by Jana Leigh
“Kiki!!” Rissa yelled and ran down the hallway. If Sydney hadn’t known the woman’s reputation, she would have called her a cute puppy. Realistically she should be afraid—the woman was crazy. “I know this is about you and your mates tonight, but I couldn’t keep a secret, Calli and Cherri are miffed, but they will get over it.”
“Ris, tell us!” Kiki said in exasperation. He knew if his best friend got on a roll, that would be it. They would be standing there for hours listening to her life story, again.
“We are having a baby!” Rissa crowed loudly and jumped up and down.
Kiki looked stunned and Thomas had the expression of horror on his face. “Who?”
Rissa cocked her head and grinned. “Well it's not me. I still have to sleep with one eye open, you know, I married a murderer, duh.”
Kiki looked beyond her to where Calli and Cherri were standing. Cherri was excited and bubbly, like normal, but Calli looked like she was going to be sick to her stomach. “Calli?”
“Yay, an Alpha baby.” Rissa clapped.
Kiki and Thomas roared with laughter. Sydney looked at the people around her, wondering what the hell was going on. She would have thought that congratulations were in order.
“No fucking way!” Kiki yelled.
“Oh yeah,” Rissa snickered. “And she is not a happy camper right now. Kade has demon seed and is the devil incarnate, according to Calli that is. Then there is Vivi, who is so excited I think she peed herself when Calli was puking. It has been an eventful day.”
Calli walked toward them and said loudly, “Tonight is about you, not me. I am pretty sure the whole birthing wonder will wait for another day. As long as I can hold down a meal, we will be good.”
Thomas stifled a laugh and turned his head away. Sydney didn’t know what to do so she said, “Congratulations?”
“Oh aren’t you a cute little, uh, woman,” Rissa said and frowned when Calli hit her in the back of the head. “What?”
“You can’t walk around and say ‘little woman’ like that. She is a Fae, they are freaking short,” Calli barked at Rissa who smiled.
“Okay, momma, I promise I will behave,” Rissa pouted and Calli turned and growled at her.
“Child, or no child, I will kill you where you stand if you push me,” Calli threatened and pointed a finger at her. Rissa only giggled and rolled her eyes.
“That’s the hormones,” Cherri laughed and joined them. Sydney was already feeling emotional overload just being around them.
Kiki made a little clucking noise, stepped up and grabbed Calli in a hug, and said, “Now, now, bestie, we will stock up on pickles and ice cream.”
Calli rolled her eyes and stood there with her hands at her sides, glaring at the wall as Rissa and Cherri began to hug her and chatter happily. Thomas sighed loudly and looked past the women to where the women’s mates were standing surrounded by the crazy parents. This night would never end, and he was going to need therapy, at least Sydney may need it also, so it could be a bonding experience.
“Mate!” Kade bellowed. “You should be sitting down.”
Calli stiffened at the tone Kade had and Sydney held a breath and waited. Cherri’s and Rissa’s eyes narrowed and they had a panicked look on their face. This could get a little dicey, she thought as Kiki and Thomas both pulled her back so she was out of the line of fire. What the fuck had she gotten herself into?
An older woman, who Sydney would have guessed was Calli’s mother, made a noise that sounded a bit like a cry and the two women next to her put their arms around her. The Alpha smirked when he heard the noise, apparently knowing that Calli was going to be pissed.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Calli said quietly, which apparently made everyone really nervous. The women who were standing in the entrance to the dining room quickly walked in. Although Sydney could see them poking their heads out to see the show while being out of the line of fire.
Rissa raised her hand and Cherri pulled it down and shook her head. What was wrong with these people? The woman was pregnant for goodness sake.
Kade frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, raised an eyebrow at his mate, and growled, “SIT DOWN!”
“Oh no you did not just yell at me!” Calli said and walked forward. “It is your fault I am pregnant to begin with. Don’t you start trying to order me around. I am a vessel for an amazing girl who is going to be the spitting image of me.”
Vivi gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. “A girl?”
Calli paused and looked behind her and crossed her eyes and then turned back. “Of course, mother, my body would not betray me.”
“Oh, we get to have tea parties!” The older woman cried and Kade’s frown deepened.
