That didn’t mean he liked it or wanted to endanger his mate.
Xavier knocked on the solid oak door of Melcori’s office, hoping he wasn’t walking into one of the dangers Zabria had declared seconds before.
“Come in,” Melcori called out.
Xavier pushed the door open and peeked around the wood panel to find Melcori sitting behind his desk, scowling as usual.
“Are you coming in or not?”
“Sorry, I was just surprised you used your phone.”
“I’m not a complete Luddite,” he snapped.
Xavier’s expression of disbelief had him slumping in his chair. “The council insisted that everyone start using phones to communicate.” He pouted.
“Ah.” That made a lot more sense than his Master finally deciding to join the rest of society. “What did you need?”
Melcori’s scowl deepened. “I need to know if you’ve found a location for the new Grove.”
Xavier folded his arms, clutching his biceps on either side. “I delegated that.”
“Delegated?” Damn, when had Melcori gotten so loud? “Why would you delegate such an important part of my plan?”
“I gave the job to a much better person to figure out where to put a Grove.” Xavier pushed back. He appreciated all Melcori had done for him, but he was past tired of being pushed around. “Besides, my mastery exam is next week, and I’m in the last stages of finishing my project. I don’t have time to search a forest for the perfect clearing spot.”
“You sent him alone?”
“No, he’s with my mate.”
Melcori puffed out his chest. “Since when do you have a mate, and why didn’t you tell me?”
“I met him when you sent me to examine the forest for signs of the male dryad.”
“You didn’t tell me you found the dryad.” Melcori’s eyes glowed menacingly in the low light.
Xavier bit his lip and thought fast. He had hoped to get through this explanation without bringing up that little tidbit. “Chimera’s job for me was to keep an eye on the dryad and infiltrate the Moon Pack. If I’d taken him, we’d have a powerful pack as our enemies. This way, both groups are happy. I made the best decision I could.”
Melcori’s eyes narrowed to thin slits. “Who is your mate?”
“He’s a mountain lion shifter named Katlego.” He didn’t offer any more information.
“Can he prevent the male dryad from entering the new Grove? We don’t want to have to start over. Octavia won’t forgive us if she doesn’t get the Grove I promised. She can’t take back our agreement over the gems since she signed a contract, but she can use her dryad magic to make it next to impossible to get them.”
“Yeah, about that.” Xavier scratched the back of his neck as he told Melcori everything he’d learned about Rance being a Green Man. “It’s essential we convince them to let Rance create their Grove because no number of female dryads will be able to. Without a Green Man, I don’t know what the Grove magic will do. It might go to him or rebel. There isn’t enough documentation to track possible repercussions.”
Melcori tapped his fingers together like a movie villain as he stared at Xavier until he shifted in his seat. “I would be very angry with you if you weren’t bringing me vital information.”
Air exploded out of Xavier’s lungs in a long sigh. “Thank you, Master.”
Melcori snorted. “You only call me that when you know you’ve fucked up.”
“True.” Xavier nodded.
“Why don’t we go tell the dryads about this development? I’d feel better if they were aware of the truth. I don’t want them mucking up the new Grove because of a misunderstanding.”
“Good idea.” Xavier meekly followed Melcori out of his office, happy he didn’t have to grovel for forgiveness. He would’ve done it. He hadn’t come this far in his apprenticeship to fail at the last hour.
He needed this.
