Elizabeth was about to join Meryn and Jaxon in the media room when the doorbell rang yet again. She looked around, no one else was in sight. She walked over to the door and opened it.
Two men in overalls smiled at her. ‘Hello Missus, we’re here to deliver the office equipment you ordered.’ The balding man said by way of introduction.
Elizabeth smiled at both men. ‘Wonderful! Wait right here, that room is in use at the moment. Shouldn’t take me a second to clear it out. Be right back.’ She closed the door and hurried down the hallway. She tapped on the door before opening it. Aiden was just hanging up his archaic phone receiver. He sat back, looking tired.
‘What did Adair say?’ she asked. She was curious to find out what Aiden’s brother knew about Sterling. It wasn’t like the academy to allow anyone that could become a possible threat through the system.
Aiden sighed. ‘He said that Sterling was known for being an elitist and somewhat of a bully, but scored exceptionally well in all of the trials and tests. He comes from a very affluent family, so there are politics involved. Adair said Sterling spent half the time at the academy chasing women and has no real idea how good the little bastard could actually be if he trained correctly. Adair was hoping he would settle down after being assigned to a unit. I don’t want to overlook this but damn if my hands aren’t tied.’
‘So basically he’s always been a dick, but now he’s a dick that we’ve actually trained, so he knows better ways to hurt and kill people. Training doesn’t make bad men good, Aiden,’ Elizabeth warned.
Aiden nodded. ‘I know, trust me, I know.’ He frowned. ‘Did you need something?’
‘Yes, the new office furniture is here, so they will need access to this room.’
‘I was done here anyway. I’m going to spend the rest of the day monitoring Sterling. I hope Gavriel hasn’t killed him,’ he muttered, standing.
‘Just so you know, Gavriel has asked the construction crew to start on an addition to the Alpha estate for the trainees. He said that his immortal soul would be in danger if he had to live under the same room as Sterling.’ Elizabeth winced as Aiden’s eyes widened.
He surprised her when he broke out in a boyish grin. ‘Good! And since he requested it, he can foot most of the bill. This is turning out to be a good day after all. Best of all, since it’s Gavriel requesting the renovations no one can say that I’m treating the trainees differently. Hell, if my father can spin this right, we can make it look like we’re spoiling them with new equipment and barracks.’ He walked past her, practically whistling.
Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile and followed him out of the office to the front door. Aiden opened it wide and both men stepped back startled. To those who didn’t know the Unit Commander, he could come across as a harsh military man. But she knew better since she lived with him, the man was a complete marshmallow.
‘Gentlemen,’ Aiden barked and walked past them, towards the training area.
Both men turned to her, looking spooked. She gave them her brightest smile and they relaxed a bit. ‘This way, gentlemen. I can’t wait to see what the office will look like with the new furniture. We’ll have to be careful with the Commander’s desk though, it’s an antique.’ She showed them where her future office would be. Both men eyed the huge hand carved desk and gulped. It would be a chore to move.
An hour later the men tipped their hats and left. She looked around the room. It seemed a lot bigger after they had moved Aiden’s wooden monstrosity of a desk to one side to act as a flat surface workstation. The newer desks were smaller but were more functional with technology hutches, filing cabinets and drawers.
She looked down at the new computers still in their boxes. Smiling she walked to the media room where Meryn was showing Jaxon and Noah how to strip ethernet cables to attach new heads. Noah must have slipped back in during all the furniture moving. She was glad he made it back safely.
‘Oh Meryn, I have a job for you,’ she said.
Meryn looked up. ‘What’s up?’
‘The new computers are here. Feel like showing your minions how to set them up?’ The words had no sooner left her mouth than Meryn was up and moving. She, Jaxon and Noah followed Meryn to the office where they found her smelling the boxes.
‘They have that new technology smell,’ she said before she began to decimate the packaging.
Elizabeth sat back in her new leather manager’s chair and closed her eyes and listened to their excited chatter. She was exhausted. She would let them work on the computers while she just rested her eyes for a bit.
*****
When she woke the sun was setting and the room was starting to get chilly. She looked down to see that Meryn had once again lovingly covered her with a red throw blanket. Smiling she got up. It took her a moment before the dizziness passed and she felt well enough to walk. When she was on steady feet she followed the sound of voices and found that the men and Meryn were in the family room. Gavriel stood when she walked in and was immediately at her side.
