The warrior wolves filed into the room, and everyone quieted down. I clutched the keychain tighter. Roman walked in last, and my wolf purred. She couldn’t wait for him to touch her the way he did last night. After Roman said our name and everyone left the packhouse and it was just me and him… we couldn’t wait.
Maybe when I started spending more time with him, things would change between us. Maybe he’d take me to the cave again and we could lie on our stomachs and whisper our deepest, darkest secrets to each other like we used to do.
Roman stood in front of the trainee-warriors with dark circles under his eyes and a hard expression. “Today is assignment day,” he said. I tried to suppress a smile and spun the keychain around my finger.
For a moment, he gazed at it and clenched his jaw. Then he turned away from me. “As much as we would like you all to join us, we do not have space on the team for everything to run smoothly. After much consideration, I have assigned you to where I think you’d fit best. I’ve based many of these decisions on your performance this week.”
Vanessa smirked at Roman, her eyes filling with excitement, and Roman… looked at her and smiled back? I gazed between the two, my eyes narrowing. What the fuck was that? My wolf growled lowly, glaring at Vanessa.
Derek picked up on the subtle exchange and nudged me. “Did you see that?”
I clenched my jaw, but then forced myself to unclench it. Nothing would dampen my mood today. I repeated the mantra to myself until I calmed down.
“Alright, let’s get started…” He cleared his throat. “Alberto: warrior. Alice: warrior. Gene: nurse. Derek: warrior.”
A grin broke out across my face, and I leaned into Derek, feeling so proud of my best friend. We deserved this more than anyone here.
“Kelly: businesswoman. Niko: doctor.” Roman continued to assign trainees positions. He stopped for a moment, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Vanessa: warrior.”
My eyes widened. Warrior? Vanessa was assigned as a warrior?
Vanessa squealed and clapped her hands together, a wave of her strawberry perfume hitting me like a wall. Cayden furrowed his brows and gave Roman a puzzled look. Roman who didn’t say anything about it, just continued to call out names. Some of our classmates began whispering.
Nobody could believe what Roman had just said. Vanessa was not a warrior. There had to be a mistake.
Roman cleared his throat, silencing the room. “Let me continue.” He glanced around at a few people, finally settling his gaze upon me. His face was void of all emotion. “Isabella: nurse.”
Chapter 12
Isabella
Derek gasped. Cayden stepped forward. Vanessa laughed. And I blinked in surprise, unable to even comprehend what Roman just said.
Suddenly the whole room erupted into a buzz of murmurs. People gazed from me to Roman to Vanessa who was boasting in her victory. I grasped the keychain tighter in my hand.
“You’re dismissed. For those of you who are now warriors, please stay behind for an additional meeting. We’ll take a five-minute break.” Roman walked out of the room, not sparing me a second glance.
Cayden shook his head and swore, following him. This couldn’t be right. No… no, it couldn’t. Roman knew I was one of the best fighters here. There was no way he’d accept Vanessa over me. No fucking way.
“Are you okay?” Derek asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I pressed my lips together. “There is a mistake. There has to be.” Determined on finding Roman, I pushed people out of the way and hurried to the door. The warriors, all surprised themselves, created a path for me to walk through.
Roman’s scent led me all the way to his office. Instead of knocking politely, I marched right into the room with a hand on my hip. He sat behind his desk, gazing down at some papers, with Cayden next to him.
“Can I help you?” Roman asked, looking at me with the hardest expression.
“You’re fucking with me, right?”
He sat up and leaned his forearms onto his desk, pressing his lips together. “Cayden leave.”
“But—” Cayden said.
“Leave.”
Cayden walked out of the room, giving me a sympathetic smile, and shut the door behind him. Roman’s gaze remained on me the whole time. “Why’re you still here, Isabella?”
I shook my head. “I’m the best warrior that you have, and you know it.” My voice rose with every word, pure anger pumping through me. “Why the hell would you assign me as a nurse?”
