Colton leaned against the SUV and sighed. He looked down the long, dark dirt road that circled the outskirts of Lycaonia. There was still no sign of their unexpected visitor. When Aiden had knocked on his door the night before to ask him to take this early morning lookout, he jumped at the chance. He’d do anything to avoid another sleepless night. Looking out at the pre-dawn sky, he had to admit even if only to himself, that the odds that this was his mate on her way to him was slim, but waiting out here in the frigid temperatures was preferable to watching his mate be killed in his dreams.
In the distance he could see a faint glow. As it moved closer he realized that it was a car coming towards him. He pushed away from his SUV and walked until he was in the middle of the road. The sun was just coming up, providing enough light for him not to worry about being run over. Slowly the car rolled to a stop a good distance away, seconds later the driver’s side door opened and a small figure got out.
‘Hello there!’ he called. ‘My name is Colton Albright; I’m your escort into Lycaonia.’
‘How do I know that?’ a female voice yelled.
Huh?
‘Do you have any ID?’ she asked.
He scowled. ‘Do you mean the official Lycaonia ID that states I’m a wolf-shifter from a secret paranormal city? No, I left that in my other pair of pants.’
‘You don’t have to be snarky about it,’ she admonished.
He squinted, trying to see if she was kidding. He could see the outline of her body, but not much else. ‘You’re going to have to trust me. I’m going to get in my car and drive to the Alpha estate where you’ll meet with the Unit Commander. He’s in charge of placing you in a safe house. I suggest you pay attention, the turn off is well hidden.’ Without waiting for a reply, he turned and got into the car. Grumbling he fastened his seatbelt. ‘Pain in the ass woman.’
When he began to pull away, he noticed that she stayed right on his ass. He thought about tapping his brakes but didn’t feel like explaining to Aiden why the SUV needed repair work, not when Aiden’s own car was still being rebuilt after his mate torched it. Smiling at that particular memory, he cranked up his iPod. His compilation of songs from Supernatural blared inside the SUV. As soon as they got to the estate, he would drop the crazy woman in Aiden’s lap and go watch reruns until he passed out. He was always surprised at how much they got right.
When they arrived at the estate, he couldn’t help himself, he slammed on the brakes, bringing the SUV to a screeching halt. Sure enough, the car behind him hit the back of his car. Since they weren’t going very fast by then, there wasn’t a lot of damage.
Shouldn’t have been following so closely.
Smirking he grabbed his iPod and got out of the car. He was making his way to the front door when he heard an angry woman’s voice behind him.
‘What in the hell was that?’ she demanded.
Turning he watched as the woman fought with her seatbelt that was still wrapped around one arm. In a fit of anger, she threw it to one side and slammed the car door. She marched towards him, and as she got closer, Colton felt his stomach drop. He knew her. She had the same heart shaped face framed by sun kissed light brown hair as the woman in his dreams. Her eyes were a perfect mixture of blue and grey. He had only ever seen those eyes anxious, sympathetic or afraid, but never pissed. She was just as beautiful in life as she had been in his dreams.
She stomped up the porch stairs and began poking him in the chest.
‘What kind of immature stunt was that? I have had one of the worst nights of my life and you pull this shit? You’re lucky my brothers aren’t here they would …’
He watched as she stopped and realized what she said. Tears filled her eyes, at the mention of her family, though her expression remained defiant. With a shaking hand, he reached out and cupped her face.
‘Thank the Gods,’ he whispered. He couldn’t keep the tremor out of his voice.
She looked puzzled at first and then her eyes widened.
‘You’re the voice from my dream, aren’t you? They said that the voice might belong to my mate,’ she whispered, and stood stock-still.
He nodded before pulling her close, he simply held her against him.
She pushed against his chest with both hands and stepped back. ‘You weren’t an asshole in my dreams,’ she said bluntly.
He grinned. She was spunky. ‘And you weren’t a prickly bitch in my dreams either.’
