by Alanea Alder
"Goodnight Meryn."
"Goodnight Aiden." Meryn was smiling when she turned back over. It was nice to have someone to say goodnight to.
CHAPTER THREE
Aiden woke the next morning and found himself smiling. He hadn't slept so soundly in weeks. When he went to turn his head he felt a hand against his face. He sat up and looked down at the small body in the middle of the bed. Meryn for all her rules the night before had sought him out in her sleep. Like a stealthy assassin she had tunneled under her 'Great Wall'. She lay on her back, sprawled arms and legs akimbo. Her mouth was open, she snored lightly and a thin line of drool traced down her cheek. His heart swelled in his chest. He had never seen anything more adorable in his life. Grinning from ear to ear he went into his closet and got dressed. When he saw the towel hanging from the door knob he chuckled. His mate so far had surprised him at every turn. He quietly opened the door and snuck downstairs.
When he walked into the kitchen, four sets of eyes turned to look at him. With the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster, he swaggered to the coffee pot. His men had decided to visit for breakfast.
"Glad to see you got through the night without being knocked unconscious again by your tiny mate." Colton teased. Keelan chuckled and Darian laughed outright.
"She is a delicate flower, she was scared." Aiden protested.
"Where is the fucking coffee?" A gravelly voice demanded from the doorway. Colton lost his composure and began laughing. Even his second in command looked away trying not to smile. Aiden hesitated at giving his mate coffee. She had been pretty high strung yesterday.
"How about some juice?" He offered.
"How about you shut the fuck up and give me some coffee?" Meryn stumbled through the doorway and collapsed into a chair.
"Oh yeah, she's real scared." Colton hooted and pounded the table laughing.
"Why are you being loud? Is it fun being so loud, this early in the morning? Do you know what happens to loud morning people? They die. They die horrible deaths, mutilated in their sleep and are then buried with their balls in their loud fucking mouths." Meryn glared at him through half shut eyes. The men gulped.
"Here you go baby, one extra large mug of coffee. Here's the sugar and cream. Refills whenever you want." Aiden placed the coffee on the table in front of her and backed away slowly. Colton turned to him, his face pale. He shrugged. He had no idea what to do either. Slowly, as Meryn sipped her coffee, her eyes opened. She yawned and then stretched her arms up over her head. By her second cup she was looking around the kitchen. By the third cup she was smiling at everyone.
"What's for breakfast?" She asked brightly.
"Whatever the fuck you want." Keelan said, a look of amazement on his face.
"Really? I'd kill for some pancakes." She sighed wistfully. Colton shot out of his seat like a jack in the box.
"No problem. I know where Marius keeps stuff." He hurried over to the pantry and began pulling out ingredients for pancake batter. Aiden sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee. Served the man right for poking fun at his commander.
"Do y'all have an espresso machine?" Meryn turned to him.
"You know what? We'll head to town and get one, just for you." Aiden offered. He never wanted to see what his mate would be like without caffeine.
"Really? They can be kinda expensive, it's why I haven't gotten one yet." She chewed on her bottom lip. And despite the dismemberment threat she had just made to his best friend, he thought she looked cute with her lip between her teeth.
"We'll all chip in, right guys?" Darian said. The men all nodded.
"Y'all are so sweet. Thank you." She smiled shyly at them. Gavriel met his eyes over Meryn's head across the table and raised an eyebrow. Aiden grinned back. She may be nuts, but she was all his.
"By the way. Who are you all?" Meryn took another sip of coffee.
"This is my unit. You've already met Colton; this is Gavriel Ambrosios, Keelan Ashwood and Darian Vi'Alina." Aiden pointed to each of his men.
She eyed the other three men. She pointed to Darian. He had delicate features but would never be called beautiful. He was too masculine, but there was something about him that was ethereal. His long blond hair was looped and braided down his back. His eyes were a soft lavender that you just didn't see in humans. He was built but not as thick through the chest as Aiden.
"Vampire?" She asked. He shook his head and stood to his full height.
