Chapter 16: My Protector: Chapter 15

Elizabeth ended up sleeping through to the next afternoon. By the time she was out of bed and ready to go home it was almost time for dinner. The house was quiet when Gavriel carried her through the front door. While trying to wake up at the clinic she’d realized she already missed the zaniness of the Alpha estate. She caught herself wondering if Meryn had threatened anyone at breakfast and what snack of Ryuu’s she had missed at tea.

‘Where is everyone?’ she asked as he walked carefully up the stairs to their room.

‘I dropped Colton off this morning after he was released. He went right back to bed. He said he would be down for dinner. Keelan, Darian and Ryuu have been working with Keelan’s brother, Kendrick, via Skype on developing a perimeter spell. Aiden decided to get familiar with his new iMac while Meryn and her trainees played around with some gadgets. The other trainees had the afternoon off and last I heard, collectively decided to catch up on their sleep.’

‘So it’s been a lazy day for everyone then.’

‘Yes. Meryn did make me promise to tell you that she missed you already and to hurry up and get better.’

Elizabeth smiled. She had missed the little terror, too.

Gavriel opened their bedroom door and closed it behind him. He set her down on her feet and watched her carefully.

‘I’m fine. Adam said I’m completely healed; the blood helped enormously.’

‘If you’re sure.’

‘I am. Now. I want to see my closet. I have so much to unpack.’ She looked around. ‘Where are my boxes?’

Gavriel steered her towards the door that used to lead to his study. He opened it and she gasped. He had unpacked and hung up all of her clothes. Granted he hadn’t organized it correctly at all since summer tanks were hanging next to winter sweaters, but everything was out and hanging up. The only thing she had to do was the fun part, organize it.

She spun around and threw herself in his arms. ‘Thank you! Thank you! I love it! When did you have time to do this?’

‘My stomach was in knots last night after you fell asleep. I opened the truck and worked on it for a while then went back to the clinic to sleep with you. Then this morning, after I dropped Colton off, I was able to finish. I wanted to do something to make up for yesterday.’

‘You did nothing wrong my love. Oh, it’s beautiful!’ She kissed him gently and then hurried inside. On the far wall of the closet they had installed a three hundred and sixty degree mirror. She could see her outfit from every angle! The shelves and rails were handcrafted wood that went beyond function to border on art.

She even noticed that small rune spells had been carved into the wood to maintain a certain level of humidity, temperature, to prevent fire, and to repel bugs. The Celtic knots gave the entire closet a regal feel. Not even her closet at home had been so beautiful.

She walked slowly running her hand along the different fabrics. Beyond the clothes and shoe racks they’d built a vanity against the wall. The large beveled mirror stood opposite the wall where they had installed a faux window that shone brightly, giving her natural daylight. She could sit here and get ready in the warm rays of the sun.

‘I’m never leaving this closet. Ever!’ She twirled around exuberant.

Gavriel wrapped one arm around her waist and turned them. He held her in his arms and swayed back and forth. ‘I have found something that makes you fly. Your father was right, you shine.’ His nose nuzzled her temple.

‘I’ve always used my clothes as a shield. If I presented the image that I was a polished, refined woman, people assumed that my tripping over my feet was due to a bunched up rug or a highly polished floor. It’s my way of defending myself,’ she explained.

‘You don’t have to worry about that anymore.’

‘Why? Do you know of a way to keep me from tripping?’ she asked pulling back to look up at him.

His eyes blazed with the intensity of his feelings. He shook his head. ‘No, but from now on it won’t matter what you are wearing when you trip. Your clothes won’t defend you. I will,’ he promised.

‘I love you so much,’ she whispered.

He pulled her close. ‘And I love you.’

After a few moments of silence he cleared his throat. ‘Love? Can I ask a favor?’

Smiling she looked up and nodded. ‘Yes, we can have sex in front of the mirror,’ she answered.

His eyes widened. He opened his mouth then closed it. He turned and looked at the mirror then looked back to her. The expression on his face went from shock to arousal in two seconds flat.

