"Good morning, Pumpkin Dumpling," Rheia said and scooped Penny up out of her chair. Penny wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her cheek. She smelled like syrup, Rheia was so happy to see her, that she didn't even mind the stickiness she felt on the back of her neck.
She sat her back down and Colton and Rheia took their seats on either side.
Ryuu set a fresh platter of pancakes shaped like small animals down on the table. When Ryuu caught her staring, he blushed and cleared his throat. "I thought we would all appreciate the levity this morning." He kept moving around the table refreshing the platters. Ryuu had missed her daughter as well.
Rheia turned to Meryn. "How's Felix this morning?"
Meryn looked down at the soft fabric sling across her chest. "He's sleeping, but his color looks better today. He was so grey yesterday I thought we'd lost him." Her hand cradled the small bundle carefully.
Colton looked at Meryn oddly. "How did you know to send Felix with Penny?"
Gavriel nodded. "I've been wondering that myself since yesterday."
Meryn's shrugged, head turning from one man to the other. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Fate works in mysterious ways" Mina said, sipping her orange juice. Both she and her mate were seated next to Keelan, looking much better after a good night's rest.
"Whatever the reason, I'm grateful for his help. Despite his size he fought like a true warrior," Gerard said commending Felix.
"If the two of you are up to it, I did have a few questions." Aiden said putting his fork down.
Gerard nodded. "Of course, Commander, anything we can do to help."
"Did the ferals say anything to you before going after Penny?" Aiden asked.
Mina shook her head. "I don't think they were specifically after Penny, they were reaching for all of us, and no, they didn't say anything."
Gerard thought about it for a moment. "I have to agree, Commander. They tried to pull me out the door before I was able to break away to stand with Mina and Penny, I don't think they were after her specifically."
Colton cursed under his breath. "Couldn't they just tell us what they're after? It would make it a lot easier to kill them."
Darian laughed. "You're getting lazy, Colton. That's like hoping a criminal hands you a signed confession."
Colton looked at Rheia, then down at Penny. "I have good reasons for wanting to stay home a bit more. The sooner we can figure out their end game, the sooner we can all relax."
"Seeing you with Penny, it makes me wish we hadn't pushed Elena away. We missed so many years with them both." Mina smiled at Penny with tears in her eyes.
Rheia pulled Penny into her lap. "Can you tell us about her? Elena?"
Mina looked at Gerard who nodded; smiling she turned back to face her. "Elena was such a headstrong child, very much an old soul, like our Penny. She knew exactly what she wanted and went after it. That actually became the crux of our estrangement." She sighed then continued. "When she was old enough we started pressuring her to visit with more chameleon families, in hopes she would find a chameleon mate. We're a dying breed of shifters and every new birth is desperately needed."
"But Elena didn't want to hear anything about it, she said she was in love and she wanted to be with her boyfriend, Reggie." Mina practically spat the name. "He was a wolf shifter that filled her head with ideas that we were trying to control her and she should move away with him, and that's what she did. One day she packed up and left to live in the human world with Reggie. The only way we were able to keep track of her was by monitoring her on social media." She scrunched up her nose, "Watching one's child from afar is never preferable. When she finally mated with Brian, who ironically ended up being a chameleon, we were hopeful that she would return to Lycaonia to have their baby. Months and months went by without any updates on her Facebook or Twitter accounts. We assumed she was busy with the new baby and were on the verge of reaching out to her when the Elder gave us the news that she had been killed last year." Her voice faltered and Gerard pulled her close, continuing for her. "That's why we were so desperate to raise Penny. We failed to keep our daughter safe, but we have a second chance with our granddaughter."
Rheia shuddered and kissed Penny's head. "I can't even imagine losing a child."
Mina nodded. "Which is why when we saw you with Penny last night, we knew we couldn't separate you. I could never inflict that kind of pain on another mother."
"Sorry to butt in, but you said Elena was pregnant?" Meryn interrupted. Mina nodded.
