Ryker's POV
The itch started the moment I walked in.
A cold, crawling sensation at the back of my neck accompanied a tension in the air that prevented me from settling into my usual pretense of not paying attention. I leaned against the back wall, arms crossed, hood up, eyes moving with the lazy drift of someone bored.
I wasn't bored.
Ayla was in her usual seat. She maintained the same stillness and carefully arranged herself in the chair as if she were occupying exactly the space allocated to her and not an inch more.
Except there was someone sitting next to her.
The new guy. Zander.
He didn't fit yet; his clothes were too neat, his hair was still shaped by wherever he'd come from, and his posture was too straight for someone who'd been here long enough to relax into the place. He