‘That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but I will hold you to that. What I was going to ask was if I could see your belly.’

Shrugging she nodded and lifted her shirt. Adam had lent her a boring pair of scrubs that she couldn’t wait to change out of.

Gavriel dropped to his knees and proceeded to kiss along the faint pink line. ‘Did Adam say anything about if… can we still…’

She ran her hands over his hair. ‘Yes, we can still have children. There was no lasting damage.’

His arms circled her legs and he rested his cheek against her stomach. ‘Thank the Gods!’

‘Already planning an Elizabeth 2.0?’ she teased.

He looked up, grinning. In that moment the years dropped away, his excitement at the prospect of becoming a father made him seem younger. ‘At least four or five of them. We need to rebuild House Ambrosios.’

‘Five! No way.’

He pouted and the expression was so out of place on his normally stoic and regal features that it only compounded its effectiveness. How could she say no to that? He was freaking adorable!

‘Fine! Whatever. But you have to do diapers.’ She threw her hands up in defeat.

He kissed her belly one more time and stood. ‘Deal.’

‘Okay, scoot. I need to get a shower and change. These things should be burned, I don’t see how anyone can wear them.’ With her finger and thumb she lifted the fabric from her body shuddering.

‘I’ll be reading in my library. Come get me before you go downstairs.’ He kissed her lips.

‘I will,’ she promised.

He walked out of the closet and shut the door behind him.

Smiling to herself she looked around for a few more minutes. She loved peeking in the drawers and discovering new places to hang things. Finally she picked out a comfortable outfit of jeans and a sweatshirt. If they were going to be lazing about the house she wanted to be in comfy clothes.

With regret she left her closet and walked to the bathroom for her shower. The hot water felt wanton. They cleaned her up the best they could at the clinic, but she still had some blood on her skin. She got out and dried off quickly. She towel dried her hair, braided it and then wrapped a hand towel around the braid, securing it with a hair tie. The hand towel would soak up any residual water and it would stay off her clothes.

Wrapped in a towel she padded back into her closet. The smell of cut wood made her smile. She sat down at her vanity and pulled out the center drawer it was empty. Frowning she checked the left drawer, nothing. When she opened the right drawer she had to laugh. Gavriel had simply dumped anything that looked like it was makeup in one drawer.

Shaking her head she dug through the contents and found her normal beauty routine products. By the time her makeup was done her hair was dry enough to get dressed. She removed the towel and pulled on her comfy outfit. Slouch socks and fur-lined boots completed her lazy day ensemble.

She left the closet and was about to walk to the library when she heard a ‘thunk’ sound. She stopped and looked around. The library door opened and Gavriel walked out with a frown on his face. He had heard it, too. She was about to ask him what the noise was when she heard it again.

Gavriel walked to the door of their suite and opened it. He jumped back with a curse when a small toy car raced inside and skidded to a halt in front of her. She stared down and one name came to mind.

‘Meryn,’ she said grinning.

The small car raced around her feet. ‘Hurry up, I’m bored!’ Meryn’s voice sounded funny coming from the speakers of the small car.

‘Coming, dear.’

The tiny car turned and bolted out the door.

Gavriel was rubbing the space between his brows. ‘How did she do that?’ he asked.

‘There’s a camera and microphone on the car. The wheels are large enough and are designed to be all terrain. I imagine it took a while to get up the stairs. Going down however…’

In the distance they heard a small crash, then laughter.

‘See.’

Gavriel was shaking his head, but she caught his small grin. She knew he absolutely adored the petite human and she could see why. He had probably never experienced anything like her in all his years. That had to be refreshing to someone like him.

‘Let’s go downstairs. There’s no telling what she’ll do if I take too long.’ She walked up and hugged his arm.

They walked downstairs and found that the unit warriors, Meryn, Ryuu and Meryn’s trainees were in the family room. The glass table she had crashed into had been replaced with a small wooden one and no sign of the previous evening lingered.

