It took a few seconds before realisation dawned and they shot quick apologetic glances at Rachel. She saw them out of the corner of her eye but didn’t acknowledge them. It was awkward enough as it was; she didn’t want to make it worse. She’d had enough of discussing her personal life for one weekend.
By chance, she’d found herself sat next to Jason again, and he touched his shoulder to hers in a silent show of support. Her smile returned, and she repeated the gesture to him this time. She liked all the betas, but Jason was fast becoming her favourite.
“So,” Cam began when everyone had settled again. “As you know, we went to see the alpha council yesterday, primarily to discuss ways of bringing our pack together.”
“Is this just for the benefit of my unit?” Jenn asked. As the newest of all Cam’s betas, she was often the quietest in these meetings. But this concerned her shifters.
“Initially, yes.” Cam looked around the room. “But your unit aren’t the only ones in this pack who’re unhappy with the situation. Although they are the most vocal.” Davies, in particular, had made his feelings quite clear. Cam stood and ran a hand through his hair. “Jason, Paul, what are your thoughts?”
Jason sighed. “My unit are all right.” Unsurprising since two of them—Will and Mark—had cause to hate Newell and the way he ran his pack, and there was the fact that Mark was Alec’s mate. “I mean one or two of them might be taking longer to adjust than the others, but nothing like Davies and his friends.” He looked over at Jenn. “No offence.”
“None taken,” she said, dryly. “I’m under no illusions with those lot.”
“Paul?” Cam asked.
“There might be a few who’re still prickly about how Newell died. But they know he wasn’t the greatest alpha.”
Cam nodded, as if none of this was anything new to him. “For now, we’ll concentrate on integrating Jenn’s unit. If it goes well, and we think it could be beneficial to others in the pack, then we’ll address that at a later date.”
Alec raised his hand, and Cam snorted. “Yes, Alec?”
“Can I ask what it is exactly that you have in mind for Jenn’s team?”
“I’m getting to that.”
As Cam filled the others in on what Alpha Cornell had suggested, Rachel’s mind wandered.
Inevitably back to Sara.
What was she doing? Was she okay?
They’d decided it was best not to swap phone numbers. That way they hadn’t disobeyed Sara’s father, but Rachel would give anything to send her a quick text, to have that small amount of contact.
“…anything to add, Rachel?”
She looked up sharply at the sound of her name to find everyone staring at her expectantly. “I’m sorry, I was miles away.”
Cam gave her a knowing look. “I asked if you had anything to add?”
Having no idea what they’d already discussed, Rachel chose to dive in and hope no one had mentioned it. “Yes, actually. I spoke to Nathan this morning, and he made a great suggestion that I think we should consider.”
“Go on.”
“He made the point that as a lot of Davies’s ire is directed at Nathan and his unit as a whole, maybe it would benefit the pack if Nathan’s unit accompanied them.” She realised too late she’d called them Nathan’s unit and not hers.
Cam didn’t comment, merely raised an eyebrow. “So they’d do all the exercises together?”
“Yes. If they have to work together, to have one another’s backs, then hopefully they’ll not only gel within their own unit but feel more a part of this pack and lose the animosity they have against Nathan and the others.”
“Hmm.” Cam walked over to the window, stopping to look out at the street below. Rachel held her breath, hoping he liked the idea. “I agree that Nathan makes a good argument. Davies does have an issue with your unit.” He shot her a smile. “With Nathan especially after Newell’s continued hatred of him. But forcing them to work together…” He grimaced. “The result could go either way.”
“Better to find out now that they can’t work together than later in a situation that’s a lot more serious,” Alec offered.
“Also true.” Cam turned to face the room. “Leave it with me. I’ll discuss it further with Alpha Cornell and see what her thoughts are on it. We might need to tweak a few things if there’s the strong possibility of tempers flaring.” He clasped his hands together, a sure sign the meeting was coming to an end. “That’s all I wanted to cover today. Hopefully we can get this organised quickly and move our pack forward to a place where no one feels like an outsider.”
As they all stood to leave, Daryl made his way over to Rachel. “I’m sorry about Alec and me earlier. I wasn’t thinking.”
Jason—still standing beside her—rolled his eyes and huffed. “No shit.”
