The Runaways: Book 1 of the The White Goddess Series

13. The Minister

"Hold up!" 

Nick turned at the edge of the hot spring to see Peach striding towards him from the direction of camp. He'd kept busy all day trying to distract himself and had hoped the lithium-infused waters would soothe his aching muscles and calm the anxiety still lingering inside him.

"Why?" Nick squinted at the pool beneath the swirling steam. "Did something die in there?"

Peach shook her head. "Cap'n wants to see you." 

Nick's shoulders slumped. "About what?" Not that it mattered. He stomped to the boulder where he'd left his clothes. When the Captain called, you answered.

"Damn, Nick." Peach ran a slow look down his naked form. "Why weren't you this cut when we were together?"

"Same reason your blow jobs got better." Nick shoved his legs into his boxers and reached for his pants. "Daily workouts." 

Peach sputtered as Nick grabbed his shirt and stalked past her. The strapping six-foot Master Corporal had served under Alpha Captain Thomas Grayson almost as long as Nick had. After a brief fling early on, they'd settled into an easy working friendship.'

Peach recovered quickly and caught up to him, her long-legged strides nearly matching his own. "You want to be rude, fine." She dodged an elbow to her face as Nick pulled his shirt on. "I guess I won't tell you who's with him then."

"Who's with him?" Nick asked in surprise. He hadn't heard of anyone visiting the camp today. 

"Not telling." Peach lifted her chin and looked away with a sniff. She might be a battle-hardened warrior and an Amazon by even shifter standards, but she was still a woman. Nick rolled his eyes. 

"Fine. Don't." Nick shrugged in a way he knew would annoy her. It was probably just a runner from one of the outposts or one of the local pack leaders whose territories the camp was straddling.

The afternoon sun was bright as they stepped out of the forest surrounding the bustling camp.

"You're a dick, you know that?" Peach shouted after him when Nick turned toward the officers' tents without a word. 

"Oh, he knows," quipped a passing warrior, laughing as Nick raised his middle finger high over his shoulder.

Buttoning his shirt as he went, Nick wondered about the mystery guest and hoped it was no one he needed to impress. Nick struggled with diplomacy at the best of times and today, with acid burn of some unknown betrayal still smouldering in his gut, was not the best of times.

He paused outside the door to tuck in his shirt before knocking on the tent frame peremptorily. "Peach said you wanted to see me?" Nick said as he stepped inside.

"Yes, yes." Tom waved him forward. "Come in."

Nick obeyed, his eyes widening as they settled on the man standing by the map on the far wall of the tent. This was no runner or local pack leader. He looked more like a mage with dark red hair and silver eyes that stood out startlingly against the high collar of his long black coat. His slim form emanted an unmistakable aura of power. 

"Nick, this is Minister of Intelligence Rael Tennyson from the Emperor's High Council." Tom flashed Nick a warning look: He's important. Watch yourself. "Minister Rael, this is Lieutenant Nick Durban, my second in command."

Nick couldn't hide his surprise as he bared his neck to Tom's illustrious guest. The High Council spymaster was probably the most powerful wolf in the Empire next to old Hirate himself.  Literally and politically. He was over two hundred years old and it was said he could mindlink any shifter in the Empire and compel even the most powerful Alphas as easily as he would a human.