Meryn turned to Aiden. "That sounds horribly familiar."
Aiden frowned. "But that happened last year."
Meryn paled. "Maybe I need to widen my search parameters more than I initially thought."
"Bullshit!" Darian exploded. "How could this have been happening right under our noses for so long and no one noticed."
Beth set her coffee cup down. "Because not all of them have been discovered. Of those that were, only a fraction were found by paranormals like the Vanguard and even of those we know about, the ones that were killed outside Lycaonia weren't tracked. They were treated like isolated incidents. It's only because of Meryn's reports that we knew to step back and look at the bigger picture."
Mina looked around the table. "You mean to say that our Elena wasn't the only one?"
Aiden shook his head. "You may have heard stories in the past few months about paranormal couples going missing from inside Lycaonia. It's bigger than that, couples have been going missing from all around."
"What is the council doing about this?" Gerard demanded.
"They've ordered different units, from each of the pillar cities to start their own investigations. They're feeding all of their findings through Meryn who gives us correlations and possible leads," Aiden explained.
"Why are they suddenly attacking like this?" Mina asked.
Gavriel shook his head. "If we knew, we could possibly determine what they are after and stop them. But so far the attacks have been random."
Groaning, Meryn reached down and pulled out her laptop from her backpack. "This is going to take for-freaking-ever. I'm going to have to not only widen the city search, but also go back a couple years, and I have to do all of this with no caffeine? Fuck me."
"Remember Meryn, Adam and I both advised you to try and keep your stress down as well," Rheia reminded her.
Meryn nodded and smiled. "Sure, I'll get right on that. I'm confident the ferals will just pack up, go home and play dominoes once we explain I can't be bothered with them because of stress. If we have any hope of figuring this shit out and putting a stop to them, so my baby won't have to worry about getting hacked and slashed in the front yard then I'm going to have to put in a few extra hours."
Rheia stared at Meryn for a few seconds before turning to Colton. "Maybe getting pregnant right now isn't the best idea. I'm not sure I could survive without my caffeine."
Mina's eyes lit up as she looked from Meryn to Rheia. "Babies are such a blessing. If you need any help homeschooling let me know. I'd be happy to teach Penny, of course, unless you've made other arrangements."
Rheia looked to Meryn, who looked just as confused as she felt.
Meryn turned to Mina. "I'm sorry, what did you say about homeschooling?"
Mina turned from Rheia to Meryn and back. "Didn't you know? Paranormals homeschool their children until it's time for them to enter college or apprentie to a Master in a craft."
Meryn looked up at her mate, a disgusted look on her face. "No. Someone seems to have left that shit out. Seriously Aiden? Homeschool? I don't have time for that."
Aiden paled. "I didn't even think about it. It's such a natural thing in our world."
Rheia shook her head. "I'm going to be working at the clinic all day, I won't be able to homeschool either."
Beth frowned. "I also have a full plate. In addition to collecting and maintaining information for all of the unit warriors, the council has asked me to perform a sort of
census for paranormals, to get a better idea of who is located where, outside the pillar cities. That could take me years."
Gerard chuckled. "It's a good thing you have Mina then." He turned to Aiden. "And I'm pretty sure your mother would be more than happy to help teach her grandchildren."
Aiden looked down at his mate. "See, baby, nothing to worry about. Now, let's see what we can do to get you to de-stress."
Meryn was about to respond when Aiden's phone rang. Meryn rolled her eyes. "There is no such thing as no stress around here."
"McKenzie here. What?" Aiden shouted, standing quickly. Around the table the other Alpha Unit members stood. Aiden put the phone on speaker. "What do you mean the clinic was attacked? How's my brother?" Aiden demanded
"He's in bad shape. We need the other Doc to come patch him up. He's not healing fast enough, Aiden!" An anxious male voice shouted.
"Calm down, Ben. Can you bring him here?" Aiden nodded to Gavriel. The vampire kissed his mate and moved quickly towards the foyer, Darian and Keelan close behind him.