‘About time! Where have you been all day?’ Meryn demanded.

‘I was catching up on my sleep.’ Elizabeth winked.

‘Oh.’ Meryn blinked. ‘Yeah, some days all I want to do is sleep. All the sex wears me out,’ she confessed.

Noah stared and Jaxon just shook his head. Looked like one of them was already acclimating to their teacher.

‘Meryn, come here baby before you scandalize the room,’ Aiden said, patting the space next to him.

‘Sure, but I wanted to show Bunny that Ryuu was able to get all the blood out of the floor,’ she said walking over to where Elizabeth had lain the night before.

The room got silent. Aiden covered his face with his hands, Colton groaned and Darian and Keelan stared, waiting for her to breakdown.

She walked over to where Meryn pointed. She looked down and was surprised. Ryuu had done an amazing job; there wasn’t a single speck of blood anywhere.

‘He’s a miracle worker,’ she said.

Meryn nodded. ‘Yeah considering you were bleeding all over the place.’

‘Meryn!’ Aiden barked.

Elizabeth looked down and saw the way Meryn’s fist was clenched at her side. Her words were flippant and jovial but they hid a deeper emotion. She remembered very little about the night before, but she remembered the way Meryn had cried and the fear in her eyes.

She reached down and took Meryn’s hand in her own. Meryn looked up and for a split second the fear was there again. Elizabeth could handle Cranky Meryn, Angry Meryn, Spazzing Meryn, even Crazy Meryn but she could not stand the fear in her friend’s eyes.

Smiling, Elizabeth bumped hips with the small human. Meryn grinned, the anxiety leaving her face. Smiling, she bumped her back. Elizabeth bopped her again this time toppling her over onto the love seat. Meryn sat up and chucked a pillow at her. Elizabeth ducked and sat next to her.

Aiden looked from her to Meryn and back. From the look on his face Elizabeth could tell he didn’t understand how they could be laughing, but that was okay. This was between sisters.

Aiden shook his head and mumbled. ‘I don’t get her sometimes.’

Gavriel sat down in the wingback chair next to them and picked up a copy of the Lycaonian Herald, the city’s newspaper. ‘We’re not meant to. Only get concerned if they aren’t smiling,’ he advised.

Aiden brightened. ‘Sounds good to me.’

Meryn looked at Elizabeth and rolled her eyes. ‘Men!’

Elizabeth had to agree. She looked over to Aiden. ‘Aiden, did you have a chance to look over the templates I created for you?’

He nodded, then frowned. ‘I think I’m missing something though. It’s too easy.’

‘It’s supposed to be easy. If you follow that format and turn it into me, I can input the forms into the database. After a few years learning about your computer, and when you can open a browser window, I might show you how to input the information directly into the database. But for right now, just fill out the printed forms.’

Aiden looked relieved. ‘I prefer the printed forms, you can keep your databases.’

Ryuu walked in and bowed. ‘Ladies, gentlemen, dinner is ready.’

Everyone stood and started toward the dining room when Aiden’s cell phone rang. Everyone froze.

He answered. ‘McKenzie here.’

Elizabeth clearly heard Aiden’s father over the phone. ‘Son, over a dozen ferals have been spotted north of the city.’

‘We’re on it.’

‘Be careful,’ Byron commanded.

‘Yes, sir.’ Aiden ended the call.

‘Colton, Darian, you’re in charge of the trainees. I don’t want to include them, but we have to start somewhere. If things get bad, get them out.’

Colton and Darian ran to the stairs yelling for the trainees to turn out.

Aiden turned to Gavriel. ‘In or out? I’m leaving it up to you.’

Gavriel stepped forward. ‘I’m in. Even if the only thing I can do is keep your retreat path open, I’m going.’

Meryn began to shake.

Aiden kissed the top of her head ‘It will be okay baby, just like us doing drills. We’ll be back before you know it.’ He stepped back and looked at Ryuu.

