by L. Rose
But I wasn’t that kind. “Heck no, this is drama I want to see. I never thought Xi could have another facial expression besides his stoic one.”
My men shifted and either looked the other way, coughed, or covered their mouths to hide their amusement.
Xi finally lifted his head and searched Kiered’s face for something, but I wasn’t sure he found it. Instead, he asked, “Are you certain this is what you want? I am old. I am a chimera. I am—”
“Grumpy?” Ezra offered. “Like a robot most of the time? A killer?”
Xi ground his teeth together. “I would have said colder than most people. Emotions don’t come easy for me.”
Kiered gave him a small smile as he stepped closer to Xi.
“Where did Xi get his name from? He looks American, but his name is from elsewhere,” I asked Ezra.
“Dad said he was adopted when his real parents left him in an alley.”
My heart lurched. Xi did deserve this happiness.
Kiered reached out and ran a hand down Xi’s arm to his hand where he threaded their fingers together. “I will always accept you in any way or form. You’re mine.”
Xi’s eyes shifted black and then back. He looked to Castilina and bowed. “Will you excuse us, Queen Castilina?”
She smiled wide and nodded. “Of course, and as I said before, Xi Huang, welcome to the family.”
He bowed again. “You honor me.” He straightened, picked Kiered up over his shoulder, and stalked from the room.
Happiness had me giddy, and I hugged Cedrick to me tightly—pleased for his brother and for Xi. “This day has been a wonderful one.”
Castilina walked over and rested her hand on my arm. “Will you stay for a drink to celebrate?”
Leaning my head against Cedrick’s chest, I nodded. “I would love to.”
This was a future I wanted, one I would fight for. I refused to allow the council to tear this away from me.
The following morning, we said our goodbyes to Castilina and her mates after they had a royal announcement of her reappearance. It was like she’d said; her people greeted her back with open arms, and I didn’t have any fears about taking Cedrick from the fae. Kiered was also coming with us since he and Xi didn’t want to be far from one another. But Kiered would transport back to Airrile the night before our meeting with the council to lead members of their force to the destination if they were needed.
Paige sat in the back of the vehicle reading over pages regarding the shifters. We were meeting the tiger and lion packs at the same time. Both betas were willing to greet us together. I had a feeling it was because they didn’t trust anyone and hoped meeting together would help their outcome for survival. They would soon discover we weren’t there to fight, but to help and give them answers, then ask if they would stand with us against the ones who needed to be taken down.
“I thought packs of different species wouldn’t be seen with one another,” Paige commented.
Nate grunted. “Usually no, but Asher thinks they’re worried we’re there to harm them. They probably thought making an alliance was the lesser of two evils and would give them enough strength to fight against us.”
“Will they attack before listening?” Cedrick questioned from where he sat next to Paige. I was in the front driving, Thorn sat next to me, and in the middle seat were the rest of our clan. Nate, Alex, and then Ezra. I wasn’t sure if Alex noticed he was in the middle for a reason. The other two would have done it that way to protect him. If Paige hadn’t have had Cedrick next to her, I would have asked her to sit in the middle of all of us. Even on Alex’s lap. However, Cedrick was fast, and he could easily move her with a thought if a threat came at us.
I wasn’t sure why the men of my clan and I treated Alex as the weakest since it was the opposite. He was the strongest, yet his young features and sweet, shy manners had us fawning over him. I’d also noticed Thorn, Nate, and myself starting to do it with Ezra. Which was ridiculous because he was a hellhound for God’s sake. But we couldn’t help it. Our reactions were instinctive.
At least we all knew that Paige came first, above all of us, and we never took offense to it. We loved one another equally. I knew it and could feel it.
“I don’t believe they will. We’ve told them we have some answers to their alphas’ disappearances. They’ll want to know first.”
“Then we’ll need to make sure they don’t set a trap,” Ezra said.
“We will. Even if they did, Cedrick and I could get us all out of there,” Alex mentioned without looking away from the book he was reading.