Rheia stood and placed Penny in her chair. She kissed her forehead and looked down at Colton. He nodded and stood beside her.
"We can't move him, Aiden. I think we're losing him," Ben said, getting choked up.
"We'll be there in a few minutes, baby brother. Hold on, don't you dare lose him!" Aiden ordered and ended the call. He looked up to find that Rheia and Colton waiting on him.
"Let's go."
Rheia turned to Mina and Gerard. "Can you please watch over her?"
Mina nodded. "Of course, honey, go save our doctor."
Rheia grabbed Colton's hand and together they ran towards the door.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rheia and Colton jumped out of the car and raced into the building. Aiden and the other men of the Alpha Unit emptied out of their SUV right behind them. Quinn met them at the door and ran with them down the hall. They were almost to Adam's office when ferals began to pour from the rooms on either side of the hallway.
"It's a trap!" Darian yelled.
"Kill the woman! Find the slides!" A rough voice screamed from behind the pack of attacking ferals.
Rheia found herself sandwiched between Aiden and Colton each firing his weapon into moving targets, almost without even looking in their direction. When their ammo ran out, Colton and Aiden roared loudly and let their claws free. In a perfectly coordinated dance practiced over centuries, Colton rushed forward and blindly flung the enemy back to Aiden who would gouge the feral across the neck and drop the body. They moved fluidly together in perfect synchronization until a sea of ferals lay dead at their feet. Colton lifted Rheia past the gore and they hurried on to Adam's office.
Ben looked up when they entered. "Where the hell have you been?" He stopped and looked at their blood smeared clothing. "What happened?"
Rheia walked past him and knelt beside Adam on the floor. Someone had applied bandages to his midsection, but they were already caked in blood. Slowly she lifted the gauze and sucked in her breath, she could see his intestines protruding outside of a long, wide slash. She stood and ran from the room, Colton on her heels. She went to one of the empty examination rooms and began to pile the items that she needed placing them on a sterile tray.
When they arrived back in the office she looked around. "Clear the room. I don't want any debris kicked up that could get into the wound. Ideally we'd be in a sterile environment, but we dare not move him." She looked over to Colton. "I'll need you to wash your hands and put on a pair of gloves; you'll need to hand me things as I call for them."
Colton immediately went to the sink to do as he was told. Rheia arranged the tools she needed on the tray and then joined him at the sink as Aiden emptied the room. When they turned back Aiden stood by the door. He looked her in the eye. "I'm not leaving."
"If you're to stay, don't move from that spot," Rheia ordered. Aiden nodded.
Slowly she began the tedious process of putting Adam's insides back on the inside. They lucked out in that he didn't have perforated bowels. After about an hour of flushing the wound and sewing multiple internal sutures, Adam's body began to heal itself. She watched in amazement as he turned the corner and the dissolvable stitches that she just put in began to melt before her eyes. In the end all she had to do was hold the flesh together long enough for it to heal and seal itself.
To be on the safe side she applied medical glue and taped his wound shut. Colton helped her lift him so they could wrap his midsection. Breathing a sigh of relief she sat back and checked his pulse. His heart was beating strong.
"Can we move him?" Aiden asked, startling her. She had forgotten he was even still in the room.
She nodded. "Yes, but be very careful with him."
Aiden opened the door. "Darian, Oron, you're on deck." Aiden moved out of the way as the two huge fae stepped in and carefully lifted the large bear shifter.
They loaded him into the back of one of the SUVs and they headed back to the Alpha estate. Meryn and Beth met them at the door and gasped at their clothes. Everyone was covered in blood and evidence of the carnage that had taken place at the clinic.
Rheia looked around. "Penny?"
Meryn pointed to the family room. "Mina and Gerard are keeping her occupied."
Colton exhaled. "Good. We're going to clean up. We'll be right back." Colton grabbed Rheia's hand and they headed up the stairs as Aiden and Meryn coordinated with the others to get Adam situated.
