"How does Darla's name fit into that logic?"
"Have you ever watched Buffy?"
"No," Jeffery said. "I quit watching TV a while ago. Like, Brady Bunch years ago."
"Man, you have so much to catch up on," Jordan said. "Darla's a badass. Literally, I mean, she's the bad guy in the show, but god she's powerful. Strong-minded, independent, gets what she's after. Her character would be admirable if she fought for the other side. I want my Darla to grow up strong; to know her own power and wield it with brutal efficiency. I think she's got that part down without me doing anything, frankly. Now I just need to instill some kind of moral center."
"I think you're doing that," Jeffery said. "Just through your own example. Admitting when you're wrong, apologizing, going to the ends of the earth to protect her. She'd learn it by osmosis even if you never taught her directly."
"Thanks," Jordan sighed. "God, I miss her."
"She misses you too," Jeffery said, squeezing Jordan's shoulder. "Steel was telling me that she still asks for you at bedtime. I guess the Omegas in the nursery don't read stories properly."
Jordan laughed at that, and his heart squeezed with longing and affection. He missed his baby terribly. He couldn't imagine an outcome where he didn't get to see her after this was all over. They sat together for a long time in the sunlight steaming from the window, warm in each other's silent company. Without saying a word, they both eventually moved to the bed. They made love sweetly and slowly, as the hour of reckoning marched ever closer.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Jordan kissed Jeffery firmly, with a hint of desperation, in the hallway outside the arena. Jeffery's palms were sweating and he was trembling, but he put on a brave face.
"You got this," he said, squeezing Jordan's shoulders. "You will beat him."
Jordan clenched his jaw and leaned his forehead against Jeffery's.
"You will," Jeffery repeated. "I'm not having this baby without you."
Jordan cracked a smile and kissed him again. It was time. He turned and stepped through the door into the arena, where he was met with the thunderous cheers of a crowd double the size of any before. He ran his eyes over them and heard the jeering screams from Montague's men. He recognized a few faces. The man in the fedora and the Sheriff, but the rest were just bits of foam in the undulating sea of vitriol, shouting nonsensical slurs from their perches. At the other end of the arena, Montague stepped forward. Half the crowd silenced, while Montague's men cheered. There was no vitriol from Jordan's side. He felt like he should be proud of them for that but, in reality, it just drove the point home that he was in this alone.
He stepped to the center of the ring, marching in sync with Montague. Montague was smiling arrogantly, lifting his arms in the air to take in the crowd.
"I am Montague!" he bellowed. "Welcome to... My house."
Cheers rose up from Montague's people, while the audacity of his statement finally evoked a reaction from Jordan's people. They booed and hissed, shouting back at him that he was in Steel's house.
"Steel? I don't see Steel! You know who I see? This pathetic excuse for a shifter. Only weeks ago, he was human! Are you prepared to put your trust in a turncoat human?"
Montague's men bellowed the word "No", while Jordan's remained silent. He hadn't won them over yet and he might not have the chance. Before he could let that thought take hold, a curtain dropped over the exit. As it unfurled, a lump caught in his throat. It was a portrait of his daughter, a hundred times larger than life, cuddling her Wolfie and smiling at the camera. She looked adorable at first glance, but he knew her well enough to know that she'd been crying moments before the portrait was taken. Their separation was torturing her. That knowledge rose in him a fury like he'd never known, and he whirled on his grandstanding opponent.
"Alpha Prime battle. Challenger, Montague Domingo. Champion, Jordan Hacker. Fight!"
The bell rang, and Jordan didn't wait to let Montague strike first. He slugged him in the face, shifting into half-form as he moved, then dodged to kick the man's feet out from under him. Montague shifted, moving like lightning to return the attack. Days of training had paid off, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough. Montague was utterly unpredictable, vicious and quick. He slashed at Jordan with his curved, terrible claws, ripping Jordan's skin open across his back. A blow struck him in the exposed flesh and he fell to the floor. Montague's men began to cheer and Montague turned to revel in their applause. As the pain seared through Jordan's system, he met the image of his daughter's eyes looking down on him, pleading with him to finish it, to come get her. The point beyond the target, he thought. The point beyond the target.