‘You could have woken me,’ she said when he leaned in for a kiss. His lips were warm and soft, the man had no right being so beautiful.
Gavriel shook his head. ‘I tried to wake you but you were sleeping so well I didn’t have the heart to move you. If you hadn’t woken up on your own I was going to wake you in a little bit for dinner.’
They walked over and sat down on one of the many love seats. Keelan was reading and Colton and Darian were bantering back and forth over a chessboard. Meryn was sitting next to Aiden and they were reading ‘Macs for Dummies’. She looked around and noticed that there were no trainees around.
‘Meryn where are your minions?’ she asked.
Meryn looked up. ‘Lennox came and pulled Noah and Jaxon away so all of the trainees could get to know one another. They finished up their dinner about an hour ago. Ryuu is setting up the dining room for us now.’
Elizabeth turned to her mate. ‘Sterling?’
Colton barked a laugh from across the room. ‘He said he was too tired to eat and was last seen staggering towards his room. He’ll regret not eating tomorrow,’ he shook his head.
Gavriel nuzzled her neck. ‘Colton and Darian took very good care of Sterling,’ he whispered.
‘Oh dear,’ she said then laughed.
She looked around the room, everyone was enjoying their evening. The fireplace was going and cast a warm yellow glow into the room. She snuggled closer to her mate, basking in the fire’s warmth.
From the foyer the sound of the doorbell had them all looking at each other. Everyone then turned to look at her.
She blushed. ‘All my deliveries already came today.’
The doorbell chimed again.
Aiden stood and left to see who was at the door. She heard familiar voices before what had to be the entire McKenzie clan walked into the room. Meryn got to her feet and immediately went to Adelaide for a hug. She was then passed to an older version of Aiden who kissed her on the top of her head and passed her to Adam. Adam and two other men hugged her friend and ruffled her hair.
Aiden looked at them. ‘What are you all doing here?’
Adelaide shot a look in Meryn’s direction. Meryn, who was jumping on the blond man’s back didn’t even notice the scrutiny. Elizabeth smiled. Adelaide may come across as sweet but she was sharp and extremely observant. She was willing to bet money that Adelaide had noticed a change in Meryn during their visit with the sewing circle and had convinced her menfolk to come for a visit so she could check.
Adelaide looked to Marius who stepped forward with a huge basket.
‘I brought cookies.’ Adelaide said and pulled back the red and white gingham towel to reveal a smorgasbord of sweets.
Meryn stopped mid-hop, the good looking man forgotten and raced forward. ‘Cookies!’
Adam elbowed the pouting blond man laughing. ‘Looks like you rank below cookies Ben,’ he teased.
‘We can’t let our love show too much or Aiden will get prickly,’ Ben said.
Aiden growled and Ben sighed. ‘See, he’s already getting grumpy.’
The man that looked like Adam and Aiden guffawed. ‘One of these days he’s going to maul you and you’ll deserve it baby brother.’
‘Adair, don’t give him any ideas, I’m the one that has to patch him back together,’ Adam complained.
Adelaide stepped forward rolling her eyes. She looked around until she saw Elizabeth. Elizabeth stood and she and Gavriel walked over to her.
Adelaide gave her a hug as well and stood back. ‘In case you haven’t figured it out, these are my sons, Adam, Adair and Ben. This is my mate, Byron and you’ve met my squire, Marius.’
Elizabeth nodded to the men. Byron and Marius gave courtly bows and Ben winked at her flirtatiously. Gavriel bared his fangs at the prankster.
Ben edged behind his older brother. Adair sighed but acted like the shield that his brother intended him to be.
Aiden grinning from ear to ear wrapped an arm around Meryn. ‘I think I know why you’re here Mother.’
Adelaide turned to look at her son. She took in his wide-open smile and the joy in his eyes. Her hands flew to her mouth and she gave a low cry. She raced over and pulled Meryn into her arms crying.
‘She is, isn’t she? Oh, Byron!’ Adelaide was weeping tears of happiness as she turned to her mate, Meryn still in her arms.