Her mouth dropped and she just stared at him. Seconds went by before she began to smile. ‘I can’t believe you said that. Aren’t you going to try to woo me or sweep me off my feet?’
He shrugged. ‘Something tells me you’re not the type of woman that wants to be swept off her feet. In fact, I’m willing to put money on the fact you’re the type of woman that likes to be in charge.’
She winced. ‘Actually, yeah.’ She squinted up at him. ‘And you’re okay with that? Most men like meek women.’
He gave her his most wolfish grin. He was pleased, when he saw her eyes widen at his expression. ‘I don’t have to be in charge, but that doesn’t mean I’m not dominant.’ He leaned in and buried his nose where her neck and shoulder met. He inhaled deeply, shuddering at her scent. He bit down lightly and heard her gasp. Almost instantly, he could smell her arousal. ‘Just because I’m not always in charge, doesn’t mean I’m not an Alpha,’ he whispered, letting his lips dance on her skin.
‘Colton let the poor woman get some air,’ Aiden boomed behind him.
Colton stepped back and turned to face his childhood friend standing in the open doorway. The look on his face must have been impressive because Aiden swallowed visibly. The rest of his unit stood next to Aiden in the foyer, smiling at him.
‘She’s your mate, isn’t she?’ Aiden asked.
Colton nodded. ‘Yes, she is.’ He turned to the woman. ‘This is Aiden McKenize, the Unit Commander. Aiden this is …’ He stopped. ‘What is your name anyway?’
Aiden burst out laughing and Colton flushed slightly. Growling, he frowned at his friend. ‘We hadn’t gotten that far yet.’
Aiden smirked at him, arms crossed over his chest. ‘What exactly did you get to?’ he teased.
Colton thought about it for a moment. ‘We’ve pissed each other off, exchanged insults and she’s damaged my car.’
‘So pretty much on par for the Alpha Unit,’ Sascha’s voice said from their left. Colton looked over and the men from the other units stood grinning up at him from beyond the porch. ‘Har har guys. At least she didn’t set my car on fire.’
‘Hey!’ Aiden protested.
‘His car was set on fire? Is it safe here?’ his mate asked.
Colton felt his smile threaten to split his face. ‘Yeah. Meryn, his mate, blew his car up for being a dick, he totally deserved it. As for being safe, look around sweetheart, these men represent the best the paranormal world has to offer, there’s no place safer.’ He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Come on honey, let’s head inside, you can tell me your name and why you’re on the run.’
‘Wait! I have to…’ She turned back towards the car.
Laughing he pulled her back. ‘We can get your bags later.’
She pulled free and shook her head. ‘You don’t understand.’ She jogged back to her car and opened the back door behind the passenger seat.
Frowning, Colton and most of the men gathered around the car. When his mate lifted a small bundle out of the car, his brain couldn’t make sense of it. It looked like a tiny body pillow wearing a coat. His mate set the bundle down and reached down to grasp a small hand. Hand? Blinking, Colton gawked down.
‘Colton, my name is Rheia Bradley and this is my daughter, Penelope Carmichael. She likes to be called Penny.’
Colton stared until multi colored dots appeared before his eyes. A solid whack to his back brought him to the present and he inhaled sharply, choking on his own spit.
‘Breathe, you damn fool!’ Sascha chided.
Gasping for air, he bent over and put his hands on his knees. ‘I think. I’m dying!’ he wheezed.
He looked up and saw his mate roll her eyes. ‘You’re not dying, but I think you are having a panic attack. Just breathe, Penny won’t bite, I promise.’
Colton took deep breaths staring at the ground. When he saw two small purple shoes appear, he looked up. Bright green eyes surrounded by dark lashes peered at him. Rich brown ringlets spilled from outside the coat’s hood. She had tiny, pink, bow shaped lips and wore a serious expression. She raised her hand and placed it on his cheek. She was warm, very warm, too warm to be a human. This tiny child was a shifter and she was now his daughter!