He launched to his feet, taking Montague by surprise, and began pelting him with brutal blows. Montague fought viciously, but Jordan wanted it more. He needed it more. He dodged a blow and rolled, slicing his claws against Montague's Achilles tendons, ripping them away from the bone. Montague screamed, his knees hitting the floor, and he morphed into a wolf. Jordan recalled Jeffery doing the same thing to force his body to heal quickly. Jordan didn't give him a chance. He kicked the lame canine across the arena and leapt to follow, bashing the wolf's head against the wall until it was stained red. Montague snapped and snarled, writhing in his grasp, but he couldn't recover. He lunged at Jordan's face, snapping his teeth right in front of Jordan's eyes, who instinctively withdrew. Montague slithered away across the arena, shifting again to half-form. He was limping now, but able to walk. Jordan snarled and attacked again. He blew past Montague's arms and sank his teeth into the other shifter's throat, feeling the blood pooling hot in his mouth. Montague tore at his flesh with his claws, but Jordan didn't let go.
He looked up at Darla once more and drew inspiration from her, then shook his head like a dog with a toy, tearing Montague's flesh apart. Blood spurted and, with a gurgling scream, Montague stiffened, then went limp. Jordan tightened his grip until he heard the vertebrae crack between his jaws, then dropped the shifter with a thud on the dusty ground. The crowd was silent for a heartbeat, then stood to cheer. They chanted his name again and again, hailing their new Alpha Prime.
Jordan didn't react. He stared at his kill. His first. Not a deer or a rabbit or even a bird, but a man. An insane shifter, true, but a man nonetheless. His eyes swept the crowd, and found Montague's men pale and fearful, cowering together on the benches. On the other side, he spotted five more who were silently and fearfully staring at the bloody heap on the floor. Jordan caught a Delta's eye and pointed them out. The Delta nodded, and within moments the Deltas had swept Jordan's side of the arena to drag the traitors away. Jordan wiped his mouth and walked toward the exit. Steel appeared from his box above and stood in Jordan's way. The crowd fell silent.
"Congratulations, son," Steel said, his voice echoing around the stadium. "You have earned the title of Alpha Prime. When my time comes, it will be my honor to pass my legacy on to you." He took a step toward Jordan, extending his hand; but then, suddenly, he fell to one knee, clutching his chest.
A gasp whipped around the room. Jordan rushed to the fallen Alpha, lifting him to his feet.
"We need to get you to the doctor," Jordan said.
"No," Steel gasped. "I have a speech."
"You have a granddaughter," Jordan said. "You want her to grow up knowing I killed her grandfather because I wanted a damn speech?"
"Better than grow up remembering me a weak and helpless worm," Steel growled, coughing with the effort.
"Damn it, Steel," Jordan said. "Your son was stubborn like that too. No meds, doc. Want to experience it all, doc. Kill me, doc. God, what is with you royals and the martyr complex?"
Steel was shaking with the effort of standing, even though Jordan bore most of his weight. Jordan harnessed his strength and lifted him up, carrying him out the door in spite of his weak, gravely protests. The crowd clapped respectfully.
"My first act as Alpha Prime," he said. "Is to end this work until you're dead crap."
Steel smi
led weakly. "It would save a great deal of indignity," he said.
His subordinates met them at the end of the hall.
"Take him to the infirmary," Jordan said.
"No," Steel said. "My quarters. Don't look at me like that, boy. There's nothing more they can do. My expiration date passed six months ago. I would prefer to die in my own bed, if you don't mind."
Jordan nodded, and the subordinates took Steel away. That was the last of anyone that Jordan wanted to see before he'd had a chance to take a damn shower. His human side was trying to break through to the surface in the wake of his exhaustion, but he wouldn't let it. As a beast, the blood felt natural. As a human, he might vomit, and that would be utterly unacceptable for the Alpha Prime.
"Don't leave me, Daddy," Darla said, cradled in her father's arms. "Don't ever leave me, never again."