“I won’t run,” Paige countered. I looked at her through the rearview mirror and caught Alex twisting in his seat to see her.
“I’m not talking about running. Just stepping away until they’re not so restless.”
She reached out and ran a hand down the side of his face, smiling. “I know you wouldn’t run. I shouldn’t have said it like that. But I think… and I’m only basing this off Nate being so prickly”—Nate huffed, and though he didn’t turn, I still saw his grin—“they’re scared, worried, and want to protect their people. They’ll be angry and most likely act harshly. We need to keep our cool. Show them we mean no harm and have no secrets right from the start. I think what would help is if Nate and Ezra walked in there in their shifted forms.”
“They could take that as a threat also.”
“I have a feeling they won’t. They’ll have others with them, right?” She looked to me, and I nodded. “Then I’m sure they’ll have some of their own people in shifted form as well. I also say we leave Xi outside the building.”
“I agree,” Thorn said. “If we need him, Alex or Cedrick could get him in seconds.”
“I’ll agree with anything as long as I’m near Paige,” Cedrick said.
She snuggled into him. I waited for the jealousy, but it never came. Like with all the men in the vehicle, Paige was all of ours, and sharing her was a part of it. Besides, I enjoyed all the different parts to her she shared with each of us individually. As of now, she was still schoolgirl shy with Cedrick. She was attentive to Alex, cheeky with Ezra, snappy in a fun way with Nate, sweet with Thorn, and wild with me.
I couldn’t love another woman as much as I loved Paige Alice, and I would never stop being grateful for the treasure Fate dropped into my lap with her and also with our men.
“We’re here,” I announced as I pulled the car into an abandoned parking lot of an old factory. Already I could feel eyes on us and knew they would be listening to everything we said. Cedrick’s gift to us all came in handy. “We’re surrounded. Keep this link open, and if you need to say anything, say it in here unless we want them to hear.”
Nate grunted. “Well shit, I guess this mind thing is good.”
“That’s a thank-you from Nate,” Alex told Cedrick, who smiled.
“You’re welcome then.”
Nate grunted once more before opening his door. I also got out, as did Thorn, who stretched and acted relaxed.
Nate tipped his head back and scented the air. Ezra did the same on the other side of the car as Alex helped Paige out of the back. Cedrick followed after her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He still looked like a king even though he wasn’t now. His knee-length black shirt looked similar to what his guards wore, as if it was made out of dragon scales, but silky enough it seemed comfortable. His black pants underneath looked like cow hide, and his boots came up to the top of his calves. The rest of us wore our own combat gear, except for Paige who wore dark jeans and a long-sleeved black cotton shirt. Though she had one too many buttons undone for my liking. I had been itching to reach out and do it up for her.
“Xi,” I called, needing to distract myself or I would follow through with that thought.
“Yes?”
“You and the rest of the men will wait out here. I’ll send Alex out if we’re in need of anything.”
“I do not like that plan.”
“It’s not up for discussion, Xi,
” Paige called, her tone hard and unyielding. Xi noticed too because his body tensed, but he nodded once, even when he didn’t like it.
“Kiered, wait here too,” Cedrick said. Kiered saluted his brother with a smile.
“It will mean we have someone I’m able to communicate with telepathically outside,” Cedrick explained telepathically.
“Very good, Cedrick,” I sent him.
“Nate, Ezra,” Paige said aloud, and both men removed their clothes. It was Paige’s turn to stiffen.
“Couldn’t you have both shifted with clothes on? Ezra, you don’t even need to get naked for it. Nate, you have spare clothes in the car.”
Ezra’s chuckle sounded through my mind. “But, mi corazón, there is no fun in that.”
Nate snorted but said nothing.
“I’ll show you fun.” Paige shot a mental image of her flogging Ezra and Nate while they lay in a bed together.
“Angel, that shit will just get me hard, and now’s not the damn time.” Nate growled as he shifted into his wolf form.