His legs gave out and he fell to his knees in front of Penny as he looked into her eyes. The universe screeched to a halt around him and shifted. He knew eventually he would fall in love with his mate, but the love he would have for Rheia would be different than what he already felt for this child. He had fallen instantly in love with his daughter and Gods help the ones that were after her, because there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe.
Five minutes ago, he had been a bachelor now he had a mate and baby girl. His world was changed forever. He smiled at her and she titled her head. Slowly, giving her time to pull away, he reached for her and then scooped her up when she didn’t protest. Standing he turned and faced the men.
‘I’m a father!’ he announced, forgetting that the men around him had been there the whole time.
Cheers went up from the men as they crowded around to meet Rheia and Penny.
‘This is my mate Rheia and my daughter Penny. Aren’t they beautiful?’ he asked, beaming.
‘Being a father is nothing to play at,’ Rheia chided, her hands on her hips frowning at him again.
‘I’m not playing. You’re my mate and she’s your daughter, that makes her my daughter,’ he rebutted.
She blinked. ‘Just like that? Poof! Just like that, you’re willing to sacrifice everything and become a parent?’ she demanded.
Colton frowned, confused. ‘Of course. Isn’t that how it works with humans?’
‘Not exactly,’ she confessed.
‘Well, that’s how it is with me. She’s already mine, aren’t you, princess?’ Colton asked Penny.
Yawning, the girl nodded, popped her thumb in her mouth and laid her head down on his shoulder.
Colton melted. ‘Let’s head inside. My baby girl has to be getting cold. Darian, Keelan, can you bring in their suitcases?’ he asked.
‘Sure thing,’ Darian said. He and Keelan opened up the driver’s side door and popped the trunk.
‘Now wait a minute. You can’t just expect me to let you walk off with my daughter. Hey! Get back here!’ Rheia called as he walked towards the house.
‘Is your Mommy always so grumpy?’ he asked Penny. The little girl shook her head.
‘Just with me?’ Again, she nodded.
‘Perfect,’ he sighed.
‘Colton!’ Rheia ran in front of him and held her arms out. ‘Give me my daughter,’ she said in a dangerous voice.
‘Sure. I just figured you must be exhausted from driving all night, I was trying to help,’ he carefully placed Penny in her mother’s arms. ‘If you only accept one thing right away and without question, let it be this. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. In my heart she is the same as my own flesh and blood, I would die for her, for both of you.’ He hated the indecision and pain he saw on her face. Smiling he reached out and thumped his mate between the eyes. He winked at her stunned expression.
Slowly her features began to relax. ‘Just give me time. I lost my home today. I don’t know if my brothers are alive. I met you and the whole world turned upside down. She’s all I have,’ Rheia said gripping Penny tight.
‘You have me now. Oh, and them.’ Colton jerked his thumb behind him where nearly thirty men began to look anywhere but at them, trying to appear busy.
‘I feel better already,’ she joked. The men smiled.
‘Come on, prickly pear, I’ll introduce you to your housemates and then we can go to bed.’
Rheia stumbled at his words and he caught her elbow to keep her upright and from dropping Penny.
‘I’m not going to bed with you,’ she protested.
Colton rubbed his chin. ‘I bet you will. What do you think, Penny?’
Penny held out her hand and gave him a thumbs up.
‘Oh Penny, you don’t know what he’s saying.’ Rheia walked past him into the house. Colton closed the door behind them.
‘Maybe she does,’ Colton said and looked around. ‘I know it’s early, but are Meryn and Beth up yet?’
Gavriel nodded and Aiden exhaled. ‘Meryn will be down in a few minutes. She said that it’s too early to be alive, but she wanted to meet Lycaonia’s newest citizen, I think she’s been getting bored.’
The men shuddered.