Calli stomped her foot. “No, mother, the last tea party you threw, we ended up in the emergency room.”
“Please, you had to learn how to detect poison,” the older woman argued and sniffed.
“We were only seven!” Cherri yelled.
“We didn’t give you enough to kill you, just enough to make you learn a lesson not to eat everything people put in front of you.” The woman shrugged and Sydney looked at her mates who were not the least bit surprised, they just shook their head in shame.
“I hated my ‘Tasty Cakes’ after that, it was so very wrong,” Rissa whined.
“Suck it up, you learned a valuable lesson,” one of the other older woman said.
“Ma, seriously, we were sick for a week,” Rissa argued.
“Better than dead.” The woman shrugged and Sydney was sure she had stepped into another world. If she hadn’t heard some of the stories, Sydney would have thought they were fucking with her. Like an initiation, but a completely fucked up one.
Vivi, Shelly, and Brenda were scary, but what Syd found even more frightening was the woman who she had been living with before coming to the smaller compound outside of the gate had made friends with the women. It scared Syd that she had slept in the same room with the older woman.
“My son used to get pissed at us when we made him do the ‘Bomb Drills’,” said Louise or better known as Weezie these days.
“Weeze, what is a ‘Bomb Drill’?” Brenda asked.
“We would throw sticks of dynamite in a field while he tried to dodge them. You know when the shit hits the fan the boy needs to be prepared. We only hit him once, he is really fast. Hey, Calli, maybe you can use him as an Enforcer, he gets out of the clinic next year,” Weezie said.
“Enough, this is for Kiki and his mates. Let's go into the dining room,” Calli grumbled. “I am starving. Ma, you need to screen your friends more.”
“Hey, she fits right in, we have a little training planned for next week. You know for when they try to gas us. We have it all planned out, and your father just asked his friends to bring the leftover cans of gas we had in the garage. We will tell you about it later, now back to Kiki’s mates. Wait, where are the men?” Calli’s mother asked, confused.
“Ma, do you never listen to me? Kiki’s mates are right there. Thomas and this is Sydney.”
“Wait, huh? I am confused. Kiki’s mates are the hulking beast and the midget?” Calli’s mother asked everyone.
“MA, you can’t say that!” Calli yelled.
“Why? She is,” the woman sniffed.
“She is Fae,” Kiki smiled and said.
“Well of course she is. DUH!!” the older woman said and rolled her eyes and then looked at Sydney with a shrewd expression. She felt like a bug under a microscope.
“Okay, then,” Kiki said loudly and held out his hand in front of her. “Let’s go and meet the Drekinn Pack.”
For the next hour, they preformed the introductions. Sydney was polite and a little quiet, not from being shy, more from the fact she couldn’t get a word in edgewise. If she didn’t have a mission, she would have been completely enthralled. Sure they were a little crazy, and off the wall, but in a charmingly fun way. She had never been to a meal like this one. Especially when Rissa
and Cherri began arguing over who was going to be the Godmother to the Alpha’s baby. It was entertaining to say the least.
The table was full of food, she was impressed by the spread and wondered where exactly they were getting supplies. Sydney waited while both Kiki and Thomas put food on her plate, leaning in and whispering to her if she liked certain foods. It unnerved her. She could feel the tingle of awareness from the mating pull—it was making her squirm a little in her seat.
Sydney heard one of the mothers, Shelly, she thought, at the end of the table say loudly before her friends hushed her.
“I though Kiki was gay, are you sure he knows where to put it?”
“Honey,” Vivi responded and laughed loudly. “She only has two holes.”
“Uh, no, three, and what if he gets confused?” Brenda said.
“Maybe we should give her a few pointers,” Shelly said and smiled at Kiki and Thomas who were shaking their heads and groaning with embarrassment then waved a little. “See? They are so nice, I think we should be talking to them about the whole mating thing. Thomas is probably feeling sad now that Kiki isn’t chasing his ass anymore.”
“Are they aware we can hear them?” Sydney whispered out of the side of her mouth, staring at the three women who were speaking clearly.
“Nah, that is their quiet voice, you should see them when they yell, scares the shit out of most people,” Kiki whispered back.
