by BE Kelly
“I guess we need to meet everyone else,” she whispered. “I just hate that we have to do any of this. I’m tired of running. I’m tired of being chased and I’m tired of things not feeling normal. I wish we could go back to our everyday, boring lives but I’m worried that might never happen.” Gray loved that Kaiah had always been so open with him. Even after they first met, he always knew where he stood with her because she had no problem telling him.
“Are you nervous about meeting your brother?” Gray asked.
Kaiah nodded, “Yeah—and everyone else. Let’s go get this part over with. I’m tired and the sooner we go, the sooner we can get back here.”
“Deal,” he whispered. “The sooner we meet everyone and eat, the sooner I can get you back into my bed, Baby Girl.”
They walked into the main house and found that everyone else had been waiting for them. “Sorry we’re a little late,” Kaiah offered. He looked over to the corner of the room where Rios and Ay stood with little Ryker. Aylen looked about ready to spit nails and Gray wondered if she was ever going to forgive her father for taking off. Kaiah walked over to her sister and pressed her forehead against Ay’s.
“You all right, Sissy?” Kaiah asked. Aylen smiled and nodded, seeming to relax some. Gray always wondered at the special bond the two seemed to share. He remembered his daughters having something similar with each other. Maybe it was a sister thing.
“I am now,” Ay whispered back. “What took you two so long?”
“I unpacked,” Kaiah defended.
Aylen smiled at her sister, “Of course you did. You are the most organized person I know, Sissy,” Ay teased. Kaiah giggled and nodded.
Echo cleared his throat, effectively ending their little private conversation and Gray pulled Kaiah back against his body. He wasn’t sure why but every protective instinct came roaring to life inside of him when Kaiah’s father was in the same room with them. “Thanks for joining us,” he said to both Aylen and Kaiah.
“Well, we had no choice,” Aylen spat.
Kaiah took her sister’s hand into her own and exhaled. “What my sister means to say, is that we appreciate the place to crash, under the circumstances.”
“I meant exactly what I said, Kaiah,” Aylen chided. “If it wasn’t for him leaving us, we would have grown up knowing exactly who and what we are up against. This wouldn’t all be a surprise while we’re still worried about the hunters coming for us—which by the way, Echo made happen. This is all his fault and now we have to rely on him to save our skins.” Aylen was right but Gray knew that if it wasn’t for Echo, they’d be on the run again, running from safe house to safe house, putting everyone who helped them in danger. Kaiah had talked about heading to her grandmother’s place but Gray convinced her that would only put her mother and Anali in danger if the shifters found them there. Hell, they were probably already in danger but Trace and Rios promised to send a few guys to New Mexico to keep an eye on them. He knew it was best not to take Kaiah and Aylen home to her grandmother’s place but he also hated being under Echo’s protection when they didn’t even know the guy.
“I understand that you are angry with me, Aylen. But, I’m hoping you will let me make it up to you and your sister now. I want to help make things right,” Echo said. Gray looked around the room at the others who had joined them. It looked to be four different families, all grouped around the big gathering room. A few women lingered in the kitchen, finishing putting out food. Kaiah couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the young man standing to Echo’s left.
“Is that your brother?” Gray whispered in her ear. Kaiah nodded and looked about ready to burst into tears or storm out of the cabin. He wished he knew what her visions had told her about the kid because from the look on her beautiful face, whatever she saw wasn’t good.
“Kaiah, Aylen—I’d like for you both to meet your brother, Lake,” Echo said. The kid had spunk; Gray had to give him that. He boldly walked across the room, holding his hand out to Kaiah and she took his, gasping when they touched. Echo knew she saw something; her expression gave it all away. Aylen could tell that her sister had picked up on something too, pulling her sister’s hand free from Lake’s. The kid took a step back from them as if he was unsure of himself.
“Did I do something wrong?” he whispered.
“Not yet,” Aylen said. “But, I’m guessing that’s going to change. What did you see, Kaiah?” Aylen asked. Kaiah shook her head and plastered on a fake smile. At least to him, it looked fake but to the rest of the families around the room, she looked genuinely happy to be meeting her little brother.
