Page 16 of War Games

It was a good smile. Ahealthysmile. He had some darkness under his eyes, but we all knew he was working overtime trying to find information on the dark web and make sure there were no weaknesses in our security, at least not on the digital front.

There’s something about nearly dying with a person that changes a relationship. I never thought Davor would ever be happy to see each other, but here we are.

“How are you, Davor? You seem tired. Dirk was tired when he showed up today, as well. Were you working on things together last night?”

“Actually, yes,” Davor said, nodding. “Though, he should have gotten plenty of sleep. It was much later for me.”

“Huh…” I pursed my lips until Davor frowned, and I realized he thought I was upset with him. “Not you. He was looking particularly tired when he picked up Carey this morning. He’s taken her to the gun range today. He’s safe enough, and from what Heath said, Carey’s not a true beginner, so they’ll be fine.”

“What kept that young man up all night?” Zuri’s concern was evident, but that was unsurprising. While only Niko and I had a strong relationship with Dirk, the young werewolf was still her nephew just as much as mine.

I looked away, knowing I had to either answer now or not answer at all. Niko was nearly at my house, deciding to do this meeting from my office instead of his own. It only made sense because my house was much more secure than his because I had a territory and a werewolf pack protecting it.

“I can’t say. I have an idea or two, but it’s really not our business.” I tried to be cautious. If I made this a thing, then they would keep asking about it until Niko arrived, and then I would need to tell Niko everything. If Landon thought I had meddled yesterday, I was worried I would destroy whatever friendship I had with him by involving my entire family.

“Boy trouble,” she said confidently, her age and experience able to guess correctly without me needing to say anything more, which I stupidly didn’t consider when I had started this topic of conversation.

“We’ll handle Landon, too, if he needs?—”

“No,” I growled as I glared at the screen to see Jabari’s shit-eating grin. “Jabari, we will not get involved with all of that. We have a lot of things going on right now.”

“War brings a lot of changes to relationships,” he said, leaning back in his seat. His grin fading, his mouth flattened into a serious expression, and he suddenly had the air of old wisdom, not a teasing older brother or uncle. “People change. While I know you’ve had a lot of drama and danger over there, this is different. People will move differently. That’s going to cause friction in any relationship, even the strongest.

“We need everyone to be mentally healthy, not just physically healthy. If someone is not sleeping soundly because they are having problems at home, that directly impacts their abilities when they’re needed by the rest of us. Keep an eye on whatever is going on with him, please. It does matter. He’s a part of this family, and this could get him or Landon hurt if they aren’t able to settle whatever is going on.”

“Okay…” I certainly wasn’t going to argue with the one everyone called the General. I took a deep breath. “Niko is nearly here. Before any of you ask, he was here when some of the… friction came to light. Also, he’s going to start training me tomorrow.”

“Oh, good. Someone will finally make sure you actually know how to fight. It’s about time,” Jabari said, a teasing tone to the words that covered the real feelings I knew Jabari had about my abilities. He was the best of the family aside from potentially Hisao. They fought differently, so it was hard for me to really pick between the two in their human forms. Hisao would win if he got the jump on Jabari, but Jabari was physically the strongest of my siblings and an expert in every weapon he picked up. Hisao would be on the losing end no matter what if they fought as werecats.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said, shaking my head in a fake annoyance for him as I felt Niko park his car outside my house. “Subira will be on soon, yeah?”

“With Father,” Zuri said, nodding. “She might come on first, or they might want to let Father get his piece out of the way first, and she can relay what we speak about after.”

I only nodded, knowing this care was being taken because of me. Hasan and I split this family in half at the worst time. Mischa and Hisao still weren’t on, but I was reluctant to ask about that, feeling they would show up when he was on and not a moment sooner.

“Good morning!” Niko’s greeting was all too enthusiastic and bright for the moment as he strolled into my office. “Everyone is already here? Good, we can get started fast.”

“We’re missing Mischa, Hisao, and our parents,” I said quickly.

As if on cue, Subira came in, then Hasan.

“Hello, everyone. You all look ready for this,” Subira said. She smiled, seeing us on her own screen. It was somewhat funny to see her now with her own setup, not needing to stand or sit with either of the twins to get on the call. It wasn’t the first time, but it still gave the feeling of a grandparent learning to work a video call for the first time. I wondered for only a second if Davor had to teach her multiple times about how to check her email or how to compose one and add an attachment.

“We’re missing?—”

“Mischa and Hisao, yes, I know.” Subira cut off Zuri. “Hasan will be on any moment and told me that will be addressed immediately.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked, frowning, at the same time as all of my other siblings asked similar, our voices becoming more like a classroom full of children and less like a group of adults.

“I don’t know,” she answered for all of us. “Hasan said he knew they wouldn’t make it and would explain it to all of us here. He’s been… busy.” She looked to the side, seeing somethingwe couldn’t. “The Tribunal deals with more than just us, and something is happening.”

“How is the new workspace?” Zuri asked. “His office is only across the hall from yours now. How does that feel?”

“Do not meddle with your father and me,” Subira said, turning back to look at the camera, any sign that she was still awkward with the camera and screen set up gone.

Hasan suddenly joined, frowning as Zuri sank in her seat, almost comically. Subira stared her down, which felt like she was staring all of us down. I took a step back from the monitor while Jabari looked away.

“I was not meddling, Mother,” Zuri said, trying to smile.

---