"I remember these stairs." Meryn laid her head on his chest.
"I must say this trip up is better than the last one."
"You had just bitten me too, if I remember, right over my kidney."
"You had me over your shoulder, that shit hurts. I felt like I was gonna puke."
"Duly noted." Aiden turned down a long hallway.
"It didn't seem so big last time." Meryn watched as Aiden turned down yet another long hallway.
"You were in a hurry last time. You had just brained me with my toilet. This is the Unit Commander wing." He stopped at a door and turned the handle.
"And this is my room." He stepped inside and turned on the light, she blinked. This felt like home. Everywhere she turned Aiden's personality was reflected in the small mementos that decorated the room. When she saw the large fish tank she began to squirm.
"Put me down, I wanna see Jaws." Aiden put her down gently and took her hand. He led her over to an aquarium that took up most of one wall.
"I had to reinforce the floor, but he's worth it." Aiden gently tapped the glass. Out of nowhere a bright orange fish darted forward.
"Meryn, Jaws. Jaws, my mate Meryn."
"He's adorable. He needs a girlfriend." Meryn watched the fish swim for a few more moments and tore her eyes away.
"The first thing I did when I assumed the position of Unit Commander was gut this suite and redecorate. Most of the barracks are decorated in shades of green and wood grain. I hate it. So I changed it to blue." Aiden motioned to the walls. Each wall was painted in a different shade of blue to accent the calming waters of the aquarium. The decorative accents and furniture were black with splashes of silver.
"I love it. Your room at your parent's house is so bland." She ran and jumped on the impossibly high four poster bed.
"Meryn, I don't live there, remember?" Aiden reminded her gently.
"Oh, yeah." Wincing, she rubbed the side of her face. Aiden climbed on the bed and pulled her close.
"Did he touch you?" His voice sounded strained.
She nodded. "It's okay. I'm with you now, that's all that matters."
"Let me see your eyes." Aiden turned her to face him. With his large hand, he blocked the light, then let it shine back on her face.
"Your pupils are dilating so I don't think you have a concussion." He ran a hand over her hair.
"No, but I sure did see stars."
"When you screamed I thought ..." His voice broke. She remembered that they had been having the same dream up until their meeting. In their dream, she was stabbed.
"I'm okay. In that dream I had long hair, things change." She snuggled up on his chest and yawned.
"I didn't use to take so many naps before coming here."
"You probably weren't assaulted and traumatized on a daily basis before either." Aiden growled.
"No, but I'm having more fun now."
"Let me hold you for a while. You don't have to nap, I just need to feel you in my arms."
"I can do that." She closed her eyes and fell asleep listening to him breathe.
*****
When she woke up she was back at Aiden's parents' house. She must have been out cold not to have woken up in transit. She sat up and looked around. Aiden was on his laptop in the chair in the corner.
"What are you doing on that thing?" He closed it and stood up.
"Playing spider solitaire."
"Why are we back here? I liked your room better." She lay back down.
"I had Adam check you out at the barracks. He said you were okay, no visible signs of swelling. I was supposed to wake you in thirty minutes if you didn't wake on your own. After he checked you out we woke you up around six to see if you wanted dinner and you said no. So I brought you back here to get settled for the night." Aiden lifted the covers and got in next to her.
"What time is it?" She immediately rolled onto her side and he spooned in next to her.
"One am. Go back to sleep." There was something about his voice that had her turning to face him.
"What happened?"
He sighed. "Can I tell you in the morning? You've been through so much already."
"Nope. I'm a big girl I can handle it."
"Body parts were delivered to the barracks. We think they belong to Eleanor Canter. We brought you back here since this house is more easily defended." He sounded so defeated.
"Okay, let's pretend you didn't tell me that. Let's just go to sleep and pretend that there isn't a psycho out there hacking and slashing." Meryn buried her nose in his chest.
"Anything you want, sweetheart. Get some rest. We have the ball tomorrow."
