by Dani Gray
“And for the shifters?” Jacob asked.
“They need somewhere safe to recover from what they have endured, just like you,” Asclepius patiently explained. “Somewhere they can get back on their feet and, when they feel safe enough, move on. They are going to be welcome to stay here for as long as they want, and if they decide they don’t want to leave then they can stay here.”
“What are Trevor and Harvey going to be doing?” Julie inquired.
“They are going to have the most important job of all.” Asclepius smiled at them. “They are going to be the guardians to the children who have lost their parents. They will be looking after those children until suitable parents can be found for them, and if parents can’t be found for them, then they will be raising them.”
“Oh dear,” Julie moaned.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Asclepius quietly asked.
“No,” Julie said, “but what happens when Trevor starts to have children?”
“What?” Harvey’s head swung around so fast to look at Trevor everyone in the room heard the crack his neck made. “You can have babies?”
“I can?” Trevor faintly asked. “Since when can I have babies?”
“Honey,” Julie admonished her son. “You’re a bunny, of course you can have babies. I got pregnant the night I mated your father.”
Harvey was glad he moved quickly enough to catch his mate before he hit the floor. Poor mate.
“Did you say the night you mated?” Harvey looked at Julie, surprise on his face. “Skippy? Is my bunny okay?”
Asclepius came over and ran his hand over Trevor’s stomach.
“I’m not sure if you are going to be happy or not, but I’m sorry, he’s not expecting.”
Harvey carried Trevor over and sat down in the chair, holding Trevor close to him, gently rocking him and humming.
“If you want,” Asclepius knelt down in front of them, “I can help prevent him from becoming pregnant until the two of you are ready. But that will have to be something that the two of you will have to discuss and let me know what you decide.”
“Let us talk first,” Trevor whispered. “We need to make sure we make the right decision for us.”
“Whatever you decide,” Asclepius smiled at them. “I know that you guys will be great dads. Why else do you think I want you to run this place?”
“Just not by ourselves?” Trevor asked, “we will have help?”
“Yes, I promise that you will have help.”
After saying that, Asclepius got up and took Trevor’s family and showed them to an apartment.
“Wow, bunny.” Harvey looked down at his mate, “we can have babies.”
“Is that something you want?”
Harvey could smell the fear coming off his mate, not sure what it was from, he pulled the man close, holding him tight and humming to him.
“How about we wait until we are both ready, then we can have babies,” Harvey said.
Chapter Nine
Trevor felt like an ass. He knew that Harvey would be an amazing dad, and any kid would be lucky to have him as a father, but he didn’t know if he was ready to be one.
“You being not ready is fine with me.” Harvey told him. “I’m really okay to wait for now. We’re going to have a bunch of new kids to help here, so us waiting to have a baby is good with me.”
“I feel like I’m not being fair to you.” Trevor whispered.
“Being unfair to me would be you doing it when you aren’t ready for it.” Harvey told him. “We are mates, partners. We do this, everything, together. We don’t just make or do something that only works for one person, we do what works for both of us. To me, that is what I thought was the most important thing about mates, working together.”
“How did you get to be so wise?”
“I don’t know if I’m that smart, but I just think about what is important to me. I think about how I want to be treated, and that is how I treat others. My mom always told me while I was growing up that the best way to know how to treat others was to do that. She said that it wouldn’t matter how I got treated back, because even if they were bad to me, that karma would take care of it and that I would be okay. I don’t know who karma is, but I guess it’s all good since I have such a great mate now.”
Trevor just sat there on his mate’s lap, staring at the wonder who was his man.
“Do you know just how amazing you are?” Trevor was in awe of his sweet man. No matter how badly he had been treated in life, he still had a kind and gentle soul.
“No, I’m just me.”
“You are so much more than ‘just’.”
Both men turned when there was a knock at the door. Trevor leaned up and gave Harvey a kiss under his chin.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The smile that Harvey gave him threatened to melt him into a pile of goo, but they went to go see who was at the door instead.
Trevor wasn’t surprised to open it and find Asclepius standing there.
“Ready to finish the tour?”
“Yes.” Trevor looked over to Harvey and held out his hand. “We spoke about a few things too. First, we would love to accept and be the guardians to the children here. I think that this is something that both Harvey and I would love to do.”
Trevor could only grin at the enthusiastic nodding from Harvey that had his hair flopping on his forehead.
“Secondly, we would appreciate your offer of help in birth control.” Trevor quietly told him. “While at some point we would like to become parents, we don’t think that we are quite ready for it yet. We didn’t know it was possible until today. For now, we want to give our full attention to this project and these children. They are going to be needing us, and we can always have our own kids when things settle down.”
Asclepius stepped up and stood in front of Trevor.
“May I?” Holding his hand towards Trevor’s stomach.
At Trevor and Harvey’s nods, his hand began to glow white, and the glow began to spread to Trevor.
“Oh, it’s so warm.” He breathed out.
After a few minutes, the glow faded.
