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knew, but Kallen had made a point to never come tattling to any of the leaders about his problems. They already had enough to worry about without him adding his hurt feelings on top of it. So he’d kept all the abuse to himself.
    “No, it’s nothing like that. I was just wondering if maybe you would possibly think about transferring me out into the field. I have battle training, and I’m already trained as a medic.”
    Mitchell’s frown deepened. “You know it will be a lot more dangerous out there, especially for you. The enemy will target you as a traitor.”
    “I know, but this is something I feel I need to do,” Kallen replied earnestly.
    He held his breath, hoping that Mitchell would see things his way. Now that Kallen had come up with this idea, he wanted it more than anything. So much so that he could almost taste it.
    “Why is that?” Mitchell asked.
    “It’s the only way that I can truly, finally atone for what I did to the coalition. Only then will I feel like we are starting out on a clean slate.”
    Mitchell took his hand off the handle and shoved them in his front pockets. “But you have already done so much for the coalition.”
    Kallen shook his head. “No, it’s not nearly enough.”
    “Are you kidding? You work double, sometimes triple, shifts in the infirmary.”
    “But I don’t go out there and put my life on the line like Ash or Drake or many of the others. I should be, too. I’m a good soldier. I just haven’t had a chance to show you yet. Give me a chance to prove it to you. I promise not to let you down.”
    Mitchell thought it over for a few minutes before he let out a sigh. “Fine, you can have some training sessions with Vapor. If he says you’re up for it, I’ll put you in the field.”
    Kallen grinned. “Thanks, you won’t regret it.”
    “God, I hope not,” Mitchell muttered. “If anything happens to you, Daniel will kick my ass for saying yes in the first place.”
    Kallen turned and all but ran back to the infirmary, eager for an update on Drake. When he got back and saw the grim look on Ash’s face, he knew it wasn’t good. All of Kallen’s elation turned to dread in less than a second as his heart skipped a beat…
    “Is he alive?” Kallen asked in a thick voice.
    “Yes, but they had to put him in a medically induced coma, so he doesn’t thrash around and rip out the stiches. He was pretty tore up inside. They think he’s going to live, though. The next few days will let us know.”
    Kallen swallowed hard as he blinked away the tears. Drake had to get better, if for nothing else than so Kallen could tell him that he was sorry for being such an ass to him. Then it would be Kallen who asked Drake out for that cup of coffee instead of the other way around.

Chapter Five
    Kallen let out a grunt as he rubbed a hand over his back. Three days of training with Vapor had left him aching in places he didn’t know even existed in his body. Yet Kallen continued to push himself, determined to prove his worth to the feline. That way, Kallen could go out into the field.
    Not only was Vapor scary looking with his dark, military cut hair and mass of muscles, but he had to be ten times bigger than Kallen. He wasn’t going easy on Kallen either. He was fighting him full-out and not pulling back any punches.
    As Kallen got up from the mat after being tossed down there for the hundredth time that day, Vapor let out a dark laugh. “I have to give it to you, kid, you do have guts.”
    “Thanks?” Kallen said, not sure if that was a compliment or not.
    Vapor got back into his fighting stance. “You need to stop telegraphing your moves so much. Not that I blame you for that. You were trained that way. It’s something that all Hyenas do. Since you’re one of us now, I’ll teach you better, don’t worry.”
    Since you’re one of us now. That was something that Kallen rarely heard and from one of the coalition soldiers no less. All of a sudden, the aches faded as a sense of