The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Rheia sat with Meryn and Beth in Aiden’s office as they worked with Noah and Jaxon. She stared at Penny’s drawing and smiled. Her eyes wandered over each face until she noticed something odd. One face wasn’t smiling back at her, in fact it looked downright terrifying. She realized she was looking at Penny’s nightmare, the scary man that haunted her dreams. The dark figure was outside the house by the window looking in. Rheia shuddered and fought back the urge to paint over the dark figure. If this is was what Penny needed to do to face her fears, she couldn’t undo it. She still couldn’t shake the image from her mind. Her daughter was very talented.
‘Ladies, gentlemen, dinner is ready,’ Ryuu announced from the doorway.
‘Come on, Rheia, Ryuu’s pot roast is amazing,’ Meryn said walking up behind her chair. Rheia stood and walked out with Meryn. On the way to the dining room they passed another group of men.
‘Hey, Lennox, what’s shaking?’ Meryn asked one of the men.
Lennox turned and smiled at them before bumping fists with Noah and Jaxon. ‘Good evening, Lady McKenzie. We finished dinner about an hour ago. Ryuu made us chicken Alfredo. We’ve been hanging out in the family room playing on the X-Box since ours isn’t hooked up yet. We’re about to head back to the barracks to unpack some more. Lord Ambrosios really went all out for us, the new addition looks like a five star hotel.’
Meryn blinked. ‘Who?’
Beth laughed. ‘Gavriel.’
Meryn grinned. ‘Oh yeah, I knew that. Lord Ambrosios sounds so swanky. Anyway, I’m glad you like your new digs. I didn’t want you guys think we were kicking you out.’
The other guys shook their heads. ‘Lennox is right, that place feels like a spa hotel, we’ve never had it so good.’ The smaller of the men smiled.
‘That’s good to hear, Basil. I’ll pass along your thanks to my mate,’ Beth said, then turned to Rheia. ‘These gentlemen are the Alpha Unit’s trainees. You haven’t seen them much since they were helping out with construction. From left to right we have Kai Anders, tiger shifter. Cedric Ri’Emere, fae. Basil Barberry, witch and the charming one is Lennox Chevalier, vampire.’
Rheia nodded to the trainees.
Basil stepped forward his face serious. ‘We heard about your daughter, if you need us to do anything to help, just let us know. We got to know her when she helped out with our drills I think we all fell a bit in love with the tiny angel.’
Rheia blinked. ‘When did she help out with drills?’
Basil paled and turned to Lennox, their unofficial leader. Lennox smiled wide. ‘On that note, we’re heading out. Goodnight, ladies.’
The trainees didn’t waste any time rushing out the door.
Rheia looked at Beth then Meryn. ‘They probably just meant that she got their water or something like that right?’
Meryn and Beth nodded. ‘Absolutely,’ Beth assured her.
Together they entered the dining room and the men stood. Rheia sat next to Colton. The look he gave her told her that he missed having Penny between them at meal times, too. Taking a deep breath she reached for his hand. His thumb slowly rubbed back and forth on the back of her hand.
As Ryuu served their dinner, she turned to Colton. ‘When did Penny help out with drills?’
Colton choked on the wine he was sipping as did Aiden. Colton turned to her smiling weakly. ‘Do you remember when I said I’d tell you later?’
‘What did you have her do?’
‘Just ring bells, that’s all, baby.’ Colton said squeezing her hand.
‘That’s it?’ Rheia asked. She knew there had to be more to the story since both men were sweating bullets.
‘Yup, she used her ninja like skills to sneak past the different units and ring their bell tower bells. It helped the men look for an unseen enemy. She was amazing.’ Colton’s face shone with pride.
‘At least you didn’t try to teach her how to shoot. I had to put my foot down with Radek over that one.’ Rheia picked up her fork and pushed her food around.
‘I seriously need to call and ask him what in the hell he taught my daughter,’ Colton growled.
Rheia smiled. ‘It wasn’t just Radek. Levi, Dax, Marco and Athan would show her things as well. I never knew what I would walk in on next. I remember one day I thought Athan was teaching her about the different parts of the body and how they worked. The more I listened, I realized he was showing her kill zones that had major arteries. It’ll be a miracle if she turns out half normal.’
