Conri I am glad she is allowing Evander to hold her, to comfort her as she is crying her eyes out, and I sit down in the seat next to them. I let my hand glide up and down her back to help her calm down; she calms down slowly, and I hear her breathing even out. Part of me wants to put her in our SUV, but I can't risk chasing her away, and I ask Alexia to help us get her in their SUV. Everyone in her team walks out of the door in the same way they walked in, and I see Tarja and Yonatan get in first, just like when we left the Academy. Blaze gets in before she tells me to put Umayza in the SUV; she buckles Umayza up as I take a step back, and I step aside to give Axel the room to get in. "Do you know why we always get in the SUV this way?" Axel asks, and I just shake my head as I look at Umayza. "This way she is protected from all sides; they have to go through us to get to her. She still doesn't like it, but she knows this is our way of protecting her. Why don't you get in, and I'll ride with Evander," he says and walks off before I can respond. "Get in and look after our little Mate," Evander says in my head, and I sigh in relief as I sit down next to her. Boris closes the door as Blaze leans Umayza against me; I put my arm around her and bury my nose in her hair. I can feel myself relax as Alexia follows Theron's SUV. "Conri," I hear softly in my ear, and I groan as I don't want to wake up. "Conri, you have to wake up," the soft voice says in my ear, but I am too comfortable to wake up, and I growl as someone pushes against my shoulder. "Conri, wake up. There are people here that need to pee," That makes me open one of my eyes, but I quickly close it again. I must be dreaming as I thought I was looking at Umayza. "Conri, please. I really need to pee." My eyes slowly open again, and I realize I was not dreaming; my little Mate is right there. I reach up with my hand to confirm I am not dreaming, and a smile spreads across my face when I feel that she is really there. "Watch it, Conri. I am going to open the door," Boris says, and I am back in reality again. I step out of the SUV and quickly move to the side as Tarja pushes past me. "Sorry for the hold up," I yell after her, and I actually hear her chuckle. "Sorry, Babygirl. I thought I was dreaming, and I just didn't want to wake up. I hope I didn't cause a flood," I say as I look into her eyes. Boris is rolling in the aisles, and Blaze stares at me with her eyes and mouth wide open. Umayza giggles as she shakes her head, and I hear Yonatan groan from the backseat. I hold my hands out to help Umayza from the SUV, but I also keep in mind how they always let her exit the SUV, and Blaze gives me a smile as she sees that I am taking up my position on her left. Blaze and Yonatan follow behind us as we make our way to the gas station, and Tarja opens the door to show us where the restroom is. Evander joins me by the door to the restroom as Blaze and Alexia go inside with Umayza, while Boris, Axel, and Callan get us some refreshments and snacks for the last stretch of the trip. "I'll drive the last part of the road; you go with Umayza," I say. He nods his head, and I know he needs this as much as I did; I actually slept the best in years for a few hours. Umayza is the first out of the restroom, and I ask her to see if the guys got everything we need. Evander follows her as I wait for Blaze and Alexia to come out. The refreshments and snacks are already divided into bags, and without asking, Axel moves to our SUV instead of theirs; Evander walks next to Umayza to their SUV. I see Armand looking at them with a smile on his face, and I know I have one on my face as well. The moment we are back on the road, Axel turns to me and says, "The two of you really need to grovel if you want her to give you a chance. But with what you did to her and how those females bragged about it, I doubt you will succeed."I look at him dumbfounded as I try to wrap my head around his words. "What do you mean, Axel? We left her a note to let her know it would be best if we stayed away because we didn't want to risk losing control over our Lycans, and we didn't want her to get hurt. Evander and I realized she was nervous before she had to talk to the Council, but the moment we sat down next to her, she calmed down. We hoped with the note and how she reacted to us, she would be able to put the pieces together. We hoped her training and studies would help her through the time we couldn't be together. As for females bragging about it, I don't know what you mean; I can guarantee you that Evander and I haven't looked at another female since we found out Umayza is our Mate," I say, and his next words make me understand Captain Armand's outburst a lot better. "You said in your note that you had been at war with your Lycans, but it doesn't clarify about what. Then you mention that being apart for a while had made it easier dealing with your Lycans; again, it doesn't clarify anything. Umayza knew you were her Mates, but you didn't know that, and that left her with interpreting the note wrong. Everyone knows that your Lycan will fight you if you want to mark or mate with someone that is not your fated Mate, but they will also do that if you want to reject your fated Mate, and that is what she thought you meant. It was only confirmed to her a few days before she turned eighteen. Umayza had been watching the new Recruits train with Boris and Tarja when two females sat down in front of them; and even though they were talking about the two of you, Umayza stayed seated, but looking back, I know she wished she had left. One of them had said, and this is a literal quote from Boris, that Evander had been amazing the night before as he didn't think twice about using her backdoor, and the other said the same about you." I slam on the brakes as soon as I hear him use the word backdoor.Kane is fuming in my head as neither one of us understands what she might have overheard, but I haven't been with a female since a few weeks before we met Umayza. I need to let Kane out before he rips someone or something apart. I get out of the SUV, and before I have taken a step away from the SUV, Kane pushes through, taking off into the forest at high speed.