‘Yes, she is.’ Aiden looked at his father his own eyes a bit misty. ‘Looks like you’re going to be a Grandfather,’ he announced.
Aiden’s father surprised them all by giving an undignified shout and whooped loudly. He went to Marius, who was beaming and reached into the basket and rummaged around under the towel that held the cookies to pull out what looked to be a very old bottle of scotch.
‘This calls for a celebration!’ He shouted his cheeks red and his eyes bright. Beside him Aiden’s brothers were laughing and clapping their brother on the back. The unit members hung back grinning at each other as they had already known the joyous news.
Byron waved them over as Marius helped Ryuu with glasses. Elizabeth sat with Meryn and Adelaide on the sofa as the men toasted and celebrated. Gavriel turned to her and smiled. She couldn’t help the stray thought that maybe one day they would be celebrating their child.
‘This festive atmosphere reminds me, are you all going to be able to make it to our house again this year for Thanksgiving?’ Adelaide asked the warriors.
All of the men except Colton nodded. ‘I promised my mother I would spend the holidays with them.’ He heaved a huge sigh. ‘I’ll miss Marius’s and Ryuu’s cooking,’ he said, making it sound like an epic tragedy. Darian immediately began to torment him about the food he would miss.
Adelaide smiled at their teasing and turned to her daughter. ‘Oh Meryn, you couldn’t have given us a better solstice present. I wasn’t sure earlier when you showed up at the sewing circle. Your scent had changed but I wasn’t sure if that was because you had put on the amulet from Vivian,’
‘Nope, just plain ole knocked up,’ Meryn grinned.
‘Speaking of presents.’ Elizabeth smiled and reached into her pocket. She had been carrying around the keystones all day but had forgotten to give Meryn hers, now she could give them both to their new owners.
She dropped the keystones into their hands.
‘It’s so pretty. What is it?’ Meryn asked.
‘It’s a keystone. My fathers had them made for me when I was sixteen, by then it had become pretty apparent that I was naturally accident-prone. They keystones are connected to the pendant that I’m wearing. If I’m ever in trouble or hurt, I rotate the pendant and it sends out an alert to anyone with a keystone. So if you see this stone flash that means I might need your help,’ she explained.
‘Neat.’ Meryn put hers in her pocket.
Adelaide smiled at her warmly. ‘It’s an honor and a gift that you trust me, thank you.’ She placed hers in the small fabric satchel on her wrist then turned to Meryn. ‘Oh my! Just think, a baby in the family again,’ she said, her cheeks flushed.
‘I was kinda scared at first, but I’m used to the idea now. I can’t wait to meet Meryn 2.0,’ Meryn said, rubbing her flat stomach.
Aiden frowned. ‘We’re having a boy.’
Meryn frowned back. ‘No, we’re not. We’re having a girl and I’m going to teach her all about the Doctor and Star Wars and handguns and grenades.’
Aiden choked on his scotch. ‘Like hell! Even if we were to have a wee baby girl, she will be my princess. She’ll have pretty pink dresses with lace and dollies!’
Meryn blinked. ‘Dollies? Lace? Pink? No fucking way!’
‘Then have a boy,’ Aiden countered.
Adelaide clapped her hands together and they both quieted. ‘I have the perfect solution.’ Aiden and Meryn looked at her expectantly. ‘Just have twins Meryn, a boy and a girl.’ Adelaide beamed at them.
Both Meryn and Aiden paled and looked at each other. ‘Just one right?’ Meryn asked.
Aiden nodded. ‘Definitely just one.’
Adelaide pouted. ‘But twins would be so lovely, then triplets next time.’
Meryn stared at her mother-in-law in horror before she looked over to Ryuu who was serving impromptu finger foods for their throw together party.
‘Ryuu, ward off bad juju,’ Meryn said.
Ryuu lifted an eyebrow. ‘You have nothing to fear from Adelaide’s words, denka. If Fate decides to give you twins there isn’t much you can do about it.’
Meryn sighed. ‘Fine, but if there’s two that’s just double the amount of diapers for you and Aiden.’
‘Hey!’ Aiden protested. Adam, Adair and Ben laughed.
Ben clapped a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. ‘So can I buy the drum set and finger paints now?’
Aiden groaned.