"I'm kinda looking forward to it." She wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed tight.
He rested his chin on her head and rubbed her back.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a better day.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Meryn you'll be with me today. I need to go to the Alpha barracks to meet with the other units and make sure everyone knows where they are supposed to be for tonight's ball." Aiden said pouring another cup of coffee.
"Sure. From what Lady Fairfax told me about this 'super dress' it won't take me very long to get ready." Meryn sipped her cappuccino. She looked down at the single muffin on her plate and swallowed hard. She wasn't hungry at all. Her stomach was doing cartwheels. Every time she thought about walking into a huge room full of people she didn't know she felt like she was going to be sick.
"You need to eat." Aiden put a spoonful of greasy potatoes on her plate next to her muffin. She watched the steam rise off her plate. The second the smell hit her nose, she stood. Covering her mouth, she bolted from the room. She nearly knocked Marius over before she made it to the downstairs bathroom. Since she had only had coffee for breakfast she was dry heaving by the time Aiden caught up with her.
"Oh baby, it's okay." He got a washcloth out and wet it with warm water. When her stomach stopped trying to turn itself inside out, she sat back against the wall. Aiden handed her a tiny cup of water. She swished the cool, clean water around her mouth and spit it out in the toilet. She leaned back again and the warm cloth was placed over her eyes.
"I can't tell if you being sick is from your nerves or an after effect of getting hit yesterday."
"Nerves. Trust me, it's nerves." She removed the washcloth and got to her feet. Aiden helped steady her and they made their way back to the dining room. She was relieved that her plate had been replaced and the greasy potatoes were nowhere in sight. Marius placed a small plate of saltine crackers next to her tea.
"Thank you Marius. I hope my squire is half as wonderful as you." The older man blushed a little.
"I thought that more of my colleagues would show up for your interviews, but I am afraid they have been swayed by idle gossip."
"That's not your fault."
"I was hoping that my nephew would be able to come, but he has taken a position in Belgium."
"As long as you'll be there to help make the decision I feel pretty confident about the interviews for tomorrow." Meryn snacked on a cracker.
"I will do everything I can to assist."
"What time will you have her back Aiden? The ball starts at eight o'clock." Adelaide asked.
"Well before eight Mother. Don't worry, you'll get your girl time." Aiden teased.
"Meryn did you want any more crackers?" Aiden asked standing. She shook her head.
"Little miss, I have taken the liberty of packing a few in a bag for you. Just in case." Marius handed her a small zip lock bag of crackers.
"Thank you Marius. See y'all later." She grabbed her backpack on the way out. She stepped outside and avoided looking at the recently repainted section of the porch. It was a gruesome reminder that they couldn't get all of the dog blood stains out of the wood. She stepped off the porch and followed Aiden to his car. She took a deep breath. Aiden held the door open for her.
"I'll put the windows down for the trip. Looks like the fresh air is helping." He clos
ed the door and seconds later he was climbing inside. He started the car and immediately lowered the windows. She sat back and closed her eyes without saying a word, and she was comfortable with the silence. She enjoyed the sound of the road flying by, the fresh air in her face and his warm hand around hers.
When they got to the barracks Colton met them as they were getting out of the car.
"Hey short stuff, feeling better?"
"I'm not seeing double anymore if that's what you mean."
"Good to hear. Aiden, the men are out back awaiting orders. I'll keep an eye on Meryn since I already know I am playing escort tonight."
"Thanks Colton. Be back baby." Aiden bussed her lips and walked around to the back of the house.
"He started drills with the men. We're practicing fighting while blindfolded, so we can attack and defend against what we can't see." Colton explained.
"He's really good isn't he?" She asked.
"The very best. Better than our last commander."
"I thought Aiden took over from his father?" Meryn asked confused.
"Walk with me. I'll show you around and I'll tell you about how Aiden became Unit Commander." Colton took her hand and they walked towards the outbuildings.