"Holy shit! You're taller than Aiden and he's like freakishly huge." The difference between her own five foot three height and his made her feel like a toddler.
"I am not!" Aiden protested.
Darian grinned and sat back down. "Fae. We're all between six and seven feet tall."
"I thought fae we the "wee" folk."
"Yeah, not so much." Darian shrugged.
"Vi'Alina?" Meryn spoke it slowing to get the pronunciation correct.
"Yes. The 'Vi' prefix indicates that I am the heir for my family line. 'Alina' is the name of my house. If I had brothers, the second born would be Ri'Alina and the third born would be Li'Alina." Darian explained.
"What about the fourth born?" Meryn asked. Darian shook his head.
"We are so long lived that unless a tragedy occurs, no one after the third born inherits. They do not get a prefix for their name."
"So if I were fae I would be Meryn Vi'Evans?" Darian nodded.
"That's cool." Meryn turned to Gavriel. She took in his dark hair and brooding grey eyes. Gavriel was less ethereal and more dark and dangerous. He was exactly the kind of man you would want to run into on a dark and stormy night.
"You must be the vampire then." He inclined his head.
Keelan frowned. "Why couldn't it be me?" He demanded.
Meryn smiled and pointed to Keelan. He had a short auburn ponytail and amiable brown eyes.
"Because you look too nice and are nowhere near as elegant. He just exudes dark prince." She sighed, Aiden growled. She punched his thigh.
"Ow!"
"She has violent tendencies just like you." Colton joked. Aiden flipped him off.
"So that means you're the witch. What can you do? Can you fly?" Meryn leaned forward, eyes shining.
"I get premonitions sometimes and I work best with fire and air. My brother Kendrick is stronger, he can manipulate all four elements, but he decided to be an archivist instead of a warrior." Keelan looked down at the table.
"It's a respectable profession Keelan, we have a rich history that must be maintained." Aiden gently reminded the young witch. He knew that had been a point of contention between the two brothers.
"I know. It's just frustrating that I'm struggling to learn the spells we need and he can do them without thinking about it." Keelan turned his coffee cup in his hand slowly.
"And he's about three hundred years older than you are. Cut yourself some slack." Colton pointed out. Keelan brightened.
"I guess you're right."
Aiden sipped his coffee and enjoyed the sight before him. He couldn't ask for more than his friends and mate sitting together at the breakfast table. Maybe this mating thing would work out after all.
*****
"Hello boys, how nice of you to visit for breakfast." Adelaide and Byron entered the kitchen. Marius walked in behind them and immediately got to work on preparing breakfast, taking over from Colton. The unit members, including Aiden stood. Meryn looked around wondering if she should stand too. Byron walked over and kissed her forehead.
"They are standing out of respect for Aiden's mother. They were raised in a time where a man stood when a lady entered the room." Byron sat next to her and Adelaide next to him.
"They didn't stand when I entered the room, but then again, I guess I'm not a lady." Meryn poured herself another cup of coffee. When she looked up, she noticed that Byron was shooting daggers at the other men at the table who all looked properly chastised. Byron raised her hand and kissed it.
"Forgive them sweetheart. It speaks to their charac
ters not yours that they failed to rise when you entered the room. I'm shocked that my son would fail to do so. It's a basic lesson in etiquette that I know was drilled into him when he was a boy." Byron patted her hand and continued to glare at the men.
"Father, I'm sorry." Aiden immediately apologized.
"It's not my forgiveness that you need." Byron nodded his head to Meryn. Aiden turned to her.
"I'm sorry my mate. I was still floating around from the great night's sleep I had last night and wasn't thinking properly this morning. Please forgive me." Meryn was surprised at how truly sorry he sounded, like he had committed some great offense.
"Considering you kidnapped me, locked me up, threw me in your trunk and dragged me around by my arm yesterday, not standing at the breakfast table doesn't seem so bad." She smiled brightly at him.
"You're not going to let me live that down are you?" Aiden groaned.
"Nope."
"What if I take you out and show you the city? We can go shopping. I know where we can get your espresso machine." Aiden took her other hand and brought it to his lips. Now here was the charming man from her dreams.
