She glanced back, opening it. “What?”

“I’d like for you to stay.”

The door closed with Kit still inside the apartment. “Okay. You hungry? I am. I just got off shift. They made pizza downstairs. Should I call the kitchen to ask for one to be sent up?”

“That sounds good. I love pizza.”

“With meat, right?” Kit made a face. “They made some with just cheese. Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know.” Beauty smiled. “It is strange, isn’t it?”

“We’re not the vegetarian types. We’re carnivores. Can you imagine handing a lion or a wolf an apple for their dinner? They’d take off your fingers for the insult.”

“True.” Beauty relaxed, liking this side of the usually prickly woman. She didn’t point out that she was primate Species. “I love meat on pizza.”

Kit lifted the phone. “Then we’ll eat some. You can give me all the details of what happened.”

Beauty nodded, glad that she wouldn’t be alone to worry about what could possibly keep Shadow away from her for days.

Shadow grabbed a quick shower at the dorm and wore his NSO uniform to the meeting. He was almost an hour late when he arrived. Fury, Slade, Justice and Brass were eating pizza when he entered.

“There he is.” Justice arched an eyebrow. “Finally.”

“I showered and changed.” Shadow shrugged. “I apologize.”

“We decided to eat.” Fury waved to the food. “Want some? Ellie made a few extra for me to share.” He grinned at Justice. “She also wants two additional ovens added at the dorm’s main kitchen. They are cooking more instead of eating at the cafeteria.”

“Four aren’t enough? Plus they have the ones inside their apartments.” Slade frowned.

“Females enjoying cooking together in a group. It’s a good way to bond.” Fury glanced around. “She wants them. Let her have them.” He narrowed his gaze at Justice. “Don’t say no. It would disappoint my Ellie and make her unhappy. She will call Jessie and then your mate will be unhappy.”

Justice chuckled. “My mate is sexy when she’s angry but the females can have the ovens. It’s not much to ask.” He picked up a pen and scribbled on a tablet. “Note made. It will be taken care of.”

Slade nodded. “Two ovens is far cheaper than what we just spent on updating the gym equipment inside the men’s dorm.”

“We do tend to break shit easily.” Brass shoved a few slices of heavily loaded pizza onto a paper plate and passed it to Shadow. “Sit. I’ll grab you a soda from Justice’s fridge.”

Shadow sat, using part of the large desk as a table. The relaxed attitude of the room was welcome. He’d expected anger after making them wait. He’d taken a bite when the meeting officially began.

“Breeze called in the details of what happened at the cabin,” Justice informed him. “She was stuck at Medical so we held a conference call with her. What took place in the woods after you left her?”

“Is Breeze well?”

Fury nodded. “She doesn’t like being kept for a few days but young Dr. Harris insisted she be given the healing drugs. It will lessen the chance of her scarring from the wound. They need to keep an eye on her while she’s on them. Males aren’t the only ones to grow aggressive. I am almost glad she’s there instead of here. I’d hate to be her nurse.”

Brass laughed, handing a drink to Shadow before he took a seat on the couch. “Better them than us. She’s a wonderful female but I feel bad for Destiny. Breeze will make him miserable just to stay amused.”

Fury chuckled. “Obsidian didn’t want him anywhere near his mate after what happened.”

“What happened?” Shadow glanced around the room.

“Would you want another male around your female if he made it clear he wanted her too?”

Enough said. “Understood.” Shadow opened and sipped the soda. “I tracked the humans down after I left the cabin. They’d treed Beauty after taking her from the bedroom upstairs. I removed their weapons and they were arrested.”

Brass snorted. “A human you attacked is still in surgery. The doctors couldn’t save one of his nuts. You smashed it.”

Shadow remembered the mercenary he’d taken down. He felt no regret. He said nothing.

“I’m surprised they are still alive.” Fury gave him an understanding look. “I would have killed them.”

“Beauty wouldn’t walk out of sight.” He wouldn’t lie. “She’d seen enough violence. I wanted them dead but wasn’t willing to do it in front of her.”

“We’re glad they are alive.” Justice leaned forward. “They know how to locate Douglas Miller. Tim is questioning the ones we captured. Miller’s in Afghanistan. They gave him up easily.”

Brass chuckled. “Bestial might have had something to do with that. He went into the cells with Tim to persuade them to be agreeable. Tim is good at intimidation but not as convincing as an enraged Species male. They tend to believe we’ll eat them alive.”

“True.” Justice hesitated. “We also have a lead on who might be behind the drug given to Moon but they were unsure of exactly how Miller acquired it. We’ll know more once the human is caught.”

Anger filled Shadow. “We don’t have authority to go to Afghanistan.”