“It’s good to meet you, Lake,” Kaiah lied. God, Gray wanted to get her out of Echo’s house and back to the little cabin they were staying in. He could almost feel how upset she was and judging by the angry scowl on Aylen’s face, she could tell the same.
“Kaiah,” Aylen insisted.
She looked at her sister and shook her head as if silently pleading with Ay not to cause any more trouble. “I’m just tired is all. It’s been a long trip.” Kaiah looked at her sister and Gray could see the warning in her eyes.
Rios’ cleared his throat, “I’m Rios and this here is your nephew, Ryker. I’m married to Aylen.” Rios held out his hand and the kid shook it, giving him a half-smile that reminded Gray so much of Kaiah’s.
“Wow,” Lake breathed. “I’m an uncle?” He turned back to Echo and laughed. “That would make you a grandpa,” he teased.
“Yeah, yeah,” Echo grumbled. “Don’t go stirring up shit, son. I’m still young enough to beat your ass.” Lake laughed and turned back to face Aylen, holding out his hand to her. She looked it over as if trying to decide what she wanted to do next.
She didn’t take his hand, crossing her arms over her chest. “How old are you?” she asked.
Lake mimicked her stance and Gray wanted to laugh. He had a feeling that Kaiah and Ay’s little brother would be able to give as good as they gave. “Twenty-four,” he said. Aylen huffed out her breath and looked around Lake to where Echo stood.
“You didn’t waste much time,” she accused. “I just turned twenty-five,” she said. “You left us and what, found someone the next day to start replacing the family waiting for you back in New Mexico. Or, did you have a little side piece that you kept behind mom’s back?” Aylen stared her father down and the room seemed to hum to life around them with the tension she was creating. A woman joined Echo from where she had been working in the kitchen and from the scowl on her face, she wasn’t too happy with Ay’s accusations.
“Enough,” Echo shouted, his booming voice echoing through the room. “This is Lake’s mother—Anita and while you are in our home, you will show her some respect. If you can’t do that, I’d suggest you leave now.” Gray noticed that Echo didn’t answer Aylen’s accusations and he was beginning to wonder if maybe she had hit the nail on the head. He seemed too angry for Ay to be wrong but then that wasn’t his business.
“Fine,” Aylen said. “We’ll leave then.” Rios grabbed her arm and shook his head. The silent exchange between the two of them was almost painful to watch.
“Please, Sissy. If you leave, I’ll follow and neither of us will be safe. Think about Ryker. We need to protect our family until we can figure out why Echo’s tribe is coming for us,” Kaiah said.
“They’re coming for all of us,” Echo reminded. “Everyone in this room is under threat from our tribe. Everyone here decided to marry outside of the tribe and is now being hunted.”
Kaiah turned to face her father, “Except your wife and Lake,” she corrected. “You forgot to mention that your wife is from your tribe and Lake would not be considered an outsider. He’s a full blood and your tribe won’t hurt him or Anita. You told me and Ay that your pack won’t touch them because they are both shifters but it goes deeper than that. They won’t touch you because you’re both from the same tribe—will they?” she asked pointing between Echo and Anita. Echo stared her down and Gray knew that look all too well. He
had let down his defenses and Kaiah had breached his walls—taking a peek inside of his mind when he wasn’t expecting it.
“You need to stay out of people’s thoughts, Kaiah,” he reprimanded. “It’s not polite to be inside other’s minds when they don’t invite you in.”
Kaiah barked out her laugh and took a step towards Echo. “I don’t need you, of all people, telling me right from wrong. I wouldn’t need to poke around your head if you were just being honest with us. You haven’t even told these people that you three don’t pose a threat to your tribe, have you? Keep in mind that I can feel their unease. Most of their minds are open to me because they aren’t hiding anything, like you.” Kaiah turned back to look at her brother, “And, you,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at Lake.