Colton was about to respond when they heard a loud banging on the door. The men jumped to their feet and hurried to the front door. Aiden swung it open and Sascha rushed in cradling Penny. Behind him Quinn and Oron ushered in an older couple.
‘Penny!’ Rheia exclaimed and pulled her daughter out of the large, white haired shifter’s arms.
‘Sascha, report!’ Aiden barked.
Sascha turned to Aiden. ‘After drills today we relieved Beta and took over guard duty. Thirty minutes ago we heard screams and breaking glass. When we entered the home the ferals were being held at bay by a flickering wall of light. We dispatched those ferals and chased off the survivors. We called in Beta to track them and brought Penny and the Carmichaels here.’
Aiden frowned. ‘Wall of light?’
Oron stepped forward and reached into his front shirt pocket. He carefully lifted out a tiny doll like body and, with sad eyes handed it to Meryn.
‘Felix! Oh, honey, what did you do?’ Meryn cuddled the small sprite, tears streaming down her face. She looked around. ‘Ryuu! Ryuu!’
Ryuu rushed forward, ‘I am here, denka. Keep him close to your body to keep him warm. He used up a lot of magic keeping Penny and the Carmichaels safe.’ Ryuu picked up a tiny hand and a small blue current passed to the sprite. To everyone it looked like his breathing got a lot easier.
Ryuu straightened and looked around the foyer. ‘Gentlemen, please escort our guests to the family room and wrap them in blankets. I’ll be right back with warm drinks for everyone and some honey for our little warrior.’
Colton and Keelan helped Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael to the family room and into chairs. Rheia sat down on the sofa and proceeded to inspect every inch of her daughter. When she went to check for a second time Penny rolled her eyes and snuggled close. Colton sat down beside them and wrapped his arm around them both.
In the foyer Aiden and Gavriel gave instructions to Sascha to continue their guard duty around the Alpha estate. When everyone was gathered together in the family room, Ryuu began to pass out cups of warm coffee and hot chocolate.
‘We’re probably the last people you want to help, aren’t we?’ Mrs. Carmichael asked, twisting her napkin in her hands.
Rheia looked up, surprised. ‘Of course we’d help. You’re Penny’s grandparents.’
Mrs. Carmichael looked from her to Colton. ‘But we took her from you.’
Colton tightened his arm around them. ‘We just hadn’t had a chance to work out a suitable arrangement yet. You’re family and we protect our own.’
Mr. Carmichael patted his mate’s knee. ‘Please forgive Mina, we’re both shook up. My name is Gerard and this is my mate Wilomina. Thank you for everything you’ve done. We never believed that ferals would attack us in Lycaonia.’
Aiden sat next to Meryn who was still cooing softly to Felix helping him with his honey. He looked at Gerard. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’
Gerard nodded, his hand trembling slightly as he covered his mouth. ‘We had just finished eating dinner. Mina made stuffed raviolis, they were always Elena’s favorite. Anyway, we were cleaning up the kitchen while Penny colored at the table when the back door was suddenly kicked in. Mina grabbed Penny and I stood between them and the door, but we didn’t see any intruders. Suddenly sparks were flying. Every time one of those creatures hit the wall of light they became visible for a moment. Mina was screaming her head off so it didn’t take long for the unit warriors to hear and come to our aid. If we hadn’t had that tiny little sprite with us, I hate to imagine what would have happened.’
‘They tried to take our grandbaby away from us, like they took Elena.’ Mina wept into her hands.
‘Thank the Gods you sent Felix with Penny, Meryn,’ Colton whispered.
Meryn looked up, her eyes rimmed red. ‘He’s my little hero.’
Ryuu stepped forward. ‘If I may? It has been an extremely long day for everyone and my denka is exhausted. Might I suggest everyone retire for the evening to get some rest?’
Aiden stood nodding. ‘We’ll leave the perimeter up indefinitely until we can figure out why they’re attacking. Ryuu, can you get the word out to everyone, especially the trainees, not to approach the Alpha estate without clearing it with you? I’m afraid that means you’ll have to raise and lower the perimeter throughout the day as needed.’
Ryuu placed a hand over his chest and bowed. ‘Of course. If it will keep my charge safe and able to sleep at night, I will gladly do so.’
Keelan shook his head. ‘Aiden, we can’t live like this. That spell is far from perfect.’
Aiden nodded. ‘I know, but it’s the best we have right now. Give the key to Ryuu, he’ll act as a gatekeeper.’