‘Yeah, what can Uncle Colton start buying?’ Colton asked laughing with Ben.
‘Y’all are bad.’ Meryn laughed at Aiden’s expression before turning to her squire. ‘Ryuu, I’m thirsty. Do we have anything besides scotch?’
Ryuu nodded. ‘I’ll get some juice, it will be just a moment,’ he said placing a large serving tray down on one of the tables.
‘I’ll get it Ryuu,’ Elizabeth said standing. When she got to her feet the entire room tilted. Her vision became dim and spots appeared. In the background she heard Meryn’s scream, but couldn’t figure out what had upset her.
She heard a crash and felt a sharp pain in her side.
‘Bunny!’ Meryn cried out.
She blinked up and rolled her head to trying to look up. She couldn’t seem to focus. Above her she heard a low growl. Gavriel was crouched over her body, swiping at the hands that appeared at the edges of her vision.
‘Dammit, Gavriel, move! She’s going to bleed out!’ Adam yelled.
‘Gavriel your mate needs help,’ Aiden said evenly trying to get his second in command to focus.
She blinked up at the men and met Colton’s eyes. She blinked again and his frown deepened.
She watched as he walked over to Ryuu. ‘As soon as we’re in the clear shock him, don’t worry about me,’ he said.
Gavriel leaned down and licked her side as if trying to close her wound. She looked down and saw a large piece of glass from the coffee table sticking out of her side. She let her head fall back and she closed her eyes.
‘Bunny! No!’
She could hear Meryn crying. She wanted to tell her that she really should calm down, she had a baby to worry about, but couldn’t get her mouth to move. She opened her eyes and watched as Colton took a deep breath and with a running start tackled Gavriel moving him away from where she lay.
Gavriel hissed and attacked Colton furiously. He clawed desperately trying to get back to her. Ryuu was at their side in seconds. He reached down and grabbed Gavriel by the wrist. Blue flame erupted and covered both Gavriel and Colton. The flames brightened and both men stiffened and yelled out before slumping down against each other, unconscious.
‘Hey there, sweetheart. You weren’t kidding when you said we would become friends were you?’ Adam asked as his gentle hands pulled back the fabric of her shirt.
‘Gavriel?’ she whispered.
Ryuu walked over, concern on his face. ‘Out for now. He’ll wake up soon, hopefully more coherent than he was a moment ago.’
‘It doesn’t hurt,’ she said to Meryn, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. Adelaide had one arm wrapped around her daughter and Marius stood behind the both of them protectively.
Meryn sniffed and swallowed. ‘That means it’s bad. When it doesn’t hurt that means it’s so bad your brain is shutting it out.’
Adam smiled. ‘Nothing we can’t handle. Gentleman some help?’
She closed her eyes as she was lifted onto a blanket.
‘Don’t let him blame himself,’ she whispered.
‘Let’s just concentrate on you right now,’ Adam said. ‘Okay men, as evenly and as gently as you can, let’s head to the car.’
When her vision began to get dimmer and dimmer she smiled.
‘Good,’ she whispered and gave in to the darkness.
*****
‘I don’t understand, she’s a shifter, she should have started healing by now.’ Elizabeth woke to Adam’s frustrated voice. Exhausted she kept her eyes closed and listened.
‘What do you mean?’ she heard her mate ask. She felt relieved that he sounded okay and was close by.
‘There’s a bruise on her temple that is still healing. As shifters we either heal or we don’t. This looks like she’s healing human slow,’ Adam explained.
‘Is she sick? She’s been complaining of being tired,’ Gavriel said.
‘These bites, how fresh are they?’
‘Those are from last night.’
‘How often have you been feeding?’ Adam asked.
‘Once maybe twice a day since she’s arrived. Last night I lost control and she lost more than usual,’ her mate admitted.
Adam made that ‘hmmm’ sound that every medical healer she had ever been to did. ‘I’ll run some tests to be sure, but I’d say that the reason why she isn’t healing is because she’s extremely anemic. That glass in her side tonight wouldn’t have helped.’
‘This is my fault,’ Gavriel whispered.
‘Let me ask you something. Why feed from her so much? I’ve been sending more than three times the normal transition level blood requirements to the estate.’
‘Her blood helped more than the other blood combined.’