Ryuu stepped forward and pulled Meryn to his side. ‘Nothing will come near her, I swear it.’

‘I’ll hold you to that,’ Aiden said. They nodded at each other.

Aiden turned to the last member of the Alpha Unit. ‘Keelan, looks like you can try some of those visibility spells sooner than you thought.’ Aiden’s smile was dangerous.

Keelan’s answering smirk was just as deadly. ‘I can’t wait.’

Aiden looked around. The trainees were breathing hard and pulling on their gear in the foyer. The Alpa Unit members were pulling out their gear to be put on in the car while en route and checking the large duffel bags that held their weapon sand ammo.

Gavriel pulled Elizabeth close. ‘I have to go,’ he whispered.

She nodded without saying a word.

‘I love you.’ He stepped back and kissed each eyelid gently.

‘I love you too! That’s why you have to come back to me,’ she said her heart in her throat.

‘I will,’ he promised.

Aiden strode towards the door. ‘Alpha Unit. Move out.’

Elizabeth prayed to anyone listening to watch over her mate.

*****

Gavriel stood to the south and took aim. Multiple rounds were going off all around him. Some of the ferals were visible, some weren’t. With the extra manpower provided by the trainees, the prospect of taking out a dozen ferals wasn’t impossible, but that didn’t rule out fatalities. Over the radio he heard Gamma’s Unit leader, Sascha, report that a fresh wave of ferals was heading their way and that Gamma was right behind them.

‘Aiden! Ferals coming up on our six,’ he called out.

Gavriel brought his gun up and fired. He took out the feral that had been running up behind Keelan. The more they killed the more there seemed to be.

‘Not too long now. Then you’ll be like us,’ a voice taunted. Gavriel turned and fired several rounds into empty air. Heinous laughter surrounded him. Growling, he felt his fangs burst through his gums.

Taking deep breaths he focused on the sights at the end of his gun barrel and kept firing. He was reloading when more ferals spilled out of the woods from the south.

‘Sonofabitch!’ Aiden roared.

The ferals ignored the unit warriors and ran past them heading north towards the mountains. Sascha burst from the tree line at a dead run and began yelling out his report. ‘Delta and Beta got called out to take down a pack northeast of the city. Zeta and Epsilon are about fifteen klicks east of here taking down another reported dozen.

‘Let’s get these fuckers!’ Oron yelled.

Gavriel stopped as Sascha’s words sunk in. ‘Freeze!’ he yelled. The men stopped their forward advance and fell back to surround him.

‘Talk to me, Gavriel, why did you stop us?’ Aiden demanded.

‘All of the feral packs are converging to the north, I think they’re leading us into a trap. Delta and Beta are to the northeast and Zeta and Epsilon are to the northwest. I think they have something designed for us in those mountains,’ he explained.

‘Why would they want all the units together in the mountains?’ Keelan asked thinking out loud.

Gavriel felt ice flood his veins. He turned and looked back.

‘Oh Gods! We’re not being led into a trap, we’re being led north.’ Gavriel began to shake.

‘What is south of here that’s so special?’ Christoff asked.

‘Meryn,’ Aiden whispered.

‘The Alpha estate,’ Colton replied at the same time.

Gavriel threw his head back and roared.

They were after his mate. Gavriel felt his fangs descend even further as blood began to pour from his fingertips as longer, sharper claws emerged.

‘Fuck! It’s his apex!’ Christoff turned to the men. ‘Stay back and no matter what you do, do get in his way!’ he yelled.

Gavriel was beyond caring. Under the surface of his skin his muscles were ripping apart. Each tendon snapped and lengthened the pain was immeasurable.

‘Keep the ferals off him!’ he heard Aiden yell.

Gavriel opened his blood-filled eyes. The ferals had realized that they weren’t being followed and had doubled back to attack them en masse.

He opened his mouth and released a sound that thundered through the mountains. Around him even the ferals stopped to stare at him in horror. He used every ounce of pain, every spasm that set his body on fire to fuel his rage. His fangs dropped to their full battle length and his shirt ripped as his chest expanded. He was taller, broader, faster, stronger.