"Never again, baby," Jordan said, kissing her head. "Never, ever again."
She clung tightly to him, as if he'd disappear if she didn't. She was trembling. He rubbed her back and rocked her, sitting in the center of the soft yellow carpet in the nursery. He murmured soothing words in her ear, and she began to cry. He let her; absorbing her tears in his soft gray t-shirt. The Omega in charge of the nursery looked on, her own eyes misting up at the tender scene.
"You... read me story?" she asked, gulping her tears.
"You want me to read you a story with my mouth?" he asked.
She nodded, pressing her face against the curve of his neck.
"Once upon a time," he began. "There was a very lonely prince. His kingdom was dark and gray. The one bright spot was his little princess. Do you know what her name was?"
"Bubbles!" she said, slipping right back into their game like no time had passed at all.
"Bubbles would be a wonderful name for a princess," Jordan agreed, with all the seriousness in the world. "But this little princess's name was Darla. Darla was a strong, smart, funny, beautiful little princess. She played games with her daddy-prince and told him amazing stories about the world that she saw. The prince was happy with her, but he was still very, very lonely."
"Prince needs true love," she said, somberly.
"He sure does, darlin'. One night, the prince and the princess took off on a glorious adventure. They played at all kinds of strange and unusual parks; parks where dragons melted the playground out of solid gold, or where gnomes had built it out of mushrooms."
Darla giggled and nuzzled him as she slid down in his arms to play with her Wolfie on her belly.
"Then one day, a prince appeared! But our prince didn't know that it was a prince. He thought it was a bad guy, out to take his precious princess. So the two princes fought, until the second prince said wait! I'm not the bad guy! My name is prince... what do you think his name was?"
"Jeffy!"
"That's right," Jordan laughed. "Prince Jeffery. I'm here to protect your daughter from the evil Lord Montague, a terrible wizard who plagues this region. He wants to steal your daughter, not me!"
"An' then," Darla interjected. "Prince Jeffy drived the... carriage, and he gived the princess ice creams, and he peeled the bananas. But he did it wrongly two times. Then he did it rightly, an' peeled it like a monkey."
"Good job, prince Jeffery!" Jordan said, with a grin. "Everybody knows you have to peel it like a monkey."
Darla nodded, turning her serious brown eyes up at Jordan.
"Well, to get back to our little royal troupe. See, Lord Montague, that evil wizard, he chased the princes and princess all across the land, determined to steal her away. But prince Jeffery didn't let that happen. When all seemed lost, Prince Jeffery used his magic to call great, black dragons from the sky. These were friendly dragons, and they scared the evil Montague away, and carried our royal family far away to Prince Jeffery's palace. But then, a terrible thing happened!"
"They hitted Daddy," Darla said, with a scowl. "And takeded the princess."
"They sure did," Jordan agreed. "And it was terrible! The king of this palace told the prince that he couldn't risk the princess's life until he defeated the Evil and Treacherous Lord Montague. So the prince agreed. You keep my princess safe, he said, and I will rid your kingdom of Lord Montague. And do you know what?"
"What?"
"The prince did it!"
Darla squealed and hugged him tight.
"The Prince defeated Lord Montague, and the kingdom was so happy they said, Prince! Prince Daddy! Would you be our king? And do you know what he said?"
"He better said yes," Darla said, glaring at him.
Jordan laughed until he cried, and cuddled his sassy little girl.
"He did say yes," he said, once he'd recovered. "He said yes. And then he took Prince Jeffery to be his true love. And then do you know what happened?"
"What?"
"Prince Jeffery and Prince Daddy found out that they were going to have a baby. And Princess Darla found out that she was going to be a big sister!"
Darla squealed, then stopped.
"Daddy," she said. "Just pretend baby?"
"Nope," Jordan said, shaking his head. "Princess Darla, you are going to be a big sister!"
Darla screamed with delight and tackled Jordan in a vice-like hug. He held her tight, painfully aware of how close he'd come to losing her forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jordan, Jeffery and Darla were moved to the domestic suites one floor down from the barracks. The pleasant, rotund woman who arranged it all introduced herself as head Tau.