"Then of course I'll forgive you, now that you're acting like your dream version. I like you better this way. More charming and less growly."
Aiden's face froze his eyes became haunted. "You dreamt of me before coming here?"
"Yup. For weeks I fought against the urge to move. But it was like something was driving me forward. So I threw a dart at a map and ended up in Madison. After I moved into my apartment, I started having dreams. At first they were nice. You were wonderful and sweet. We would lay under these trees and talk. But then they got scary. Last night was the first night in weeks where I haven't dreamt at all. I hated getting out of bed this morning since I slept so well." Meryn was reaching for her coffee cup when Aiden pulled her onto his lap. He held her so close she could feel his heart beating out of control against her cheek.
"Son, what's the matter?" Byron demanded.
"I thought they were just dreams." Aiden buried his face against her neck.
"You've been having nightmares too?" She whispered. He nodded.
"Nightmares? I thought you said they were nice dreams." Adelaide asked sounding worried. Aiden lifted his head.
"It's like Meryn said. At first they were nice; we'd meet in a clearing in the woods and talk. But then the dreams turned into nightmares. In the dream I would search for her, but couldn't find her. She would call out to me, teasing me and then it would get quiet. Then I would hear her scream, but I'm too late, she..." He faltered. Meryn pulled away and looked around the table.
"I'm murdered. A man that isn't Aiden comes out of the woods and stabs me repeatedly, like he enjoys it." Meryn shuddered. In her dreams she could clearly feel the cold steel in her body.
Gavriel stood, chest heaving. "They cannot be prophetic. You have found your mate. She is safe." Gavriel's normally grey eyes began to glow red. Aiden stood and placed Meryn in his seat. He hurried over to Gavriel.
"Breathe my friend. Meryn is safe. So is your mate. Fate will find a way to bring her to us and then we'll guard them both." Aiden had his hands on Gavriel's shoulders. Keelan reached up to place a hand on Gavriel's forearm.
"Suadet, frater meus. Be at ease, my brother." Keelan whispered the phrase over and over again until Gavriel took a deep ragged breath.
"Thank you Aiden, Keelan. I too have been having nightmares. I have to put my faith in Fate and pray my mate is delivered to me in time." Gavriel hung his head.
"She'll make it to Lycaonia and then the Alpha Unit will keep her safe." Aiden stood back and helped to ease Gavriel into his chair.
Meryn stood to return to her seat, but Aiden pulled her back into his arms and sat down, placing her once again in his lap. She was going to protest, but after seeing how affected Gavriel was, she knew that Aiden just needed to hold her. She looked at the elegant vampire and wanted to alleviate his worry.
"Aiden is right, you know. I had no choice in coming here. I thought I had a bad case of wanderlust but now I know what it was. It was a relentless driving force. If something like Fate took the trouble to uproot me and move me here I doubt she would let anything happen to your mate before getting her here." Gavriel looked at her his eyes unreadable.
"Do you really think so?"
Meryn didn't hesitate before nodding. "Absolutely. Especially considering how many books and DVDs I had to pack. My sci-fi collection alone was like ten boxes. Trust me, you have no idea how hard Fate had to work to keep me focused long enough to pack my shit. I kept wanting to stop and read a book or watch a movie I hadn't seen in years." The strain lifted from the vampire's face.
"Thank you Meryn. I do feel better knowing what Fate must have gone through to get you here." There was a trace of a faint smile on his lips.
"You're welcome." Meryn smiled, then thought about it. "Wait. Was that a compliment?" She frowned. Colton swallowed a chuckle. Gavriel smiled at her.
"I believe it was a compliment my dear. Fate, after all, has decided you were worth the effort." Adelaide injected. Gavriel nodded.
"Oh, okay." Meryn turned so that she was facing Aiden. "After we go shopping, can we go get my stuff? I've pretty much accepted the fact that I'm not nuts and y'all aren't lying. So I guess I'm sticking around for a while."
"You mean forever." Aiden said in a gruff voice.