Ryuu walked in from the dining room and bowed to Rheia. ‘My lady. My name is Ryuu, I am the squire for this home. If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to bring it to my attention.’ He turned to Penny, his face softening considerably. ‘And who is this treasure?’
Penny hid her face in Rheia’s neck; she peeked out, staring at Ryuu with one bright green eye.
Rheia rubbed the girl’s back. ‘My name is Rheia Bradley, this is my daughter Penny.’
Ryuu placed a white gloved hand over his heart and bowed to the little girl. Penny wiggled her fingers at him. Colton was surprised to see Ryuu in Western style dress; he had come to associate the squire with the traditional Japanese style clothing he normally wore. It was a shock to see him looking like a turn of the century Victorian butler.
Behind them, Beth and Meryn walked down the stairs arm and arm. Beth looked immaculate as usual, her blonde hair in a braided up-do. Today she wore a charcoal grey business suit. Beside her Meryn couldn’t look more like Beth’s opposite if she tried. Her short brown hair was sticking up in every direction, in what she called her ‘wild’ look. Colton thought it was perfect for her. As usual, she was in jeans and today’s tee-shirt had a large blue box on it. Though awake, Meryn looked disgruntled and angry. Yawning, she stomped down each step, whereas Beth glided down gracefully. Beth stopped and eyed Ryuu’s attire with a curious expression on her face before turning to Rheia.
‘Rheia, we heard your introduction to Ryuu as we were walking down. Welcome to the Alpha estate. My name is Elizabeth Monroe and this is Meryn McKenzie,’ Beth greeted his mate cordially. ‘Your daughter is beautiful.’ Beth’s smile was kind as she waved at Penny.
Penny however was staring at Meryn who was swaying slightly beside Beth and blinking drowsily. Meryn looked over, caught Penny staring and began to stare back. With their eyes locked neither one of them looked away. As the silence grew, everyone began to look around uncomfortably. Finally, Penny extended her arm. She pointed to Meryn’s shirt and gave a thumbs up.
Meryn’s eyebrows shot up and she smiled. It was rare to see Meryn smiling before coffee. Colton noticed Keelan was edging behind Darian nervously. It was no secret that Meryn before coffee scared the poor witch to death.
‘Cool kid. Come here, brat.’ Meryn simply plucked Penny from Rheia’s arms and started walking towards the dining room. ‘I’m hungry and I know my squire has food somewhere. Speaking of which…’ She stopped, then turned to look behind her and tilted her head. ‘Yup, I was right. Ryuu, you do have a great ass.’ Without saying another word, she went into the dining room. Aiden was sputtering and growling like a bear with a thorn in its paw as he followed her.
‘Who is that strange woman who has my child?’ Rheia asked turning to Colton, her eyes a bit wild.
‘That’s Meryn, she’s Aiden’s mate,’ Colton explained.
‘The one that set the car on fire?’
Everyone nodded.
Rheia turned and hurried into the dining room.
Colton looked around fighting to keep a grin off his face. ‘So. Who’s hungry?’ He threaded his fingers behind his head and walked into the dining room whistling.
*****
Rheia’s hands itched to take Penny away from the odd, short woman, but Penny looked perfectly content sitting on her lap looking at the woman’s shirt. Trust her daughter to find another Whovian in the house. She had no one to blame but herself; she had indoctrinated Penny into the fascinating world of Doctor Who when she was desperate to find something the child liked. She stumbled across an old DVD one day and Penny was hooked.
She watched Meryn carefully. ‘So are the two of you shifters?’ she asked pointing to Meryn and Beth.
Beth nodded. ‘I’m a lepus curpaeums…‘
‘Beth’s a bunny,’ Meryn interrupted.
‘Meryn, quit baiting Beth,’ Aiden chided then smiled at her. ‘I’m a bear shifter.’
‘Who is growly and stubborn, but my teddy bear,’ Meryn whispered loudly to Penny.