Laughing manically, he moved forward. Everyone was moving so slowly. Cackling, he used his new claws to rip the throats out of the ferals who seemed like they were standing still.

He wanted blood and death. No one harmed his mate!

When he looked around and the only bodies that stood were his fellow unit members he hesitated. He tried to remember why he shouldn’t kill them.

‘Gavriel, if you’re in there, look at your belt. Look down! Elizabeth is in trouble, we have to get home!’ Aiden yelled, pointing.

He looked down and saw a bright blue flashing light.

He turned towards the direction where his mate waited for him and unable to wait for the others, he began to run. The ground flew under his feet and the trees became a blur.

‘Fuck! How fast is he now?’

‘Get to the vehicles!’ he heard the men shout.

The litany of her name drove him forward.

*****

Elizabeth checked the safety on the gun. She slid it off and held it facing up. All around the house ferals snarled and growled.

‘Where are they?’ Meryn asked sitting on the sofa clutching hands with Noah, both were pale as a sheet. Jaxon sat in his chair in the doorway facing the foyer. The taunts outside grew louder and Meryn covered her ears.

‘Fuck off, assholes!’ she yelled.

Elizabeth knew that it was just bravado; Meryn was scared to death. So was she. She looked over to where Ryuu sat back in the recliner speaking the same phrases in his language over and over again under his breath. Sweat ran down his temples and saturated his shirt.

Outside the ferals were being kept back from the house by a faint blue glow. Whatever Ryuu was doing was working but it was exacting a terrible price. The squire looked like he was in agony.

She held up her pendant that was glowing a bright blue. She’d activated it the second Ryuu detected the ferals approaching. That was five minutes ago.

‘Please hurry,’ she whispered.

Ryuu groaned and Elizabeth heard a loud crash in the foyer. Ryuu’s eyes opened.

‘I can’t hold this one back,’ he choked out fighting for breath.

Meryn stood as if to go check out the noise.

Elizabeth pushed her back down to Noah. ‘Stay here! Think of the baby!’ Elizabeth yelled and ran past her.

She ran into the foyer where Jaxon was staring at the opened front door in horror. Without hesitation Elizabeth leveled the small revolver and began shooting. When the gun was empty the feral was bent over clutching at its chest.

Grinning, he staggered to a standing position. Jaxon wheeled forward placing himself between the bleeding feral and where she stood.

‘Jaxon, no!’ she cried.

‘What are you going to do you little crippled shit?’ Blood and drool dripped from the feral’s chin.

‘This!’ Jaxon extended his left arm and moved the small brass charm inside the spell circle. Elizabeth had to shield her eyes as a huge fireball shot forward, engulfing the feral in white hot flames.

His screams filled the air as the stench of burnt hair and flesh permeated the foyer. Jaxon rolled backwards, coughing on the smoke. Elizabeth pulled his chair backwards away from the screeching blaze, back to the family room.

‘Who told you that you couldn’t be a warrior?’ she asked gasping for air.

Jaxon grinned as he coughed. ‘Good thing Ryuu showed Noah and I the alarm spells yesterday.

Suddenly the ferals disappeared from view. They were no longer trying to get in through the windows and couldn’t be seen anywhere. The silence was eerie and unsettling. In the distance she heard the sound of a car screeching to a halt and a deep bellow.

‘That sounds like a bear,’ Elizabeth said moving back to the opened front door.

‘Aiden?’ Meryn asked, coming to her side.

‘Nope. Byron. Oh dear. Did you know that was physically possible?’ she asked, unable to look away from Byron’s carnage.

‘No, but fuck if that isn’t the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while.’ Meryn watched unblinking.

The sound of an inhuman cry sent chills down her spine.

Meryn looked up at her, terrified. ‘What was that?’

Elizabeth shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never heard that sound before.’