“If the floor opened up and swallowed me whole right about now, I don’t think I would argue,” Thomas hissed.
“Look, they are in a fight already. Maybe we should stop making that blanket for them,” Shelly said and stared at them with pity.
“Blanket? What blanket?” Vivi asked.
“You know the one that Selma from NYC is making us so we can pass it off as our own,” Brenda said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… I remember,” Vivi said snapping her finger. “We need her to make baby shit, too. My grandbaby deserves the best.”
“Kiki needs us!” Brenda said. “Stop getting off subject.”
Sydney turned and looked at Kiki who blushed bright red and shrugged. “What, they love me. It was like taking a group of kids to the zoo when I took them to the bar where I once worked. They love drag queens.”
Sydney giggled and shook her head, she was still floored every time someone said Kiki was a drag queen. It didn’t really matter to her, the man was hot and sexy, dressed in pants or skirts, either way she stared at his ass.
“So,” Kade said across the table from Sydney. “You were with Phillip.”
Sydney nodded. “Yep, I was on my way to the Drekinn Agency when they were taken down. I joined Phillip and the others when they were heading here. I was on the run from a few of the men Ulfer who decided I looked like someone they wanted to play with.”
Thomas hissed and looked at Kiki who was looking decidedly murderous. She knew she was going to have to talk about what happened when she arrived to NYC.
“Why were you going to the Drekinn?” Calli asked suspiciously.
Sydney looked around the room and saw that most of them were waiting for her answer. They may have allowed her to come into the compound with the others, but they still didn’t trust them all. Shit, she was going to have to go out on a limb here. Phillip was nodding slightly to her. He didn’t know everything, only that she wanted to join the agency because she wanted to help.
“I was going to find a job,” Sydney said honestly and waited.
“To do what?” Cherri asked.
Sydney looked Calli in the eyes and said, “Investigation.”
The Alpha female's eyes narrowed and she looked at her. Kiki and Thomas were holding their breath, she could feel the tension in the air, but damn it, she needed to talk to Ms. Praton for a reason, one she really didn’t want to discuss at the dinner table.
“You want to be in Investigation?”
Sydney nodded, “I need to speak to Ms. Praton about this first.”
Calli grinned and looked at her closely. “Really? Pilar, where is Ms. Praton right now?”
Sydney shifted her gaze to the young woman she spent the afternoon with. She seemed like she was amused, just like the others in the room. “I can get her if you need me to.”
Calli cocked her head. “Why do you need to speak directly to her?”
Kiki and Thomas groaned aloud and she refused to turn and look at them. Instead, she kept eye contact with the Alpha female. She would not be intimidated. It was time for her mates, and everyone in the place, to know she was not a little cowering flower they all thought she was. It was pissing her off playing this game. She could either be making a huge fucking mistake, or solidifying her place in the Drekinn.
“Because I have certain powers she may feel will be extremely useful, and in addition to that, I have some other information which may or may not be pertinent as well,” Sydney said carefully and refused to break eye contact.
Kiki leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Darling, you are playing a dangerous game with my best friends. They will kill you.”
Thomas said in the other ear, “When I count to three, make a run for it. We will protect you.”
Sydney chuckled coldly, “Cute as you may be, I can take care of myself. I am sorry if I misled you in anyway, but trust me, I got this.”
Calli grinned evilly, tilted her head to the side, and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted.
Vivi stood and said quickly, “Hang on, before there is bloodshed and crying, we have been talking down here and are wondering something.”
Neither of the women flinched at the change in subject. Although Sydney could feel some of the Pack members backing up and scooting against the walls. Far enough away to miss the carnage that was about to happen, or close enough to see the show. Either way, it looked like there was going to be a hellish fight.
“Calli,” Kiki said warningly to his friend. “Damn it, don’t you dare.”
Thomas stood and looked at Kade with a glare. “Get her under control.”
“Yeah, sure, I will get right on that one,” Kade laughed. “Besides, she won’t kill your mate, maybe maim her, but not kill.”
“She is so tiny, it would be like beating a child or something,” Rissa whined. “You know, there are some lines even we don’t cross.”
