Chapter 317: Even a Social Predator Needs to Eat Dinner Sometimes

Emi pulled away, oblivious to the brewing storm. "I made soup! Well, Isabelle made soup, but I helped! It’s in the kitchen if you’re hungry!"

"That sounds great, actually."

She beamed, grabbed my hand, started pulling me toward the kitchen.

Natalia grabbed my other hand.

"He needs rest."

"He needs nutrients," Emi countered, her usual sweetness edged with something harder. "Braxton said proper nutrition accelerates healing."

"Braxton also said minimal physical activity."

"Walking to the kitchen is minimal."

"Walking to the kitchen while you drag him like a pull-toy is not minimal."

Oh god.

I looked desperately at Isabelle. She raised her tablet, hiding a smile.

No help there.

Juan had woken up on the couch long enough to observe the situation. He met my gaze, shook his head slowly, then went back to sleep. The universal gesture of

you’re on your own, buddy.

Skylar pushed off the wall and stalked over. She didn’t say anything, just looked at Emi, then Natalia, then me.

"This is going to be entertaining," she drawled.

Soomin descended the stairs, moving with that peculiar grace that suggested the Fox was closer to the surface than usual. She stopped at the edge of the group, pink hair framing her face, blue eyes luminous in the lamplight.

"Is it okay if I..." She trailed off, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"If you what?"

"If I stay close? For a little while?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The Fox gets anxious when you’re gone. She kept asking where you were. If you were safe."

The Fox. Right.

I had four girls staring at me like I’d personally invented oxygen, a guild full of violent teenagers who fully considered me their leader now, and enough political enemies to fill a phonebook.

"Yeah. You can stay close."

Soomin’s entire face lit up.

Natalia’s grip on my hand tightened to the point of pain.

Emi started pulling harder toward the kitchen.

Skylar laughed, low and dangerous. "Welcome back, Stray Dog."

The kitchen table had been set for a feast. Someone, probably Isabelle, had organized the leftovers from the celebration into something resembling an actual meal. Soup steamed in a large pot on the stove, rice sat in the cooker, and various side dishes covered every available surface.

I collapsed into a chair. My body screamed in protest.

Emi immediately started serving me, ladling soup into a bowl with the focus of a surgeon performing heart transplants. Natalia claimed the chair to my right, her leg pressing against mine under the table. Soomin took the chair to my left, sitting close enough that I could smell her shampoo, something floral and sweet.

Skylar leaned against the counter, watching us with those sharp violet eyes.

The rest of the guild filtered in gradually. Marco and Malachi sat together across from me. Jacob hovered near the doorway, too nervous to fully commit to sitting. The twins occupied the breakfast bar, with Akari still shooting me looks that suggested she was planning something.

Raphael stomped in last, grabbed a bowl, and sat at the far end of the table.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Jaime, because of course it was Jaime, raised his glass of milk. "TO SATORI! WHO REMINDED US WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A TRUE HUNTER! TO PROTECT THE WEAK! TO STAND AGAINST THE DARKNESS! TO—"

"To shut up and eat," Juan muttered from the couch in the other room.

Jaime deflated slightly but maintained his grin. "TO EATING THEN!"

Everyone raised their drinks. The clink of glasses and cans echoed through the kitchen.

I ate slowly, my appetite smaller than expected, but the warmth of the food and the noise of conversation around me felt good. Grounding.

Marco was telling an animated story about how Braxton had made him do two hundred burpees when he accidentally called the professor "Brax" instead of "Professor Miller." Hikari laughed so hard she nearly fell off her stool. Even Malachi’s lips quirked upward.

This was my pack.

The realization hit me harder than the Abyssal Nerve’s tendril had.

Somewhere along the way, between the manipulations and the tactical calculations and the constant scheming, I’d actually built something real. These people weren’t just assets anymore. They were...

No. Stop. Don’t go there.

They were still assets. Valuable ones. The fact that I’d grown attached was a complication, not a feature.

Natalia’s hand found my thigh under the table.

I glanced at her. She wasn’t looking at me, just listening to Marco’s story with a small smile, but her fingers squeezed gently.

You’re allowed to care,

her touch seemed to say.

It doesn’t make you weak.

Liar.

But a comforting liar.

The conversation gradually shifted to the upcoming week. Braxton had apparently announced that joint training with the Sentinels was suspended indefinitely pending investigation. The Anomaly had spooked the academy brass enough that they were reevaluating their entire Gate clearance protocol.

"Translation: they screwed up and don’t want to admit it," Skylar said, stealing a rice ball from Hikari’s plate. "So they’re going to drown us in bureaucracy until everyone forgets."

"The VHC is good at that," Jacob added nervously. "Making things disappear. Reclassifying events. Changing official records. I’ve documented seventeen separate instances where—"

"Jacob." Isabelle’s voice cut through his rambling. "Summary, please."

"Oh. Um. Right. Basically, they’re covering it up."

"Obviously."

I finished my soup, pushed the bowl away. "What about Julian?"

The room went quiet.

Marco cleared his throat. "He hasn’t left the Sentinel dorms. Word is he got chewed out by Professor Petrova for freezing during the fight. Some of his team are saying he tried to use Monica as a shield."

"He did." Natalia’s voice was ice. "I saw it. Celeste saw it. Everyone saw it."

Raphael grunted. "Coward."

Coming from him, that actually meant something.

"The Sentinels are splitting," Isabelle said, her tone clinical. "Kenjiro requested a transfer to Cobalt Vipers. Monica is considering dropping out entirely. Celeste..." She paused. "Celeste has been to the hospital four times in the past two days. She brought flowers every time."

My ribs suddenly felt tighter.

"She wants to thank you," Natalia said softly. "For saving her life."

"I didn’t save her life. I saved our healer. Celeste just happened to be in the blast radius."

Skylar snorted. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

The kitchen door swung open. Carmen stumbled in, still wearing her clothes from the mainland trip, her eyepatch askew and her hair a disaster.

"Is that my boy?" She squinted at me. "You look terrible! Did someone hit you with a truck?"

"Something like that."

"Well, you’re alive. That’s what matters." She patted my head like I was a dog, then grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Braxton says you’re excused from training until the doctors clear you. So enjoy being useless for a week."

"Thanks, Carmen. Really feeling the support."

"Anytime, kiddo."