Adam made another ‘hmmm’ sound. ‘Interesting.’
‘I’ll stop feeding from her.’
Elizabeth turned in her bed and opened her eyes. Both men looked over at her and immediately came to her side. Adam took her wrist between his fingers and looked at his watch.
Gavriel ran a gentle hand over her hair. ‘I am so sorry, my love,’ his voice was strained.
‘My blood helps. I heard you speaking with Colton when you hurt your head. My blood restores your speed and strength that keeps you safe.’ She wanted to reach up and touch his face but her hand felt too heavy.
‘It is my duty, no, my privilege to protect you and all this time you have been protecting me.’ Gavriel closed his eyes as if he were in pain.
Adam lay her wrist back down. ‘Elizabeth, can you think of any reason why your blood would be affecting Gavriel differently than the blood donated here in Lycaonia?’ he asked.
‘Could it be because we’re mates?’ Gavriel asked thinking out loud.
Adam made a sour expression. ‘Nothing against the metaphysical bonds that tie us together, but this is affecting you on a physical level; I’d like to start there if possible.’
Elizabeth thought about how different her life was now. Everything was different. Different house, different food, different routine, different squire… Her thoughts stopped.
‘Different squire,’ she whispered.
‘How does Ryuu factor into this?’ Adam inquired.
‘Not him, Sebastian, my uncle’s squire. Every morning he would serve me breakfast in my suite as I got ready for the day. That included a vitamin designed by my father. I haven’t been taking them since I got here, but I bet that is why my blood is helping more than your bagged blood. My father was asked by the council in Noctem Falls to design a vitamin to help supplement what is now missing from human and shifter diets. We don’t eat like we used to. If humans and shifters aren’t getting the correct amount of vitamins and minerals neither are the vampires. It’s still in a test phase before being distributed to the other cities.’ She looked at Adam. ‘My father could tell you more.’
Gavriel turned to Adam. ‘It would explain why Meryn was so unappetizing. She grew up on junk food and caffeine. She’s only been eating decently this past month under Ryuu’s watchful eye.’ Gavriel frowned. ‘If the vitamin is the reason why Beth’s blood helps, it could make other’s transitions much easier. The blood I’ve been drinking does little to satisfy the thirst and might as well be water. No wonder my body is going through blood depravation. I have to ingest three times the normal amount to get the bare minimum required for the changes I am going through, and it’s still nowhere near what I actually need.’
Adam patted her leg. ‘I’m keeping you here overnight. Bagged blood may not help your mate, but it will do wonders for you. You should be nearly healed by morning. If you’ll excuse me, I have a certain scientist in Noctem Falls to call.’ Adam turned and headed towards the door.
‘Don’t tell him about me, he’ll just worry,’ she called after him.
He nodded and closed the door behind him.
Gavriel took her hand and in silence ran his thumb over her knuckles. The motion was so soothing she found herself closing her eyes and drifting.
‘Do you want me here?’ Gavriel asked, breaking the silence.
She opened her eyes and frowned at him. ‘Of course I want you here.’
‘I delayed your treatment because I lost control. I saw everyone as a threat; you could have died and I would still have been fighting them.’ His face was unreadable.
‘You are my mate, I belong with you.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want to go home? Not for good, but at least until my transition is over.’
She tugged on his fingers until he looked her in the eye. ‘You are my home now.’
He drew in a ragged breath. ‘Then all I can do is promise that I will do everything I can to minimize the danger to you, no matter the cost to me.’
She brought his hand to her lips and kissed the back of his hand. ‘Don’t make me hurt you later,’ she threatened with a smile.
His eyes lightened and he shook his head. ‘I think I prefer Meryn’s blunt and sometimes graphic ultimatums to your polite, smiling threats.’ He leaned down and kissed her gently. She could feel the depth of his love for her in the barest of touches. ‘I’m going to go next door and apologize to Colton again. He not only got a bit mangled but he also sustained quite a jolt getting me away from you so you could be treated. Unfortunately electricity affects shifters more than vampires. He’s to be released tomorrow too.’
‘Poor Colton. Tell him thank you for me.’
‘I will, be back.’ He left closing the door softly behind him.
She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket up to her chin. It wasn’t long until she was asleep.