“Me?” Lake questioned, pointing at himself. “What have I done?”
“It’s not what you have done—it’s what you will do. I’ve seen it,” Kaiah said.
Echo crossed the room to stand next to his son, “Just because you see something that hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean that it will happen. Be careful accusing my son of something that he hasn’t decided to do yet.”
Kaiah stepped back into Gray’s body and he wrapped a protective arm around her. “Understood. But, when he does decide to do what I saw—you will lose,” she said. Kaiah fiercely stared down her brother. “Ay and I won’t let you win, Lake.” Kaiah took Aylen’s hand and they walked out of there. Gray looked over to Rios who held his sleeping son and shrugged.
“Looks like we’re going out for dinner,” Rios grumbled. Gray nodded to Echo and turned to follow the women out of there. All in all, he had to admit that things went well. No one ended up with a bloody nose and his woman held her own without him getting involved.
Gray held the front door open for Rios who had followed him out, “Ay make you hold the baby so you wouldn’t punch anyone?” Gray teased.
“Yeah—but honestly, I was more worried about my little warrior getting into a brawl.” Gray chuckled and slapped Rios on the back as they left the house.
“We sure do have some fiery women don’t we?” he joked.
“Yep—but, I wouldn’t have it any other way. As long as I’m not on the receiving end of my wife’s anger, I’m fine with it,” Rios said. Gray knew how he felt. Having Kaiah mad at him never ended well.
“Sorry,” Kaiah whispered when they caught up to them. “I just couldn’t stay there. Not with him.”
“Echo?” Gray asked.
“No,” Aylen and Kaiah said in unison, “Lake.”
“What the fuck?” Rios asked. “The kid seemed nice.”
“Looks can be deceiving. Let’s find a place to eat and I’ll fill you guys in on what Ay and I saw,” Kaiah offered. Gray and Rios piled everyone into his and Aylen’s SUV. He was starving and they needed to figure out their next move because he was sure that they wouldn’t be staying at Echo’s place. Not after Kaiah told him about her brother. If the kid was bad news, he’d get his woman as far from that compound as possible.
Kaiah
Kaiah sat next to Gray at the little diner, loving the way he always kept a hand on her. It was like he wanted her to know he was there for her and would protect her no matter what. She could feel that in him—his protective nature but she worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe from what was about to happen next. Lake was working with the shifters who were hunting them and from what she saw, he was willing to do just about anything he had to turn her and Ay over to them.
Gray waited for the waitress to take their order and then practically pulled her onto his lap, not caring that Rios and Aylen were sitting across from them. “Tell me what you saw,” he demanded. She knew that neither Aylen or Gray would let her hide even if that was all she wanted to do. She had been dreaming about Lake for months now and he always told her he needed her help. God, she was seeing things all wrong.
“I told you guys that I’ve been seeing Lake for months now—although I had no idea who he was until Echo showed up at your place to tell us we had a brother,” she said to Gray.
“Did he seem to be a threat when you saw him in your visions?” Aylen asked.
“No, not at all,” Kaiah said. “Each night it was the same vision—him reaching for me, almost as if he needed my help. I thought that’s what this was all about. Aylen and I see people who need our help or we need to warn—you know to save their lives. I thought we would meet Lake and he’d need our help but I was so wrong. He wants to hurt us, Aylen,” she whispered.
“I know,” her sister said. “I felt it too when you touched me. Sometimes, Kaiah can pick up on what someone is thinking or feeling by touching them,” Aylen explained.
“Yeah—I’ve learned that the hard way,” Gray grumbled. Rios chuckled and Aylen shot him a look.
“Well, when Kaiah touched Lake and then took my hand, what she saw transferred to me. He wants to turn us over to the pack of shifters who are after us,” Aylen said. Ryker started fussing and she soothed him, lifting him from his car seat. Kaiah reached for him and took him from her sister. “Here—I pumped before I left the cabin tonight. He can have this,” she reached into a small cooler she kept inside of her diaper bag and pulled out a bottle, handing it over to Kaiah.