“That should do it. You should be fine for a few years.” Asclepius told them.
“Thank you.” Harvey said, putting his arm around Trevor, pulling him close to him. “We need to get all these littles looked after, before we have our own.”
“Well, be ready.” Asclepius told them. “It’s going to be getting crazy soon. Just so you know, not only will you have the children on this floor to look after, but we are planning on having the building next door opened as a daycare. The area between will be turned into a park and there will be a fenced in playground.”
“How is this all going to be financed?” Trevor asked.
“That is something that Zeus is looking after.” Asclepius happily told them. “And to be honest, I’m glad to not have that headache. I’m having enough problems with the human part of the clinic. I’m hiring human staff, but security is becoming an issue.”
“How come?” Harvey wondered.
“Honestly, because some humans are so fucking stupid.” Asclepius growled out. “How in the hell did they get so far in their evolution, I will never understand.”
“What’s the problem?” Trevor asked.
“The gangs.” Asclepius snarled out. “The useless, spineless waste of human dregs who take advantage of other humans. We’ve got wards up all over the place, but security is now becoming an issue and we are now trying to find ways of dealing with them.”
“So, here in the building, use some of the shifters for security.” Harvey suggested. “And then for outside, see if Hades has any demons or something like that who can patrol to keep the neighborhood safe for everyone. This way everyone who is here is safe, and then you can clean up the neighborhood for everyone else and then no one has to be scared.”
Asclepius stopped and stared at Harvey in amazement.
“You are a genius.” Ascl
epius told them. “A brilliant genius. Why didn’t any of us think of this. It’s such a simple solution, and it’s perfect.”
“I don’t know.” Harvey shrugged. “I just thought it was the right answer. The shifters are stronger than the humans, so they can help in the building to keep everyone safe. And outside, you can get whoever you pick to go after the bad guys and keep them away. But you should ask Zeus who should do that, that way he won’t get mad at you again.”
The sound of Harvey’s phone ringing had him rushing to answer it, “sorry, that’s Peter.”
“Hi Peter.” He happily answered.
Harvey nodded his head a few times in response to what Peter was saying, then simply replied, “okay, see you later at home.” Then hung up the phone.
“What was that about?” Trevor inquired.
“Peter said he won’t be able to meet us here,” Harvey said. “They got busy at the coffee shop and he had to stay to make some extra stuff. He did promise that he would make some apple turnovers just for us though.”
Trevor was sure he had drool on his chin, “that sounds awesome. Your brother makes the best apple turnovers I have ever eaten.”
Asclepius laughed at them as they got on the elevator. “How about we finish this up tomorrow, guys. I’m going to go chat with Zeus about your idea and get that started. I want to spend some more time working on getting the personnel in place for the medical staff for the human area of the clinic. I need to finish working on getting the staff in place for the daycare. I’m also planning on making sure that there will be a safe place for parking for the staff working here, since I know that for the most part those who come here for treatment won’t have their own cars. I guess it’s a good thing that this area is basically abandoned, this way we can rebuild it to suit us.”
As they got off the elevator, they ran into Mark.
“Harvey, I am so glad to have run into you, man.” Mark held out his hand to Harvey. “I wanted to thank you for recommending Saul and I to your man here for work.”
“No worries.” Harvey pulled Trevor over, tucking him in under his arm. “Mark, I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend Trevor. We are getting married.”
“I am so happy for you.” Mark held his hand out to Trevor. “You are getting one of the best men ever. Hope the two of you are very happy.”
“We are, thank you.” Trevor said.
“Where’s Saul?” Harvey looked around, trying to find the other man.
“He’s over at the deli a couple of blocks down,” Mark said. “Do you guys want to join us?”
“Trevor?”
“How about you go and visit with your friends,” Trevor said. “Skippy and I can head home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very.” Trevor told him. “Go catch up and I’ll see you at home.”
Harvey smiled at him, pulled him into his arms and kissed him until he forgot how to breathe. When he put him back onto his feet, Asclepius held him upright as he wasn’t sure his knees were going to hold him. The smirk Harvey gave him let him know that the other man knew it too.
Trevor laughed at the swagger Harvey had as he walked off with his friend.
“How is my family settling in?” Trevor looked up, wondering where the apartment his family had been placed was.
“They’re fine.” Asclepius told him. “They are taking some time right now, trying to process the loss of your sister and what happened to them and their friends. With the things they saw while in captivity, it will take a while. I can see that I’m going to have to make sure that I have some counselor’s and other mental health workers available for these people. I’m sure that it will take a while for them to deal with some of the things they had to watch and endure.”
“Yeah.” Trevor shook his head. “The whole thing is so fucked up. Hunting people like that, for what? A bigger thrill? It’s murder, plain and simple.”
“I just don’t understand people like that.” Asclepius’s tone was sad. “Life is precious, and for them to disregard it like that is…beyond my understanding.”
Asclepius looked up at the sky. “Are you going to be okay to head home? I need to go up and see the big guy.”
