Ari turned to Christoff and Oron. "You two?" He was dying to see what the rest of the unit got. The warriors of the Tau and Phi units were laughing their asses off.
Christoff gave a modest shrug. "Prince."
Oron beamed. "Oreo."
Sascha scowled at the warriors. "Yuk it up. You'll probably be getting christened tonight. And from what I heard from Aiden, she's hungry and stressed, so I don't think you'll fair as well as we did."
Ari chuckled to himself as his brothers stopped laughing almost immediately.
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Nerius turned to Sascha. "They're not real call signs, right?"
Sascha gave him a flat look. "We're about to go on a council sanctioned two prong mission with coordination from three of the four pillar cities." He pointed to their walkie talkie. "I can guarantee you at some point tonight, Meryn's chirpy voice will be calling out to Gamma Kitten One. Real? Maybe. Permanent. Absolutely."
Bastien turned to Oron. "Why are you so happy with Oreo?"
"Because it's one of her favorite cookies, which means she loves me and because those cookies are freaking amazing," Oron explained.
"Double stuff?" Kincaid asked.
Oron nodded. "Evidently, according to Meryn, double stuff are regular Oreos. Regular Oreos are diet Oreos and those thin ones are abominations."
Kael's head bobbed as he agreed. "Exactly. We need to invite Meryn to a Snack Party. It sounds like she knows her stuff."
Brie tapped the comms piece at her ear. "Menace, you set up?"
"Ready to rock 'n' roll, NinjaGaiden."
Brie grinned at the guys at her call sign. "Who will we be working with?"
"I have you set up with Gemini. They'll be taking over comms when you meet up with Professor."
"Roger that, Menace. Over."
"Werd. Over."
Brie motioned to Darian. "Anytime you're ready."
"As you say, NinjaGaiden," Darian shook his head and opened a portal in their foyer.
Ari made sure he was right behind his mate as they walked through.
Once on the other side, they saw another group of men standing by a black SUV. A tall dark-haired warrior stepped forward, his arm out. Brie clasped forearms with the man, and the others waved their greetings.
"Welcome to New Mexico," the warrior said. "I'm Adriel Aristaios. This is Declan Lionhart, my second. Grant Douglas, wolf-shifter, Etain Vi'Aerlin, and of course, you've already met Micah. Darian dropped him off with us when he checked out the warehouse for portal placement," Adriel said, by way of introductions.
Ari never even saw it coming. One moment he was standing with his mate, the next he was wrapped up in the arms of his older brother, being swung around.
"Ari!" Declan laughed, his eyes bright.
"Put me down, Dec!" Ari protested. His mate was watching for goodness sake.
Declan set him down, and he was pulled in for an immediate hug. "Gods! It's good to see you. I wish that it were under better circumstances though."
Ari gave his brother a sour look. "That's rich coming from the brother that never visits, mates, and gets a baby Lionhart started without calling." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Ahh, Ari don't be like that." Declan's eyes narrowed. "Wait, didn't you mate recently as well without calling?"