Penny yawned and snuggled closer to Rheia’s chest. For the first time in twenty-four hours Rheia felt like she could breathe again. She couldn’t stop kissing the top of Penny’s head and she wasn’t the only one. Colton hadn’t stopped rubbing Penny’s back since they sat down.
Mina looked at them, her eyes shining. ‘You’re very good with her. She’s a very considerate child. I knew she was trying not to hurt our feelings, but we Gerard and I knew she wasn’t happy. Now we see why, she missed her parents.’ Mina’s voice choked up.
Gerard rubbed her arm gently. ‘I think this is what Elena would have wanted, Mina.’
Mina dabbed at her eyes and turned to Rheia. ‘You will let us visit, won’t you?’ she asked timorously.
Rheia’s heart soared. Did this mean she and Colton could keep Penny? ‘You can visit any time you would like. In fact, once we get rid of these ferals, we’d love it if you’d watch her sometimes during the day or have her over for the weekend.’
Mina smiled warmly. ‘Thank you. We wanted a chance to do right by our daughter, but seeing the two of you with her, I can’t in good conscience keep you apart. It’s obvious she loves you.’
Rheia squeezed Penny tight. ‘And we love her, very much.’
Colton stood. ‘Come on, let’s get our girl to bed.’
Rheia nodded and Colton helped her stand with Penny still in her arms.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, if you will follow me? I will show you to one of our guest suites,’ Ryuu offered with a bow.
Everyone including Darian and Keelan had to kiss Penny goodnight. Penny, blinking sleepily, pointed to where Felix was snuggled close to Meryn. Rheia walked over and Penny kissed the tip of her finger and held it out to Felix. Felix kissed his finger and reached up slowly to touch finger tips with Penny. Satisfied that she had said goodnight to her friend Penny relaxed against Rheia.
‘That was too precious for words.’ Rheia heard Beth say as she and Colton walked into the foyer towards the stairs. She had only gone up three steps when Colton lifted Penny’s drowsy body out of her arms. ‘Let me carry her up the stairs, honey.’
Rheia looped her arm through his and they walked together to their room. Since Penny was already in her pajamas they simply lay her down in the center of their bed. Rheia stared down at her daughter and the reality that she’d almost lost her began to sink in.
Colton came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘I know.’
She didn’t have to explain why she was upset or defend her irrational fears, because he did know. The tremors she felt behind her told her more than any words that he knew exactly how she felt.
‘Let’s get some sleep. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for this horrid day to end,’ Colton whispered. Rheia nodded and quietly they both changed into their pajamas. Before they climbed into bed, Colton took his time holding her against his body and sharing tender kisses. They both needed the simple touch of the other to chase the fear away.
Kissing her softly on the forehead, Colton stepped away and turned off the light. They got into bed on either side of Penny. From the moonlight coming through the window they both stared down at their daughter. Penny frowned in her sleep and turned her head. Immediately she and Colton reached out and each took one of the girl’s hands. Penny smiled and calmed down and they fell asleep connected to one another.
*****
Rheia woke the next morning when she heard the door shut. When she looked up Colton was walking in with a hot cup of coffee. She sat up and looked around.
‘Penny?’
Colton placed the cup on the nightstand. ‘She’s having breakfast with everyone downstairs, I thought you might need just a bit more rest.’
Rheia scooted up and sat with her back against the headboard. ‘Any news?’
Colton sat on the edge of the bed. ‘No, we’re still running patrols, there’s been no sign of them.’
Rheia sipped her coffee and then climbed past Colton to get out of bed. Instead of her normal scrubs she pulled on a pair of jeans and a cowl neck fleece top, it was one of her favorites for keeping her warm. To keep the hair out of her face she pulled her hair back in a ponytail. Since she wanted to get downstairs to Penny as soon as she could, she didn’t even bother with makeup. She slipped on her sneakers and turned back to face Colton who was watching her with a contented smile on his face.
‘What?’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing, you’re just the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’
Rheia saw the adoration on his face and knew that he meant it. ‘Let’s go see our girl. I’d like to get to know her grandparents more as well, since it looks like they’ll be a part of our lives.’
Colton stood and picked up her coffee cup. She took his hand and they headed downstairs. Colton laughed as she practically dragged him forward, she was desperate to see her daughter, to hold her and know that she really was back.
‘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.