“Mi corazón, now you’re just teasing.” Ezra leaped forward, and in one swift move, he was in his hellhound form, raising his head to the sky and snarling.
“Does the mind link work in their other forms?” I asked into the link, suddenly nervous it was a bad idea. “Ezra? Nate?”
“It feels weird, but I’m here,” Ezra answered.
“Same. It’s like I’m foggy, but I still know what’s going on. I still have thoughts and can help suggest to him, but he’s in charge,” Nate explained.
Relief had me pushing my shoulders back. “Paige enters first with Ezra and Nate on each side. Alex is directly behind her with Cedrick and Thorn on each side. Alex, you be point to get her out if needed. I’ll be at the back. Do we have it clear?”
“Yes, boss,” Alex chimed in.
Nate let out a bark, and Ezra growled. I didn’t need their verbal acceptance through my mind.
“I’m ready.” Cedrick nodded.
“In position,” Thorn said as he stepped beside Alex who was already behind Paige.
“Have I told you lately I love how you take charge? It really turns me on.” Paige sent to me.
I palmed my face and heard Alex and Cedrick stifle a groan. Thorn let drop a quick chuckle while Ezra just laughed in our minds and Nate scoffed.
“My love, any talk about being turned on or sex will not help us.”
She looked over her shoulder and gave me wide eyes. “I can’t help it.”
I gave her a small smile and nodded. “Let’s move,” I voiced, and Paige started forward, her hands threaded through Nate’s and Ezra’s fur as they walked.
“Eyes everywhere,” Alex said.
“I can feel movement through the ground to the left,” Cedrick told us.
“Thorn, keep a look out.”
“Got it.”
“Right ahead,” Ezra warned. A Native American man, clad in only jeans, stepped into the afternoon light from a darkened doorway. I waited for some type of reaction from Paige to see if a sudden attraction hit, but there was nothing. Her features didn’t even change from the cool expression she showed. However, I did feel her concern of gaining more mates wash away, for now. She’d confided in me the previous night about her fears of traveling and the possibility of meeting more bonded mates. She didn’t want any more. She loved who she had and was concerned that if more were added to the mix, she would have less time for the ones she had.
Of course, I tried to tell her that if the Fates chose her to have more, it would be for a reason that we weren’t able to see yet and how it would be added protection for her. When she glared at me, I laughed and told her we would deal with it if it happened and that no matter how many men she received, we all knew she loved each of us all the same. Even if her time with us was sparse.
“Paige Alice, I presume,” his deep voice called.
“You would be correct, and you are?”
“Detroit Heming, beta to the lion shifters.” His eyes slid over all of us but went back to Ezra. “A hellhound. We weren’t informed you had one. He’ll have to stay out here.”
Paige smiled. “I’m sorry. I go nowhere without my mates.”
Detroit’s eyes flared for a second. “He’s your mate?”
“Didn’t I just say that?” I asked through the link.
“Humor him, my love.”
“Yes.”
There was scuffling going on behind him and behind the broken windows that surrounded the parking area. More people moved closer for a better look.
“Are we having this meeting out here or in there?” Paige asked.
I shifted my gaze all around. I didn’t like the number of shifters close to the openings of the building. Nate lifted his head and snarled. Ezra then did the same.
Nate growled into our minds. “The wolf is on edge. It feels like a trap.”
“My hellhound agrees.”
“Do we get Paige out of here?” Cedrick asked.
“Not yet,” Paige instructed.
Paige dropped her hands from Nate’s and Ezra’s fur and took a small step forward. She spread her arms out and asked, “What’s the delay? We come in peace. We have our guards standing back near the cars. They’re not infiltrating your area. We don’t want to fight. We want to talk, and that’s it.”
He studied her. I didn’t like the way his eyes ran over her and stopped on her damn breasts. I knew I should have done up that button.
“You keep looking at our mate like that, we will have a problem,” I clipped.
He pulled his gaze up and over to me.
“Asher,” Paige warned through the link.