“I’ll be fine.” Trevor smiled. “I only have about eight blocks to walk, what can happen?”
Chapter Ten
Going by the park where Trevor first met Harvey, he stopped and had to sit at one of the benches and watch the setting sun. Here is where he got to meet his mate, where his life changed for the better. Where it felt like it finally started.
Suddenly, a thick arm wrapped around his neck, cutting off his ability to breathe.
“You try and shift and I’ll break your fucking neck.” A rough voice coldly told him. “You have caused me nothing but problems since you managed to get away, no more. Finding you was a lucky accident, but it’s one I’m going to enjoy. I don’t know if you had anything to do with it, but now I’m being hunted by the cops. It’s you fucking freaks that should be hunted, not me.”
Fear was holding Trevor harder in its grips than the ass behind him. Not sure what the guy was doing, but feeling movement of some type, motivated Trevor. Reaching behind himself, he grabbed a handful of the idiot’s junk and squeezed and twisted as hard as he could. Hearing the scream of pain, he jumped away as soon as the arm fell away from his neck.
Turning around, he saw a young man in his late twenties lying on the ground holding onto his groin, gasping for air.
“I’m…going…to…kill…you,” he tearfully said.
“Right,” Trevor mocked, “how’s that working out for you so far.”
Trevor had to suddenly jump back and run when the guy pulled a gun from his pocket. Not sure where he should go, he turned and ran towards the back of the park, away from where he knew there were other people. He didn’t hear the sound of the weapon firing, but he jolted forward and almost fell as he felt a burning fire in his shoulder.
Trying to be quiet, Trevor could hear the guy staggering after him. He knew that the guy didn’t need to be quiet while chasing him, since Trevor didn’t have a way to defend himself while that guy had a gun.
Seeing a construction site a couple of blocks in the distance, Trevor ran for it, hoping that he could find something there that he could use to fight with against this guy. Not sure what to call him, he decided he would just call him asshat since guy was a nice person name.
Frantically looking around, trying to find a weapon of some sort, Trevor was startled by the sound of a voice.
“What are you doing here?” The voice demanded to know. The voice sounded familiar.
“Are you Jerry?”
“Yeah, who are you?”
“I’m Trevor, Harvey’s boyfriend.” Trevor quickly went over to Jerry. “I need help. I’ve been shot and the guy is still chasing me.”
“Fuck.” Jerry looked around, trying to see where the other guy was. “Do you know where this fucker is?”
“No, and that worries me.” Trevor tried to see him, but it was starting to get dark.
“I’m going to kill you.” The voice echoed around the construction site, but they couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. “The moment you try to get away, I’m going to fucking shoot you, rabbit.”
“Come with me.” Jerry whispered, then turned and led Trevor over to a sheltered part of the site. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text off.
“I’m sending a text to the police.” Jerry said.
“No, don’t.” Trevor said. “Not them.”
“Why not?” Jerry looked at him, anger on his face. “What have you gotten Harvey involved in?”
“Please, don’t involve the police, they won’t understand.”
“Because this is shifter business?”
Trevor forgot to breathe at those words. “How…”
“My mom mated a shifter after my dad passed away.” Jerry grinned at him. “My step-father is a cougar shifter.”
“Cool.” Trevor
grinned at him. “I’m a bunny shifter.”
“I kinda figured that out when he called you ‘rabbit’.”
Taking a deep breath, Trevor made a quick decision.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Please, trust me.”
Trevor waited, barely breathing while he waiting to see what Jerry would do. After a couple of seconds, he closed his eyes.
“Asclepius, please help me.” Trevor whispered.
A second later, there was a movement of air and Asclepius was beside him.
“What the fuck!” Jerry said, stumbling back. “Where did you come from?”
“What happened?” Asclepius demanded. “How did you get shot?”
Just then asshat stepped into where they were, holding up the gun, a twisted grin on his face. “Got you.”
Asclepius snarled at him and with a snap of his fingers, the man was unconscious on the ground, wrapped in rope, and the gun had disappeared.
Moving to stand behind Trevor, Asclepius’s hand began to glow, and Trevor could feel the bullet coming out and the damage being healed.
“Thank you for helping.”
“How is he doing this?” Jerry asked, awe in his voice.
“Jerry, allow me to introduce you to Asclepius, the god of healing.”
“Holy shit, my mom would freak if she knew I was speaking to you. She used to love telling us kids bedtime stories of the gods as we were growing up. Now she’s telling them to the grandkids.”
“You know you can’t say anything.” Asclepius told him.
“I know,” Jerry sighed.
“Oh man, Harvey is going to be so upset,” Trevor moaned. “Can we not tell him about this?”
“Are you crazy?” Jerry looked at him in surprise. “There is no way in hell I’m keeping something like this from him. I respect that man too much to lie to him.”
“Don’t look at me,” Asclepius said. “I’m not going to lie to him either.”
“Well, poop.”