“Yep,” Raiden replies. “I didn’t think they existed anymore.”
“We seem to be saying that a lot,” I point out. Frowning, I add, “He didn’t take any of the packs that Ty had made up, so he hasn’t got any supplies or anything. Is he going to be okay?”
“He will be fine,” Ransom replies. “He’s fucking strong.”
“I take it that there is more to him than meets the eye,” Doc asks, looking at River. He adds, “And that there was a reason that you sent him to the compound?”
River nods, “He’s a part of Merrikh’s pack. I got the feeling that if I told him that, he would do everything in order to avoid going there. So I decided just to give him a nudge in the right direction instead.”
“Wow, I did not expect that,” Coen says with his eyebrows raised as he stares in the direction that Trip disappeared. “But then again, I didn’t expect him to shift into what he did either.”
Ransom shrugs, “It makes sense, actually. Trip is like Merrikh, in certain unique ways.”
Ransom is being really careful about what he says, so that he doesn’t give anything away, because there is always a chance that we’re being listened to, even though everyone around us is really busy taking care of everything that comes with the aftermath of doing a job like this.
Thankfully, the guys aren’t stupid, and they quickly pick up on what Ransom means.
“Oh well, yeah. In that case, it makes total sense,” Raiden agrees.
River grins and pulls out his phone, “I'd better call Dare and let him know that Trip is going to show up.”
“He messaged you?” I ask.
River nods, “Yeah, just to give me his number.”
River steps away to make the phone call.
Since we can’t talk about what I really want to talk about, I ask, “So what now? I’m never usually around for this bit.”
“Ty has everything handled, so we can head home. There’s not really anything else that we can do here,” Doc explains. “I’ve healed everyone who needed it, or allowed me to.”
“I’m hungry,” Reed mutters and then shifts like he’s uncomfortable, “and I really need to release my magic, it is not happy being locked down.”
“That’s all settled. Dare, and the others say hi,” River says as he comes back. He adds with a smile, “They said that they want to meet up soon and get to know us properly.” His nose scrunches up as he adds, “They said that they owed us a drink at least for what we did. I told them with the amount of shit that we’ve got going on, it may be a while before we manage it, and that they didn’t owe us shit.”
“No, they don’t,” Van agrees. “Although I would like to meet up with them.”
Doc nods, “Me too. They seemed like our kind of people.”
“I would love to have them as friends, but I am also insanely curious about Merrikh’s ability. I would love to know more,” Raiden adds.
River’s smile widens, “Merrikh already knows you well enough from the brief meeting we had with them because he told Dare to tell me to tell you,” River’s eyebrows draw down as he makes sure he has the order right, and then continues, “that he’s happy to fill you in on it, but in person because, and I quote, you never know whose listening.”
My eyebrows rise slightly, “Well, that’s interesting phrasing, although he isn’t wrong.”
“It definitely is,” Coen agrees. “We knew that there was more to them all though, so it’s not that surprising.”
“It’s really not. Did you tell them that Trip is a part of their pack?” Griff asks quietly.
River nods, his expression becoming more serious as he lowers his voice as well. Not that any of us were speaking particularly loudly anyway, since the subject matter is sensitive.
“I did. They’re a bit wary, which is understandable, but they trust me. It will work out how it's supposed to even if there are a few bumps along the way.” He looks around at us all, “Can we go eat?”
I can’t help but laugh. He’s just done something incredible, something that no other shifter can do, and he’s still thinking about his stomach.
“Yeah, let's go,” Van says. “I’ll just let Ty know that we’re heading out, in case he needs us for any reason.”
“Could you let him know that Trip is going to show up at the portal at some point? I gave him directions to get there since the compound isn’t in Ireland. I don’t want him to get stopped or questioned when he shows up,” River asks Van.