“Thanks,” Kaiah kissed his little head and shoved the nipple into his mouth, giggling when her nephew started immediately sucking like he hadn’t just eaten a couple hours ago. She could feel Gray’s eyes on her, even hear his thoughts about how beautiful she looked with the baby in her arms. He even thought about her having his baby and she could feel her blush when he thought about all the ways he’d want to create that very outcome with her.
“You were in my damn mind again, weren’t you Baby Girl?” he whispered into her ear.
Kaiah shrugged and nodded. “You told me I could,” she defended.
“Yeah—I’m not mad but I do like this,” he said, rubbing his thumb over her cheek acknowledging her blush.
“You guys need a minute?” Rios teased.
“No,” Kaiah said. “What we need is to come up with a plan—a damn good plan because if what I saw happens, Lake is going to make good on his promise to deliver us to his tribe and then, Ay and I are fu—” she didn’t finish her curse when Rios cleared his throat.
“If I’m not allowed to cuss in front of the baby—you aren’t either,” he chided.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just worried and scared. If they want to hurt us, they’ll want Ryker too.”
“They don’t want to hurt us, Kaiah,” Aylen spat. “They want to fucking kill us and my son.” Rios tisked at his wife for cursing in front of Ryker and she waved him off. “This is serious, Rios,” she said.
“I know how serious this is, Ay. But, we’ll do what we always do and fight like hell to keep you safe—all of you,” he said.
“Damn straight,” Gray agreed. “Tell us exactly what you saw and don’t leave out any details. If we can nail down when Lake will try to get to you both, we might be able to stop him. That’s how this all works, right?”
“Yes,” Kaiah said. She took a deep breath, wanting to calm her unsteady nerves. Gray was right, she needed to get every detail correct or they might not be able to stop Lake from hurting them and that wasn’t something she could allow to happen.
“The visions start normal enough—I see him and he tries to tell me something. It’s always the same thing. Lake seemed so intense but sweet at the same time, you know?” she asked.
“There’s nothing sweet about wanting us dead,” Aylen protested.
“No—there’s not,” Kaiah agreed. “As I said, I didn’t know who I was seeing or what he wanted until tonight.” Ryker made sucking noises and she smiled down at him. “Looking back at the vision now, it’s almost as if he knew who we are and what we can do.”
“Of course he does,” Aylen said. “Our dear old dad sold us out—just like he did our mother when he left her for that woman.”
“Lake s
eemed to know how to reach me. He even seemed to know who I am; said my name and everything. Do you think he was playing me this whole time? You think he knew who we are and he was invading my visions to get my attention?” Kaiah asked. The thought of not being able to control her visions upset her. That was something she could always do. Her visions were comfortable to her, like an old sweater on a cold day. They made her feel like, well—her. But if Lake was somehow manipulating her abilities or using them against her, she wouldn’t know what to do. How could she trust any of her visions if that was the case?
“Don’t do that to yourself, Sissy,” Ay said reaching across the table.
“Do what?” Gray asked.
“Kaiah’s doubting her abilities because of our so-called little brother. If he got into your visions and fed you what he wanted you to see, that means that some part of it was real. We just have to weed out the real parts and throw away all the bullshit he planted.”
“Bullshit is a curse word,” Kaiah chided, smiling at her sister. Rios laughed and pulled Aylen against his body.
“We should start a swear jar—Ryker’s college fund will be paid in full before the kid even gets to kindergarten,” he teased. The waitress brought their food and Gray offered to take Ryker so she could eat but having her nephew’s little weight in her arms was comforting to her.
“So, now what do we do?” Kaiah almost whispered.
“Now, we get you and Aylen the fuck out of your father’s place,” Gray said.
“Yep, that college fund is growing by the minute,” Rios teased. Gray pulled out his wallet and threw down a twenty.
“Here—I have a feeling I’m going to be swearing a lot in the next couple days. Start a tab for me,” Gray ordered. Kaiah burped Ryker and stood to hand him back over to Aylen.
