"Our kind?" Kastiel asked slowly.
Elian turned sharply toward Nicholas. "What the fuck do you mean?"
Nicholas didn't flinch. His face was hard, jaw tight, eyes dark with something far heavier than anger. "Yes. You heard me," he said. "It wasn't just run by humans. It was a combined effort, humans and our kind."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Kastiel let out a sharp breath and bit down hard on the cigar clenched between his teeth. The end burned bright before he spat it onto the stone floor and crushed it under his boot. The air around him shifted, thick with restrained fury. Even the guards standing farther back stiffened.
"Fuck," Elian whispered. "Humans I understand. I expect that from them. But our kind too?"
Nicholas nodded once. "That's why I was gone for eight months." His voice was steady "The only way in was to become part of it. They didn't take just anyone. They wanted fighters. They wanted alphas."
Kastiel's gaze sharpened. "So you volunteered."