Rheia looked around the table. The dark haired man sitting next to Beth spoke up next. ‘Gavriel Ambrosis, vampire. I’m also Beth’s mate.’
‘Uuber vampire. Dark Prince, even.’ Meryn continued with her commentary. Gavriel shook his head smiling at her antics.
The man with long golden hair looked around before continuing. ‘Guess I’ll go next. I’m Darian Vi’Ailean, fae.’
‘Super tall. Doesn’t say a lot, but very sweet. He’s always willing to get the hidden boxes of snacks down from the higher shelves for you,’ Meryn smiled at Darian who winked back.
All eyes swung to the red headed man who was blushing furiously next to Darian.
‘I’m Keelan Ashwood, witch,’ he said, then looked at Meryn anxiously.
‘Keelan is very thoughtful and courteous. He always goes out of his way to make sure I have my coffee in the morning.’ Meryn beamed at Keelan, who laughed nervously.
Rheia turned to Meryn, ‘What are you?’
‘We haven’t figured out that out yet,’ Colton quipped.
Meryn glared daggers at him, but he just laughed. Ignoring him, she turned back to Rheia. ‘I’m human.’
Rheia noticed that Meryn’s mate watched Meryn interacting with Penny with a gentle smile on his face. For all his bluff and bluster, he was a softie just like Radek. Rheia gasped and dug for her phone. How could she forget?
‘Sweetheart, what is it?’ Colton asked, his face filled with concern.
‘I need to call home; I need to know if my brothers are okay.’ She looked down and nearly cursed aloud. Her phone was dead. In all of the chaos, she had forgotten to plug it in while she was driving.
Aiden cleared his throat. ‘Rheia, Radek called me early this morning. He told me to tell you that everyone was fine. He said he also suspected your mate was here in Lycaonia.’ He shot a droll look at Colton who grinned back at him. ‘He said to tell her mate that if he ever hurt her, that his Vanguard squad would come and personally remove your skin one inch at a time. He sounded very serious.’ Aiden’s mouth twitched.
Colton turned to her, a serious expression on his face. ‘How many brothers do you have?’
She smiled at him sweetly. Now that she knew her family was safe it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. ‘Five.’
He exhaled loudly. ‘Perfect.’
‘So who’s your favorite doctor?’ she heard Meryn ask. Penny held up four fingers.
‘Fourth Doctor, huh? Mine’s a tie between Ten and Eleven. Ten because he was so painfully lonely and Eleven because he wasn’t afraid to kick butt,’ Meryn explained.
‘Congratulations on raising a well-rounded daughter. I personally love Classic Who, not many younger folk go back and watch the older seasons,’ Beth said turning from Meryn and Penny.
Rheia smiled. ‘Thank you, Beth, right?’ Beth nodded. Rheia paused.’Let me ask you something. Is this mating thing real?’
Rheia noticed Colton flinched at her question and ignored it. Love of first sight only happened in cheesy 80’s power ballads and fairy tales.
Beth smiled. ‘It is. I know it must seem strange to you, being human, but I think you already knew the answer to that question before you asked it. For the record, Colton has to be one of the most selfless men I’ve ever met. I think he’ll be a good match for you.’
Rheia snorted. ‘You don’t even know me.’
Beth raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair to look her up and down. ‘Smell of professional grade antiseptic soap, Gods awful polyester scrubs, Naturalizer shoes and the willingness to adopt a child not even of your own species? RN?’ she asked.
Rheia shook her head. ‘Surgeon. I was working overnights in the ER when Penny came into my life. And scrubs are not God awful, they are comfortable and I never have to worry about what to wear,’ Rheia refuted.
‘My mate is gorgeous and smart.’ Colton winked at her.
Rheia sighed dramatically. ‘Too bad I don’t like blonds.’
Colton’s head whipped around to stare at slack jawed. She continued to look at him without cracking a smile. She could tell he didn’t know if she was joking or not.
