“Hello?”
“We’re out back.” He led her through the kitchen to the back door.
“Fire!” Deja ran to her hugging her tight.
“You just saw me last night.” She laughed and held her friend tightly.
“That was before someone tried to kill you.”
She turned to look at Declyn who just shrugged and made his way over to the grill.
“I want you to meet Jessie and Mia.” Jessie was sitting in a lounge chair watching everything that was happening.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you also. My name is Safire, but you can call me Fire, all my friends do.”
“Thanks, Fire. This is my daughter Mia.”
“On my aren’t you adorable. It’s nice to meet you, Mia.”
She ducked her head before looking up with glowing blue eyes and sharp teeth that had Fire staring at her.
“Mia.” Jessie gave her a sharp command the teeth and the eyes went away.
She looked up at Fire trying to come up with some excuse to explain them.
“Don’t be concerned Declyn’s eyes and teeth do the same thing. I was just surprised for some reason I thought Mia was human.”
“She is or was. It’s a long story.”
“Maybe someday you will tell me about it?”
“I would like that.”
“You know?”
“That Declyn and his people are aliens from space? I know.”
“I’m not surprised you always faced reality a little bit faster than me.”
A tall male came over and kissed Jessie before he picked up Mia.
“This is Cole my mate and Jessie’s father.”
“I met you last night at The Wolves Den. You’re the bartender.”
“That’s me. It’s nice to see you again Fire. You came just in time we’re about to eat.”
“Hi Fire, nice to see you again.” Enzo greeted her while he was taking the steak off the grill.
“Hi.”
She turned around to look at Ven. There was something about him that made her heart melt. It made no sense, but she would fight anyone trying to hurt him.
“Hi Ven, guess what. My car didn’t stall out yesterday when I came here. Thank you.”
He blasted her with a smile that was going to melt hearts.
“Your welcome.”
“Sit down its time to eat.” Deja was placing food in the middle of the table as everyone took their seats and filled their plates.
Fire looked around everyone had food, but no one was eating.
“Is there a problem?”
“I wanted to ask you something but I couldn’t before you came back. Now you’re here, and you’re with Declyn I should probably wait, but I don’t want to.”
“Ask, you know you never have to wait with me.”
“Ven is my son. You know that right?”
“Of course, I know that.”
“I was wondering if you would be his godmother. I know he’s not a baby, but I want him to have a godmother.”
She was staring at her mouth wide open.
“Fire?”
“Do you really mean that? You want me of all people to be his godmother?”
She nodded. “I already talked to Enzo about it, and he is in agreement with me, once I explained the concept to him.”
“What’s a godmother.”
“On Earth when a child is born the parents ask a male or a female or sometimes a couple to be their child’s godparents. That means if anything happens to them there is someone else who will love the child and make sure they are taken care off.” Fire told him quietly.
“How long does it last?”
“As long as the godparent is alive.”
“Ven would you allow me to be your godmother?”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes! Yes and yes.”
“I would love that.”
She was up and around the table as she hugged him. “I have a godson.”
She ran to Deja and hugged her. “I’ll be the best godmother ever.”
Deja turned to Ven. “Now you have a godmother and a godfather.”
All eyes turned to Declyn. “That’s me the best godfather ever.” He winked at Ven and then Fire.
“This day is turning out to be great.”
Cole cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to look at him.
“Jessie and I were talking, and she told me about godparents and how she wanted Mia to have some.”
“I never thought that was a possibility for her, but now that our lives have changed so much.” She reached out and took Cole’s hand.
“We both agreed that we would like to ask Enzo and Deja to be Mia’s godparents.”
Deja was at a loss for words, but the tear that slipped from her eyes said a lot. She opened her arms and Mia flew into them.
“Yes! Yes, and yes. We’ll make great godparents, and we love her so much.” Enzo took her and threw her up in the air to wild giggling.
“Thank you, Cole and Jessie, I am honored by your request.”
“What he said.” Deja took her again holding her close.
“You have family Deja, that’s such a blessing.”
“You forget something, Fire. They're your family too. Don’t worry they grow on you.”
Everyone began cutting and eating as she sat there and watched them. Her only family had been Deja for so long she forgot what family was all about. When she turned her head, Declyn was holding out a fork with a piece of steak on it. She took it and chewed. He was the type to spoil a woman, and he was hers? Maybe that still was to be determined. She was welcome here but could she stay?
She could still see her apartment, and then there was that look on Ron’s face it still made her shiver. He was bad news the kind that would kill you and walk away without remembering who you were in the first place. She didn’t want to bring that to this new world.
They cleaned up and sat down as the night began to overtake the day. Ven made a fire when there was a knock at the front door.
“Out back,” Enzo called.