Outside Byron stopped, his eyes widened. He threw down the body parts in his hands before he and two other men leapt for the porch. Elizabeth darted forward and disarmed the front door spell. The men ran inside the house looking spooked.

‘What the fuck is that, Byron? A new monster the ferals created?’ a tall man with a greying, shaggy beard asked.

‘No idea, John, but I’m staying out of its way.’ Byron wrapped an arm around Meryn and kissed the top of her head. ‘Thank all the Gods you’re safe. When we pulled up and saw them swarming the house I thought the worst.’

‘Ryuu kept them away,’ Meryn said, pointing to the family room.

‘And it was not easy,’ Ryuu joked. Noah helped him forward, holding him up on one side with Jaxon steadying him on the other.

Elizabeth edged toward the door and caught a glimpse of the savage monster that was stalking the ferals outside.

‘Oh sweet Gods above, Gavriel. Oh my poor mate,’ she whispered, tears in her eyes. He had hit his apex during the battle and was now drowning in bloodlust.

‘That’s Gavriel?’ Byron whispered.

Two SUVs pulled up, keeping a distance from Gavriel. The unit warriors poured out of the vehicles and trained their guns on her mate.

‘No they don’t!’ she yelled.

She jumped from the porch and ran over and placed herself between her mate and the men, her arms outstretched.

‘Leave him alone! How could you?’ she screamed.

‘Get out of the way Elizabeth!’ Aiden yelled.

‘No! Never!’

A low growl had her turning to face the monster that was her mate. His fangs were soaked in blood and extended four to five inches past his chin to his chest. She stared at their impressive lengths. Vampires grew approximately half of an inch of fang for every thousand years of life. Though most older vampires only extended their fangs part way to feed or show aggression. It was only during instances where a vampire felt threatened did they extend fully. There was no hiding his age now; it was on display for all to see.

‘If you think you’re biting me later with those things you have another thing coming.’ She put her hands on her hips and faced him down. She hoped levity and humor would break through the killing haze in his mind.

He paused and tilted his head at her. She was getting through to him.

‘Sexy fun time will only happen if you retract those suckers, mister,’ she said her voice trembling.

‘Beth. My mate.’ His voice sounded harsh and deeper than she had ever heard it before.

‘That’s right my love, it’s Beth, your Bunny.’ She swallowed hard against the knot in her throat; she couldn’t lose him now, not when she had finally felt what it was like to be complete.

Gavriel’s mouth twitched and his fangs began to recede. He took deep breaths and within seconds they were retracted completely. When he looked up his eyes were back to their normal grey color and focused.

‘My Beth, my Bunny,’ he whispered and opened his arms.

Crying out she collapsed against him, sobbing.

‘Shh my love, I’m okay, it’s over. Thank the Gods, it’s finally over.’ His lips were dry and cracked as they pressed against her forehead.

‘They almost shot you,’ she cried. Then she remembered, they had almost killed her mate. She whirled around and flew at Aiden, punching wherever she could reach.

‘How could you! How could you try to kill him!’ She could barely see through her rage.

‘Aiden, seriously what the fuck!’ Meryn kicked Aiden in the shin.

‘Ow! Ow! Dammit! Someone get her! Colton you deranged shit get them off of me!’ Aiden did his best to block her blows.

An arm came up behind her, pulling her away from the Unit Commander.

‘I hate you! I hate you!’ she cried.

‘Beth! Beth! Baby, they had tranquilizers!’ Gavriel croaked trying to get her to hear him. She stopped fighting.

She turned. ‘Really?’ she sniffled.

‘Yes, baby. Though, now that I think about it, even if they had shot me, I think I would have been okay.’

‘Sorry, baby!’ Meryn apologized looking up at her mate contritely.

Aiden frowned at everyone. Colton began to laugh. Aiden flipped him off and Colton wheezed harder.