"Byron was chosen to be an Elder right after Adair was born, so about six hundred years before Aiden or for you about thirteen hundred years ago. Anyway. Up until Aiden's birth, Byron held both positions, Unit Commander and Elder. Right before Aiden was born there was controversy that Byron had held the Elder seat for too long and others petitioned to put someone else in charge."
"Sydney told me about that. Adelaide becoming pregnant for the third time made them think Byron was doing a good job." Meryn interjected. Colton nodded.
"He was able to keep his Elder seat, but with three children at home, he conceded that they needed to appoint a new Unit Commander. Edward Carthage was selected as the best warrior and he became the new Unit Commander. For a while everything went on like normal, but after about fifty years the men began getting disillusioned with their new commander. He would disappear during missions, come back drunk. Wouldn't organize training or keep an eye on the men. After centuries of Byron's fair and efficient leadership the difference between the two was stark." Colton pointed to the bench outside one of the buildings and they sat down.
"When Aiden and I were one hundred years old we were training hard at the academy where Adair could keep an eye on us. Every so often, we would get sent out on patrols to get our feet wet. One night, Aiden was doing a standard night patrol, running the perimeter when a mission came in. Instead of sending Aiden back to the academy Edward decided to use the mission to humiliate Aiden in place of his father. The other Alpha Unit members argued, but Edward pulled rank. The men did the best they could to cover Aiden since he had never been out on a mission before. But they soon realized they didn't need to. He took to it like he was born to it, maybe he was." Colton paused. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"The mission was worse than they were led to believe. The unit was up against three ferals, them banding together was unheard of back then. Jean-Marc, Edward's second in command put his foot down and insisted that Aiden stay behind and watch the horses. He didn't want him getting hurt. Edward was supposed to keep their escape route open, but he didn't. He left. Later they found out that he had gone to the local brothel. Aiden heard the men shouting and probably for the first and last time he ignored orders. He ran into the fray and covered the men as they retreated. The entire Alpha Unit was killed that night in the streets except Jean-Marc. Aiden was able to get him to the horses and strap him down. He went back down that alley three more times, fighting against all odds to retrieve the bodies of the other Alpha Unit members. He managed to get the men onto their horses and led them to where the Beta Unit was covering the perimeter of the town to ensure no ferals escaped. He was so badly beaten and bleeding so heavily they didn't think he was going to make it. It would be a couple days before he woke up. I was at his side the entire time. Before Jean-Marc passed away, I heard him report to Byron what had happened. To this day I've never seen Byron so mad. When Edward walked into the infirmary where Aiden was being treated Byron shifted into his third form and attacked. It took Beta, Delta and Gamma to pull Byron off of him."
"What's third form?" Meryn interrupted. Colton opened his eyes and looked at her.
"As a shifter we normally have two forms. Man or animal. One or the other. But in rare instances when the man and the animal are completely in sync, when both want something with the exact same levels of intensity, we're able to shift into a third form, half man, half animal. It's only happened a dozen other times in our written history."
"And Byron was able to do that?"
"Yes, which practically cemented him as an Elder until the day he dies. At the hearing Edward appealed to his men to testify on his behalf and every single unit member turned his back to him. Edward was tried by the council and found guilty. He was executed and cremated so that his body would not be buried within the city. His ashes were given to his sister, one Daphane Bowers, formerly Carthage."
"Holy shit!" Meryn gasped.
"It gets better. Daphane pushed to get her son assigned as Unit Commander, Donovan Bowers. He's actually not a bad guy, but he never wanted to be a warrior. The men refused. They said they would only take orders from Aiden. The council didn't know what to do. Aiden was so young, barely out of his teens in shifter years, though Donovan wasn't that much older."
"What did they do?" Meryn asked.
