
Orion had done a good job playing the joker in the middle of the line, but as we tramped deeper into the palace, his nerves started to show. He raked his hand through his bristly black hair. His narrow jaw worked. When Nate opened a door down the hall and motioned him in, his legs balked for a second before he complied.
I followed, glancing around approvingly. Nate hadn’t picked anything that resembled a chilly interrogation room. The room looked like a study: built-in bookcases stuffed with books and binders, a desk at one end and three leather chairs at the other. Alice, who seemed to enjoy a higher vantage point, hopped up to sit on the edge of the desk. The rest of us took the chairs.
Orion twisted his hands in his lap. His gaze darted to me and then settled back on his alpha.
“You have to know,” he said in a strained voice, “I had no idea that attack was going to happen. I haven’t done anything to threaten the security of the estate or my kin here. I wouldn’t.”