aybe. Hello, son.”
Rory hugged him too, rubbing cheeks in the way that lions greeted other members of the pride. The familiar, comforting scent of Alpha wrapped around him. His griffin purred in contentment.
“When you called to say Ash was retiring, I honestly thought you were joking,” Rory said, releasing his dad again.
“So did the rest of us,” said Hugh. The white-haired paramedic was leaning against the wall nearby, a drink in his hand and a slightly bemused look on his face. “I still think this is all just an elaborate way of saving the department from having to pay the cost of his salary. I have a bet on with Ivy that he turns up to work tomorrow morning anyway.”
Rory glanced around for Hugh’s mate, and found her a little way off, chatting to a circle of wary-looking teens. Rory guessed they had to be her latest group of protégées from her charity for disadvantaged shifters. He made a mental note to find her later. He could do with her insight into his current problem too.
“If anyone deserves to enjoy a time of peace at last, it is our former leader,” John rumbled. He was wearing gold-inlayed steel bracers and a sword harness over his formal dress uniform. On anyone else, it would have been a bizarre combination, but John pulled it off with ease. The blend of firefighter and sea dragon Knight was just him. “He had earned honor enough for a dozen lifetimes.”
“Yes, but…” Rory spread his hands, palm-up. “Hugh’s got a point. Ash is still the Phoenix. He can’t retire from that. What’s he going to do all day, if not fight fires?”
Beside John, Chase chuckled. There was a little more gray at his temples than the last time Rory had seen him. It gave the pegasus shifter a dignified, statesmanlike air—at least until he opened his mouth. “Oh, I’m fairly certain Sparky will find something to fill his time.”
Rory followed the direction of Chase’s dancing eyes. He was so used to seeing Fire Commander Ash—no, former Fire Commander Ash—in uniform, it took him a second to recognize the Phoenix in civilian clothes. Ash stood surrounded by well-wishers, accepting hugs and handshakes with quiet grace. His slight but real smile shone through his reserve like a glimmer of sunlight through clouds.
As Rory watched, Ash lifted his gaze slightly above the heads of the crowd. Across the room, his eyes met Rose’s. Just a moment, a glance.
But that look…
Rory looked away, blinking, feeling as though he’d stared directly into the sun. It was the same way his parents looked at each other, even after twenty-five years and five children.
Intense yearning hollowed out his heart. He’d grown up around mated couples, true mated couples. Having seen the real thing, he could never settle for anything less for himself.
One day, whispered his griffin, with utter certainty. We will meet our mate. And we will claim her, to treasure and protect, always.
“Though maybe we can still change his mind,” Chase continued, with a wicked sideways glance at Griff. “If we told him our deep and terrible concerns about this new guy who’s meant to be replacing him. Anyone want to sign a petition of no confidence?”
“Me,” Griff said dryly, as everyone else grinned and shook their heads. “I still think Dai should have got it.”
“Not on your life.” Dai’s amused Welsh voice floated over Rory’s shoulder. The dragon shifter came up to the group, mouth crooked in a smile, his arm draped over his mate. “I like charging into burning buildings, not paperwork. You are more than welcome to the boring job of standing back and ordering everyone else around. Hello, Rory. How’s life out in the wilderness?”
“Hot,” Rory said, clasping his arm in greeting. “You should come join us next season, uncle Dai. Our last big one covered eight thousand acres. Took us three weeks to get it under control.”
“Don’t let your mother hear you,” his dad advised. “She worries enough about you as it is. The less she knows about your work, the better.”
“Well, I’ll have to tell her a few things.” Rory cleared his throat, his face heating. “It’s nothing like your promotion, but…I made squad boss.”
He’d expected smiles and congratulations. He hadn’t counted on Chase whooping loud enough to make half the heads in the pub turn, then seizing him in a fierce hug. What little breath he had left after that was knocked out by John and Dai pounding on his back. Even Hugh joined in, clapping him on the shoulder.
And as for his dad…
His shining eyes said everything. His father’s pride wrapped round him like golden wings.
“Like father, like son,” Chase said, releasing him at last. “Congratulations! So you’ll be leading your own team now?”
Rory nodded, still flushed with mingled pride and self-consciousness. “My superintendent found out what I am. When I told him about Alpha Team, well…” He grinned round at them all. “That’s the other reason I’m here.”
“An all-shifter hotshot crew?” Wystan said.
As expected, Rory had found him lurking in one of the Full Moon’s back corridors, away from the crush. From the faint, tight lines of stress across his forehead, he’d needed a few minutes away from the party to regroup and recover. Few people would guess from his unfailingly polite manner, but Wystan was intensely introverted. A large crowd drained his energy rapidly.
“A squad,” Rory corrected. “Six people in a squad, three squads to a crew. I’m just a squad boss, not the superintendent.”
The corner of Wystan’s mouth turned up. “Yet. Evidently leadership runs in the family.”
Rory’s griffin preened itself at the comparison. Yes. We will be Alpha of our own pride, just like our sire. It fell silent for a moment, then added, thoughtfully, And our territory will be bigger.