"There was nothing they could do. It wasn't that Aiden went back and fought alongside the Alpha Unit, it wasn't that he cleared a path for escape despite the overwhelming odds. It was the fact that he went back for the fallen dead, that he risked his life to bring them home, showed the men that he cared more for them than his own life. That is why his orders are never questioned and why every single active or retired unit member will always defer to him."
Meryn's heart ached for what Aiden had gone through, but more than that she felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
"Not that I don't want to learn more about Aiden, I do. It's just ..."
"Why did I tell you?"
"Hmm"
"Tonight you will see a different side of Aiden. I don't really know if I can put it into words." Colton grew silent and thought for a minute.
"Aiden commands the respect of the most powerful men in the city, but more than that he has their undying loyalty, love and trust. Nearly all of Lycaonia's unit members will be there, past, present and future, since trainees are allowed to attend in uniform. Even if he weren't Byron's heir, which is prestigious enough, their support alone makes him a voice to be heard."
"You mean in Lycaonia right?"
Colton shook his head.
"Darling, when Aiden takes over from Byron he becomes the shifter's Elder."
"Right, in Lycaonia, since there are four cities and four council members per city." Meryn said. Colton stared at her for a second.
"You don't understand. Meryn, Lycaonia is the shifter capital of the world. Byron is the shifter Elder that represents all shifters. The other three shifter Elders report to him. In Noctem Falls, the vampire city Magnus Rioux is the vampire Elder, all vampire Elders report to him. In the witch's city of Storm Keep Caiden Ironwood is the witch Elder, all witch Elders report to him and in the fae city of Éire Danu Brennus Vi'Eirlea is the fae queen's consort and fae Elder, all fae Elders report to him."
"Oh my God." The enormity of what Colton had just explained sunk in.
"Aiden commands every single unit warrior across all four cities. Right now that plays a small part in our politics, but when he takes over from Byron he will literally be the most powerful man in our world. Did you really think that an average unit member's mate would get this much protection detail?" He bumped her shoulder with his. Meryn put a hand over her stomach. So tonight was actually going to be a million times worse than she had imagined.
"You okay?" Colton j
umped to his feet.
"I need my crackers." Meryn gagged over the words. Colton dove into her backpack and practically threw the bag of crackers at her. Breathing through her nose, she slowly nibbled a cracker.
"You're really not a people person are you?"
"Nope. You guys don't bother me, but tonight is going to be all these important people and now you tell me that Aiden is this super celebrity and I'll have to stand next to him all night and smile and nod and shit..." She took another deep breath.
"Listen, you concentrate on getting through the first half hour of introductions. Leave the rest to me."
She pinned him with her eyes. "You promise?"
"I swear. Just keep it together for thirty minutes." Meryn grabbed one last cracker and put the bag away.
"I can do thirty minutes."
"Good, you're getting some color back in your cheeks. For a second you went milk white."
Meryn stood. "So what now?"
Colton looked around and pointed to a smaller building off to one side.
"Wanna see the armory?"
Meryn brightened. "Guns?" She asked.
Colton hesitated. "Yes. Why do you look so excited all of a sudden?"
"I want a gun. After getting attacked twice. I want a gun."
Colton rubbed his chin. "That's actually not a bad idea. Can you shoot?"
"Yup. Just never got around to purchasing one. What do you have?"
"What don't we have?" Colton led the way to the small, white building and reached for his keys. He unlocked the door and they stepped inside. Above them the lights came on automatically. Meryn looked around. Weapons of all kinds and from every century were stacked from floor to ceiling.
"Are those nunchucks?"
"Don't touch."
"But..."
"No."
"Fine, then do you have the Smith and Wesson's Bodyguard?" Colton looked impressed.
"You do know something about guns. Let me check. I think we have the smaller guns in this chest." Meryn followed him back to a tall steel cabinet. He unlocked the doors and started pulling out drawers. He handed her a small box. She opened it and inside was the gun of her dreams. It even had a box of ammo and a shoulder holster.