To males came out with a pitcher in their hands and a bag of marshmallows.
“We made lemonade.”
“That’s Caden and Xander, their twins.”
“Hi, I’m Fire.”
“We saw you last night, but Alpha beat us to you.”
“You’re too sweet.”
“Nope,” they both shook their heads. “We hope every female who comes here is as beautiful as the three of you.”
Her eyes widened when she realized it was good to be here. They appreciated females who were bigger than the average and didn’t care who knew. One more reason to stay. She looked over at Declyn he was the only reason she needed to stay.
“What do you think about Earth?”
“We didn’t think much about it at first,” Xander stated looking at his brother.
“It was a place for us to lay low and stay alive, then Deja walked into The Wolves Den and started making changes,” Caden added.
“Now each day is different, and we’re all wondering if the next female that comes could be our mate. Of course, she may not be a mate she could be married or not like guys, but still, there is anticipation in the air. That’s something I can’t ever remember feeling.” Xander finished and smiled at her.
“Fire before you leave, make sure you get your birthday gift from me.”
“I can’t wait to see what it is.” Deja would have never forgotten to get her something. They exchanged gifts every year, it’s what they did as best friends.
She held her glass out for lemonade as they poured a round for everyone.
How could such a bad start to a day turn into such a great day?
She smiled nothing else could go wrong.
Why Fire, don’t you know better than to tempt Murphy?
Chapter Eleven
Declyn was waiting on the bed for her when she came out the bathroom. She was wea
ring a nightgown that stopped mid thigh. He looked so relaxed making her feel even more nervous. It was one thing for him to spend the night with her but now she was in his home, his domain.
“We’re just going to sleep.”
Damn, didn’t he want her?
And you accuse us of driving you crazy.
You’re not ready to sleep with him, but he should want to sleep with you.
If he’s a gentleman, then you wonder what’s wrong with him.
You don’t get to have it both ways.
Ignoring the voices in her head, she went and sat on the bed beside him.
“It’s been a long day. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”
She smiled at him feeling a little better. “Is it hard to have me in your bed but not touch me?”
“Yes. I want to make love to you, but more than that I want you to trust me as well as desire me.”
“It hasn’t been long, but I have to admit the more time I spend with you, the more I want to touch you.” She got up and went to the corner and opened a suitcase pulling out the canvas she placed in there when she came back.
She opened the canvas and laid it out flat on the bed.
“That’s my mom. She gave this to me about three weeks before she disappeared. They said she died. I buried somebody but in the end, I never felt like the person in the casket was my mom. It sounds crazy, or at least it does to me.
“She told me he was her mate and although she didn’t want to leave me everything would be fine. I would find my mate on Earth.”
Her mother was standing in what looked like the city of the future, she was holding hands with a male who wasn’t human.
“How was I supposed to take this seriously? There are vehicles flying and look at the man. His skin shines like it’s made out of pearls and his eyes are black. Then I look at my mom, she looks so happy and in love. Then she was gone, this is all I have of her. That’s why I hid it. I knew if it was found that someone would jump to the wrong conclusion.” She looked down at the canvas and smiled. “You can see where I get my artistic ability from.”
“I think you should frame it and hang it up.”
“You do?”
“I do.” He ran his hand over it and frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, for a moment I had a feeling that I forgot something.” He gave himself a shake then let it go. “Pick a room, you could make this picture the focal point.”
“Someone is trying to keep me again.” She gave him a lopsided grin.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure.” She got up and put that canvas back up so that it would be safe. This time she didn’t think before climbing into the bed with him. “I could get used to this.”
She snuggled down in his arms and went to sleep.
She swung at the alarm clock trying to hit the snooze button, but it kept ringing.
“It can’t be morning yet.” She opened one eye to see Declyn handing her the phone. It stopped ringing and then started again. Her face turned up to look at him with a frown before she answered it.
“Hello.”
“Ms. Morris?”
“Speaking.”
“Sorry to bother you so late at night. This is Detective Baker.”
She looked at Declyn who was now frowning.
“Detective Baker I’m going to place you on speaker.”
“That’s fine.”
“How can I help you?”
“I need you to come down to your apartment building.”
“Detective, I’m giving up the lease tomorrow…later today when I can call the management office.”
“I understand that, but I need you to come down now. There are some questions that need to be answered, I believe that this will be the best place to talk.”
“Can’t it wait until the morning?”
“No.”
Declyn nodded his head yes.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Ms. Morris, I’ll be waiting for you.” She hung up the phone and tried to wake up.
“It’s almost two a.m. in the morning what could he want?”
“We’ll find out.” He climbed out the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee.
She shook her head he looked damn good in his jeans and tee. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee and ran the comb through her hair. When you need four more hours before you looked good. She looked in the mirror and laughed at herself.