Once behind the closed doors of their bedroom, Rheia and Colton immediately headed to the bathroom and began to strip. They piled their soiled clothes into the separate tub and stepped in the shower together.
After working on Adam for so long the hot water on her muscles felt heavenly. Colton's calloused hands gently massaged her neck and back.
Groaning she closed her eyes. "We don't have time."
"Challenge accepted," he whispered in her ear.
Using a soapy hand he teased and pulled at her nipples, sending current after current to her clit. When his hand traveled downward she opened her legs wider to give him better access. At her back she felt the hot, hard evidence of his arousal. His slick fingers slid on either side of her clit bringing her right to the edge.
"Colton, I'm there," she panted.
"Stand on the ledge," his deepened voice sent shivers through his body. Without even looking she knew his eyes would be shifted and his canines would be out, she couldn't get enough of his wild side.
She stepped up on the small ledge that kept the water from draining into the bathroom. It gave her just enough height that when he bent her over slightly, he was able to slide deep inside of her from behind.
"Hands on the wall," he ordered.
She did as he asked. He thrust into her and twisted her nipple. With his next thrust his other hand teased her clit. The combination of pain and pleasure was driving her insane.
"They keep coming for you. I can't lose you," he growled and scraped the skin at her shoulder with his teeth.
"You'll never lose me because not even death could keep me away from you," she rested her head back against his chest as he plunged deep inside her.
Just as he brought her to the edge again he bit down. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Her body flew apart as he emptied jet after jet of hot cum into her. She struggled to catch her breath. Gently he pulled from her body and began to wash them up in earnest.
Limp as a rag doll, she let Colton wash her hair and rinse her off. They got out, quickly dried off and got dressed. Rheia put her hair back up in a ponytail and fished another pair of jeans out of her suitcase. She prayed Ryuu would be able to get the blood out of her fleece pullover, it had been a favorite.
This time she opted for her college sweatshirt and another pair of sneakers. She watched Colton dress and took a moment to appreciate the beauty of his body.
"I lied, you know," she said, as he pulled on his shirt.
He looked over at her uncertainty in his e
yes. "Lied about what?"
"I actually prefer blondes," she admitted.
Grinning, he held his hand out to her. "I know."
They were walking down the stairs when the front door flew open and a lovely, blonde haired woman rushed in. She looked up and saw Colton. "Where is he? Where is Adam?" she asked frantically.
Colton let go of Rheia's hand hurried down the stairs. He wrapped an arm around the woman and steered her towards the family room. "He's okay." Together they walked into the family room.
Rheia walked to the bottom of the stairs confused. Did Colton just forget her? Who was that woman? Was she Adam's mate? Behind the blonde woman, Byron and another man stepped through the open door before closing it behind them.
"Rheia," Byron said simply and pulled her into a bear hug.
"Sir?" she asked. She knew that he was Aiden's father and an Elder, but had no idea how to address him.
"Sir?" Byron's frowned down at her. "Please, call me Byron. I heard that you saved my son's life, I can never repay you."
The grey haired man stepped beside Byron and bowed in a manner similar to Ryuu. "Forgive the late introductions, my name is Marius Steward. I am Lady Adelaide's squire. In case you missed her, Adelaide was the woman that sped past you a moment ago."
"That is Aiden's mother?" Rheia asked in disbelief.
Byron gave a booming laugh. "Yes, she looks too delicate to have mothered four hulking lads doesn't she? Don't let that fool you, she's the strongest of us all."
Ryuu walked towards them from the kitchen. "As I explained on the phone, Lord Byron, please let me know when you need to leave and I will lift the perimeter." Ryuu hung the brass key and circle next to another brass shape on the wall next to the door.
She pointed to it. "What's the other one?"
Without missing a beat Ryuu answered "Fireball."
Right, of course, what house isn't equipped with a fireball? What was I thinking?