“I’ll get the bag,” Cherri said briskly.
“Billy,” Rissa called and grabbed the dog that was under the table. “Take cover, boy!”
The small dog barked and apparently listened to his master as Sydney heard the scurry of little feet run out of the room. What wolf shifter had dogs anyway? It's weird, Sydney thought but continued the stare down without a flinch.
“Syd, honey, please,” Kiki begged. “You don’t really know them.”
“Oh, I know them alright, been dealing with their kind my entire life,” Sydney murmured.
“What the hell does that mean?” Cherri said, standing and putting her hands on her hips. Rissa mimicked her, and went and stood next to her friend in the same stance.
“Yeah, what the fuck does that mean?” Rissa screeched.
“”Hmmm, I don’t know, it seems like the midget over here is saying we are evil or something,” Calli said lowly.
“There is no 'seems like it' at all. I am saying you are an Alpha who leads by fear, not by understanding and kindness like a good Alpha would be. I mean, my mates seem to be terrified of you,” Sydney said dryly and she stood, putting her hands on the table and leaned over a little toward the Alpha in a clear, challenging way. “However, I can make this a little clearer in case the hormones, from the spawn of the devil, are actually clouding your thoughts.”
Calli snorted and narrowed her eyes. “Please do, pocket princess. I am sure I am going to take this conversation to heart and change my nasty ways because of it.”
“Oh shit,” Kade groaned.
“Damn it, Calli, knock it off!” Kiki yelled.
“Hey, I didn’t start this, but I damn
sure am going to finish it,” Calli growled and Sydney wanted to laugh when her eyes shifted. She wouldn’t bow to intimidation no matter who it came from.
“Well, we better move the tables, people, there is gonna be a knock-down drag-out,” Vivi said and her friends began to move food and the dinner stuff out of way.
“The problem is, this pack has lost sight of what is important,” Sydney said.
“Oh really? Enlighten me,” Calli laughed.
“Yep, the way I see it. The Chosen had it right. They were committed to their cause, making sure all magical creatures were protected, and they made the humans aware of the fact that we had been living amongst them without reason to fear. I came here to look for Ms. Praton with the sole purpose of offering my help to her and the Drekinn. Instead, I have been sitting here being ignored like a child. You have overlooked one of your best assets because you are so narrow-minded that you refuse to believe no one could possibly be as good as you. And bring it, your pregnant ass couldn’t take me with one hand tied behind my back,” Sydney snarled.
Calli grinned and sat back. Sydney knew she was trying to lull her into a false sense of security. When she cocked her head to the side and began speaking through her clenched teeth, Sydney knew she had pissed off the crazy Alpha.
“Hey, did she just call my ass fat?” Calli asked.
Cherri and Rissa laughed, “Girlfriend, she called your pregnant ass fat,” one of them said.
“Well, princeAss, let me fill you in on a few things around here. We are accepting, as long as people don’t lie to us. However, if what you are telling me is correct, you have and did lie to us in the last few weeks. I was told you were a harmless Fae who needed protecting. As for leading by fear, you could not have it more wrong. I admit that we are a little forceful, but every single one of our members of this pack know we would protect them with our life, and stand up for them every time if they needed it. They are like a family type of afraid, you know like I am the big sister who puts lipstick on them when they sleep and shit like that,” Calli gritted out. “I will not have anyone, especially a fucking lying, backstabbing bitch, walk into my home and question what the hell I am doing and how I am running things, especially when we are the ones with fucking bounties on our heads for standing up for the Drekinn as a whole. I don’t care if someone can fight better than me or is smarter than me, hell, half the fucking people here can. An Alpha is not only made up of strength and skills, but because we can combine the two and use it. Besides, I get little fucking party favors with the name ‘Head Bitch in Charge’ on them. Trust me when I say that is the coolest thing about being an Alpha. As for being narrow-minded, you judgmental bitch, I am not, nor have I ever been, narrow-minded. I accept people for who they are, not lead them around by the nose, lying to them and covering who I really am, in a nice little snack-size package. You are lying to my friends and pack mates, and I am calling black-black, and white-white, you treacherous whore. You are not worthy of Kiki and Thomas, not the other way around.”