“Fire I believe something happened after we left the apartment and whatever it is can’t be good.”
She shivered he was right, but she wanted it to be over.
“Why do you say that?”
“The detective was working a day shift. Why would he be at your apartment in the middle of the night unless he was called in? He wouldn’t have been called in for what we reported earlier. He seems fairly competent so he would have checked that out hours ago which means something new has happened.”
Her stomach dropped. He was right, whatever it was she wasn’t going to like it.”
“Are you driving?” Her hands were shaking too much to want to drive.
“Yes, but let’s take your car.”
She turned to look at him.
“They have the make and model of your car as well as the license plate. I don’t want to add a new car to their investigation. This way when we take my car no one will be on the lookout for us.”
“I really like the way you think.” She handed him the keys before she got in the passenger seat.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. I always start out with the question what’s the best way to keep everyone alive.”
She gave him a weak smile but refused to feel sorry for him. He wouldn’t like it. He took care of everyone, but who took care of him?
It’s thoughts like that, that will get us in trouble.
We can’t stay. There’s maniac after us.
How do you know he’s a maniac?
Because we’re as American as apple pie. If he can’t see that it makes him a maniac.
She had to agree with the voices she was as American as apple pie. All she wanted was to make her dreams come true. The nice house with the picket fence. A husband with a cat and a dog and two point five children. She shivered the thought of half a child freaked her out.
“You parked out front.”
“They’re expecting us, and I want to make sure they know we have nothing to hide.”
They got out the car and walked to the entrance where an officer was standing. He was tall and didn’t seem to be too interested in what was going on around him.
“Can I help you?”
“Detective Baker called and asked me to come down. He is waiting for me in my apartment.”
“You can come, but he will have to wait here.”
“No.” The officer turned around to look at him. This time he realized just how tall the male in front of him was as well as how wide.
“Detective Baker didn’t mention anything about you bringing someone with you.”
“Then call him. She’s going nowhere without me.” Declyn wrapped an arm around her as they stared at the officer.
“Johnson, come watch Ms. Morris and her friend.” He walked away pulling out a phone while Johnson came over to watch them. He noted how Declyn was holding her close and backed up a few steps.
“I wouldn’t want my girlfriend to come to a scene of a crime alone, either.”
“Thanks, Johnson. Both of you can come up.” He led them into the building and towards the elevator.
“We will be taking the steps.”
The officer glared at Declyn before he led them to the stairwell. He mumbled about them under his breath before he started panting and needing to save his breath for the stairs. He escorted them to the door and then made his way to the elevator.
“Ms. Morris, Mr. Lupe sorry to bring you out so late at night. One of your neighbors repo
rted a disturbance in your apartment. When it was checked out, I was called in. What you're about to see is not nice, but I needed to get your opinion on what took place.”
“What took place?”
He opened the door wide and invited them in. Fire stopped after crossing the threshold. On the wall written in big red letters were the words, you’re next.
“I don’t understand.” Her hand was covering her mouth as she looked at the detective.
Declyn moved her so that he could enter the apartment. He eyed the wall then looked around the apartment until he saw what was lying on the floor.
He closed the door behind him and pulled her into his arms.
“Declyn?”
“Look at the floor.”
She swept the floor with her eyes until she stopped at the body that was lying there.
“Oh, my…” Her hand went over her mouth as she tried to keep her stomach from coming up through her throat.
She turned and buried her face in his chest trying to keep her composure.
“What happened here?”
“We’re still working on that. I was hoping that Ms. Morris may be able to help us.”
“How? I wasn’t here?” She was crying and shivering as she thought about the person dead on her floor. Who could have done this? Who would have wanted to? “Is that what the wall means? Are they planning on killing me next?”
“Ms. Morris, did you know the victim?”
“What do you mean did I know her?”
“I know this isn’t what you expected but could you take a look at her?”
Declyn moved her closer.
“It’s a female. Whoever did this wanted me to know they don’t care about my gender they will kill me.” Her voice was low. Her body was numb, and her words were barely clearing her lips.
She took a quick look and turned her head. “I don’t know her.”
“Are you sure?”
Why wouldn’t he stop? Of course, she was sure. How could she know someone who was dead? This is unreal, her breathing was coming faster as beads of sweat dripped down her face. She began to shiver.
“Safire, you can do this.” His eyes looked at her giving her confidence. She straightened her shoulders. He thought she was Alpha, no reason to disappoint him so soon.
She licked her lips before she turned around to look one more time. The woman was homeless, she could tell by the way she was dressed. It was hard to look at her face because she had been beaten to make her harder to identify. She was shaking her head no when she caught the corner of a necklace.
Declyn (The Wolves Den Book 3) Page 7