‘You went against an army of ferals and didn’t get a scratch on you. You come home and piss off the women and they almost take you out!’ Colton had to put a steadying hand on Sascha’s shoulder. The Gamma Unit leader was laughing so hard had to lean against Colton to stay upright. The pair of them howled and slapped their legs. It wasn’t long before all of the men were laughing expelling a lot of built up stress and tension. In the background Oron reported that all of the units had returned with no casualties, that the ferals ran away around the same time Gavriel had arrived at the Alpha estate.

‘You know son, you shouldn’t be upsetting Meryn like this,’ Byron chastised.

Aiden stared open mouthed at his father before turning to bark at Meryn. ‘Don’t touch that!’ he pulled her away from the body of a feral.

‘But it’s still twitching,’ Meryn said.

Elizabeth turned to Byron. ‘Thank you for coming so quickly, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come when you had.’

Two grizzled warriors clapped Byron on the back. ‘Good thing we were visiting for drinks, hey, Byron,’ one laughed.

The other cracked his knuckles, grinning evilly. ‘I haven’t had this much fun since I retired,’ he admitted.

Aiden stepped forward and shook hands with both men. ‘John, Abraham, I’d like for you to meet my mate, Meryn. Meryn, this is John Younger and Abraham Carter, the retired leaders of the Gamma and Epsilon Units. Let me add my thanks to Elizabeth’s. Thank you for coming as quickly as you did.’

‘Looks like things have changed quite a bit since we retired. I don’t remember ferals running together like this.’ John turned one of the ferals over with the toe of his boot.

Elizabeth stared down and gasped. At least twelve different sets of guns were trained on the dead feral.

‘What is it, Beth?’ Gavriel asked turning her away from the corpse.

‘I know that man,’ she whispered.

Aiden knelt down and stared at the dead man’s face. ‘I don’t recognize him. Do you know him from Noctem Falls?’

Meryn pushed past Aiden to look down. She inhaled and covered her mouth with both hands. ‘Oh, no!’ Her eyes filled with tears. She turned and buried her face in Byron’s chest. Aiden stood and went to her concerned.

Rubbing Meryn’s back, Aiden looked back to Elizabeth. ‘Who is he?’

‘I don’t know him from Noctem Falls. I know him from scanning in pictures of the missing couples; this man was one of them. The second couple on the list,’ she whispered.

‘Poor bastard turned feral after his mate was killed,’ Chistoff said in a soft voice.

Darian took off his jacket and covered the man’s face.

‘Oh Gods!’ Elizabeth moved away from Gavriel towards the dead bodies.

‘Beth, baby, let me.’ Gavriel said moving her away from the enemy dead.

One by one they were turned. ‘You can stop now.’ She looked up to see Meryn standing next to Byron looking just as shaken as she felt. Suddenly she wanted her own father very much.

Gavriel steered her back to the group of warriors.

‘I recognized two more. Can someone take pictures before the bodies are disposed of? I don’t trust myself and I don’t want someone going unidentified.’

‘We’ll take care of that Commander, why don’t you get the ladies inside,’ Sascha recommended.

Gavriel tensed up beside her. ‘He said I wouldn’t have a choice.’ He turned to her. ‘They didn’t come after me tonight, they came after you.’ His words silenced the men.

‘This wasn’t a random attack, they deliberately tried to turn you,’ Aiden growled.

‘They also said they were coming for my baby. How did they know? We haven’t made an announcement.’ Meryn wiped her tears with her sleeve. Aiden plucked her from his father’s arms and held her close.

‘How did you keep them out of the house?’ Aiden asked.

‘Ryuu,’ both she and Meryn answered together.

They all turned to see the squire sitting on the porch steps; he waved at them.

‘Damn good squire you have there, little lady.’ Abraham complimented.

‘I know. He’s the best!’ Meryn preened.

‘They almost won, didn’t they?’ Elizabeth said turning to her mate.

He shook his head. ‘Even if the worst came to pass, I would follow you. I would never let you face the unknown alone.’

Beth watched as he, Aiden and the rest of the men exchanged looks. She knew what words were left unspoken.