"So the rumors are true. My baby brother has found his mate." A deep voice rumbled from the doorway. Meryn turned and to her surprise two men who looked eerily identical to Aiden stood smirking at them.
"Meryn, please ignore the pair of grinning fools that are my older brothers. Adam is the ugly one on the left and Adair is the uglier one on the right."
"There are three of you?" She could tell they were related since they all looked just like Byron. Dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. Adam was just as tall as Aiden at six foot six, but with a much leaner build. Adair was shorter at six foot four but more muscled through the chest. Adam had kind eyes and Adair had a teasing smile. She couldn't help waving at them.
"There are four of us." A voice called out from behind the two brothers.
"Move out of the way, she wants to meet the sexy one." The voice was light and sounded younger than the other two. Adam and Adair stepped into the kitchen to make way for yet another man. Meryn couldn't help but stare. The last brother was as tall as Adair at six foot four, but that is where the similarities to his brothers ended. This one clearly took after his mother. He wore his long blond hair back in a ponytail and his brown eyes were warm and inviting. He was like the Greek Adonis come to life. He moved forward until he was able to pluck her hand from Aiden's grasp and kiss her knuckles. Aiden growled at his brother.
"My name is Benjamin. I'm afraid mother ran out of 'A' names and gifted me with a 'B' name like father." He winked at her devilishly. She giggled up at him and Aiden pulled her close.
"Mine!" he growled. Benjamin placed a hand over his heart and gave a low bow.
"Of course brother. I was just admiring your beautiful mate. I can only hope that Fate is as kind to me when picking out my future snuggle muffin." He gave an exaggerated sigh. Adelaide laughed.
"Quit teasing your brother. As you can probably tell, he's the youngest." Adelaide patted Benjamin's cheek when he walked over to kiss her good morning.
"Are you all warriors?" Meryn asked. She felt Aiden tense. Adam shook his head.
"Adair and I are somewhat of a scandal. I turned down becoming father's heir and taking over as Unit Commander and eventually Council Elder. It's still unheard of to reject your family legacy, but I had no desire to become a warrior. I left Lycaonia, and studied medicine. I now operate the clinic that takes care of the unit warriors." Adam explained.
"I didn't want to command either. Until Aiden accepted I'm sure that Adam and I had been close to giving father a complex. His sons didn't want to take after him." Adair gave a booming laugh.
"I was hoping at least on
e of you would want to inherit. I knew that you each would have to find your own paths. Well, except for Ben. I fear he is determined to remain a little boy forever." Byron scowled at his youngest, who blew his father a kiss in response.
"I turned down Unit Commander to take over as Head Master at the training academy." Adair explained.
"And I am a warrior with the Gamma Unit, I serve under Sascha Baberiov." Benjamin added.
"I'll phone him later to recommend extra drills for you." Adair teased.
"Sirs, ladies. Breakfast is ready to be served. In light of the large party I have set the dining room table." Marius announced. Meryn was set down on her feet. She tried to peek over to the stove, but servant after servant was streaming by carrying the food away to be served in the dining room.
"Come on sweetheart, let's get something to eat and then we can visit the city.
"Sounds good." Meryn's stomach filled with butterflies when Aiden reached down and took her hand. It was a simple gesture, but it felt right. When he looked down Meryn could tell he was staring at her flushed cheeks. He squeezed her hand tighter and led the way.
*****
Meryn felt a twinge of guilt when they walked outside and she saw the state of his trunk. When she saw that he was watching her, she grimaced and he blushed.
"Sorry about putting you in the trunk." Aiden paused in opening her car door to apologize. Meryn blinked.
"I was just about to apologize for denting your car." Meryn sat down and waited for him to get in. When he was in he turned to her.
"I'll have Darian fix it. He's a genius with any type of craft. I think it's the fae blood." He ran his hand over his thigh, wiping his palms. If Meryn didn't know any better she would say he was nervous. How adorable!
"So what do you do for fun?" Meryn looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by. It was hard to believe there was an entire city beyond the trees that humans didn't know about it.
"I work out." Aiden licked his lips.