“No, my love. They have to know the consequences, so they do not ogle you like they want a taste.”
“It’s disrespectful, dove,” Alex added. “You’re queen. Remember that.”
“Detroit, let them in” was bit out from inside. The tone was male. It sounded amused and irritated at the same time.
Detroit sighed, turned, and walked back into the building. The darkness swallowed him up. Paige went to go after him until I called out, “My queen, please allow me to enter first.”
She stopped, glanced to me, and showed her worry for me, but nodded anyway. She made me proud. I dipped my chin, then lifted it and started forward. I brushed my fingers over her arm as I passed.
“Be careful,” she sent me.
“No one will take me from you, love,” I promised, because I would do anything to make sure we all got a taste of peace after everything we had already endured.
Stepping through, I sensed movement to my right and left in the doorway. Spinning, I knocked one out and had the other pinned to the wall in seconds. “Tell me why I shouldn’t take his life.”
“Asher,” Paige called.
“Hold,” I demanded. Picking the man up by the neck, I faced the room holding the choking man in the air. Since I knew he was a shifter, I dug my claws into his flesh around his neck, ready to rip his throat out if needed.
A man stepped into the light that shined down from the window above. “They weren’t supposed to be there. Detroit?”
Detroit huffed. “It was a test. We needed to see how fast you were.”
“I will not bring our queen, and mate, in here if there are more tests around each corner. Believe I am fast. Believe Alex is a powerful mage. That Ezra and Nate together, even separate, are vicious. That Thorn is strong, and that Cedrick is tricky. But not only that, you all need to believe we fight for everyone, not only our own people, alongside a woman, a queen, who is all that I mentioned we are, but more. She will bring about a good change to all of our communities. She is fierce but fair and so very much loved. Meaning, we will do anything to keep her safe.”
“God, I love you.”
“And I you, my love.”
“Let him go. You can all enter in peace” came a woman’s voice from a distance.
“Raquel,” the unknown man clipped.
“No,
Waylon. I want to hear what they have to say. Besides, they have news about our alpha, and yours, Detroit. They’ve proved they don’t want to fight, else we would have had our asses handed to us. Let them in, you stubborn pricks.”
I dropped the man to the ground as lights flicked on all around me just as the man and Detroit drew back into the room more.
I could sense them, but they all stepped out of their hidden areas and about fifty shifters moved further into the building. However, more still walked or waited throughout the rest of the building. The final number was unclear, but if they did plan anything, I knew we would be able to stop them.
“Paige,” I called. Ezra entered first, growling low in warning, then Paige stepped through with Nate at her side. Ezra waited for them, and together, the three of them followed me the same way the others had gone. I ignored the footfalls and shuffles around us from the shifters moving back into hiding and kept walking through what looked like a reception area. I entered a room through double doors, and it seemed to be a large conference setting. A big round table was set right in the middle. At the opposite end from the entrance was a woman, my guess was Raquel who spoke before. Detroit, Waylon, and the woman were the only ones sitting. About ten more shifters in their animal form stood at their backs, then behind them, another ten men and women stood guard.
“Please, come in and take a seat. My name is Raquel, and I’m the beta for the tigers. Waylon is our enforcer.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I wish it was under different circumstances,” Paige said as she sat in the chair right across from Raquel. Alex and Thorn moved the chairs out of the way so Ezra and Nate could sit on the floor next to her. I knew they were glaring down the other end at Detroit. Alex, Thorn, Cedrick, and I stood at our mate’s back.
“So do I. The alpha of our pack is my mate.”
Paige’s pain rolled through us. She slid her hand forward on the table. “I am so sorry for your heartache and worry. We do hope to bring him back… bring them both back.”
“As long as they’re alive,” Raquel added.
Paige smiled sadly at her and nodded. “Yes.”
“So you know who has them?” Detroit demanded. His fist pounded into the table. “Who’s to say this isn’t some trick of your own and you have my brother yourself?”