‘Seriously?’ he asked.
She shrugged indifferently and smiled up at Ryuu as he placed a plate of food in front of her. ‘You don’t have to serve me, just let me know where the food is. I can make Penny’s plate,’ she offered.
‘See! It’s not just me.’ Meryn pointed to Rheia.
Rheia looked around. ‘What?’
Beth answered. ‘Rheia, Ryuu is the house squire. In human terms, I think the closest thing that you have is a butler, but in the paranormal world, it goes beyond that. Here we treat squires with reverence. They command a great deal of respect as they are the ones who run the homes of the high ranking families.’
‘High ranking? Who here is high ranking? Wait, didn’t she say that Ryuu was her squire?’ she asked pointing to Meryn.
Beth fought a smile and nodded. ‘Aiden, when he takes over from his father as the Elder for all shifters, will be the highest ranking paranormal in the world, Meryn as his mate will also be highly regarded.’
They all watched as Meryn turned her waffle into a cartoon face using whip cream and chocolate.
Rheia leaned back. ‘That just doesn’t seem right to me.’
Ryuu handed her a cup of coffee by the saucer. ‘Would it help you to understand if I told you Meryn is single handedly restructuring some of the oldest paranormal traditions for the better? She looks at the world with fresh eyes. The changes she has made, will save thousands of lives.’
Meryn waved a waffle-laden fork around. ‘I know, I know. I look and sound like an immature teenager. It’s not that I don’t know the societal norms, I just don’t give a flying fu…’ She looked down at Penny. ‘Fig. Most of society are assholes, why would I care what they think?’
‘I agree with you,’ Rheia said sipping her coffee. She paused and looked down at the cup. ‘Holy Mother of God,’ she said breathlessly. She turned and looked up at the handsome squire.
Meryn and Beth giggled. Beth winked at her. ‘I know exactly what you’re thinking. Impeccable manners, gorgeous, can run a house, cook incredible food and brew the nectar of the Gods, is this man real?’
Rheia let out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank God, I thought it was just me.’
Meryn shook her head. ‘No, we all have crushes on Ryuu. Plus he spoils us.’ Meryn blew kisses to her squire. Around the table, Aiden and Gavriel growled low. Rheia noticed her mate wasn’t acting particularly possessive. She didn’t know if she liked that he wasn’t acting like a caveman, or was upset because he wasn’t.
Colton caught her staring and winked. ‘One. You’re my mate, once I claim you, no other man will even compare,’ he said oozing confidence. ‘Two. He feeds me too. I have a man crush on him, so I can’t get mad.’ He shrugged.
Rheia began to laugh so hard she had to put her cup down. ‘Oh Lord, I think I’m punch drunk, because he’s not that funny,’ she said wiping her eyes. Around the table, the men chuckled.
Colton stood, glaring at the men. ‘I am so that funny. But you’re exhausted, come on honey. Time for bed.’
Rheia stopped laughing and scowled up at him. ‘I told you, I’m not going to bed with you.’
Colton walked over to Meryn and picked Penny up. ‘And I made a bet with my baby girl that you would. Let’s go see who wins. Last one upstairs has to make the bed!’ he shouted and sprinted from the room.
Rheia looked around. ‘Is he serious?’
Aiden nodded. ‘Yes. He never makes his bed.’
Sighing Rheia walked out of the dining room. She found Colton and Penny waiting for her in the foyer. She raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought we were racing.’
He shrugged. ‘I remembered you haven’t been upstairs yet and I’d have an unfair advantage.’ He easily carried Penny on his right side. Her daughter was sitting comfortably on his muscular forearm. He offered her his left elbow and smiled. ‘Come on, honey.’
‘I’m not going to sleep with you,’ she said placing her hand on his elbow.
‘Bet you a dollar,’ he countered.
‘Deal,’ she accepted. No way in hell was she letting him sleep with her and Penny.