"It's just temporary," she assured them for the fifth time. "Just until the royal quarters are..." She dropped her voice to a whisper, looking around to make sure no one would hear. "Available."
"Thank you," Jordan told her. "I'm sure the domestic quarters will be just fine."
"If you wish to pay your respects to the Alpha Prime," she continued. "I suggest doing it soon. That poor man is not well. Sort of sudden-like, isn't it? Poor thing."
Jordan winced at that. Steel would be livid if he heard himself characterized as a "poor thing". The man who brought Alex (and Darla, by extension) into the world deserved better than that. He'd deserved to die with dignity; valor even. His inner strength was an incredible thing for Jordan to witness, and he aspired to be as much the Alpha as Steel was. With better policies, of course, he told himself with a grin. The Tau ushered him through a pink door and into an equally pink room. The beams along the walls and ceiling had been painted pink, all of the furniture was pink, even the shelves and cupboards and counters were pink. Jordan wrinkled his nose at it for a moment, but then Darla burst from his arms, squealing with delight.
"Pink!" She cried. "Pink princess house! Daddy! Daddy! We stay forever?"
"Maybe," he said, laughing. "We'll have to wait and see."
"No wait and see," she said, throwing her arms around the pink, fluffy couch in a big hug. "Pink house forever."
Jordan sighed and looked over at Jeffery, who was laughing.
"Well, dears, I was going to say we could always change the decor, but..." She gestured helplessly at Darla, and Jordan laughed.
"It'll do fine," he said. "I think my masculinity can take the blow."
She chortled and slapped him playfully, then bustled out of the room. She returned a moment later, looking flustered.
"Oh, dears, I completely forgot! You don't have a thing, do you?"
Jordan shook his head. "I left all of my things in my truck, which is on the other side of the state. Unless someone towed it by now, which, I guess..."
"Oh no, that's terrible! Not to worry. You just relax, dears, I'll take care of everything. Back in a flash!"
"How can someone so round move so quickly?" Jeffery wondered out loud.
Jordan elbowed him hard, and he grinned. "Sorry," he said. "I was literally wondering about the aerodynamics of the situation."
"Sure you were," Jordan said, with a grin. "Hey, when's your appointment?"
"Tomorrow," Jeffery said, with a grimace. "I'm really not loo
king forward to the wand."
"Fairy wand?" Darla asked.
Jeffery flushed red, and shook his head.
"Medicine wand," Jordan offered, his eyes laughing at Jeffery. "They're going to use it to see the baby."
Darla wrinkled her brow. "I don't like the baby," she said, adamantly.
"What? You were excited about being a big sister just the other day!"
"No," she argued. "There's no room for babies, see?" She gestured around the cozy apartment. She wasn't right, but she did have a point. The domestic quarters were about the same size as Jordan's basement apartment, with the addition of an extra bedroom.
"We'll make room," Jordan assured her.
"Yeah, babies are tiny," Jeffery added. "This one might still be too small to see."
"How?" Darla asked, wrinkling her brow.
Jeffery looked helplessly at Jordan, who raised his hands. "You brought it up, man, you explain it," he said.
"But... I... ugh." Jeffery sat down on the fluffy pink couch, and Darla stared at him expectantly. "See, when babies get started, they're just two little cells. Do you know what cells are?"
Darla shook her head.
"It's like... building blocks, except really, really tiny. So tiny you can't even see it. Then those two cells make two more, and more and more and more, until it builds a baby. Then the baby comes out of its carrier's belly, and then it goes home."
"How the cells get there?" Darla asked.
"Magic," Jeffery said.
Jordan's laugh echoed through the apartment, but Darla was satisfied with the answer. She slid off the couch and began exploring the apartment. It was sparsely furnished, with a bed in each room, a chest at the foot of each bed, shelves in the living room, a couch and a table. She'd seen all there was to see in moments, then flopped down on her belly on the pink carpet.
"Bored! Want cartoons!"
"We don't even have a TV in here," Jordan said, cringing. "I hope... what was her name?"
"The Tau?"
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