My Protector

by Alanea Alder

  He looked down and saw a bright blue flashing light.

  Keystone. Beth. Mate. My mate. Beth! Beth in trouble!

  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.

  BethBethBeth

  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.

  We're coming!

  We're coming to rip your baby from your stomach, you human whore!

  "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 e
veryone. 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.

  After I slaughtered all those responsible for your death.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!" Adelaide said as they walked into the Shifter Council estate. Everywhere Elizabeth looked the house was tastefully decorated for the holiday. The smell of roast turkey, pumpkin and cinnamon had her sighing blissfully. All of the Alpha Unit members was able to make it except for Colton and the trainees, they had returned to their respective homes for the holidays. Adam, Adair and Ben sat talking with Byron. Adelaide was fussing over Noah and Jaxon in a motherly fashion and both young men were soaking it up. Darian and Keelan were checking out each covered dish excitedly and Aiden was trying to keep Meryn out of the food.

  "You never told me how much you loved Thanksgiving," Gavriel said nipping at her neck.

  "I love the food! It's all my favorite comfort foods put together in a huge feast, how can you not love that?"

  "I was there for the first one remember," he teased. They sat at the dining room table enjoying the chaos around them.

  Elizabeth noticed the subtle differences in her mate. To his disgust, none of his clothes fit him anymore. He had to have a tailor come to the estate for new measurements. He had grown two inches, putting him close to Colton's height at six foot six, unheard of for a vampire. Where he had been lean and long before, he now carried more muscle but it was compact unlike Aiden's larger, bulkier frame. To her, he was now walking sin. Every inch of him was sculpted, defined muscle. His hair was longer as were his fangs when he fully extended them.

  In private he also admitted that he had to work with Aiden to create a new regiment for training. He was now working out using a routine similar to the larger fae. But the changes weren't just physical. Elizabeth was starting to see what Meryn had meant about her mate being a charming gentleman. He rarely got surly anymore and smiled more often. The only thing left unchanged was his possessive nature, for which she was grateful.

  "Meryn, darling, we're eating soon." Adelaide laughed as Meryn ran from dish to dish wanting to try a bite of everything. Aiden had given up keeping her out of the food after she informed him the baby wanted it, he was now telling her to try all his favorite foods.

  Darian and Keelan were glued to Marius's side trying to wheedle whole pies from the squire.

  Ryuu was nearly back to normal and helping Marius in the kitchen. For a few days after the attack he had been stuck in bed while he had regained his strength. Ultimately it was not only the men begging him to act as a buffer between them and an uncaffeinated Meryn but also the nursing attempts made by Meryn herself that hastened his recovery.

  "Oh, I just remembered!" Meryn said suddenly, looking at Gavriel.

  "Yes?" he asked.

  "Can you please tell Elizabeth that I'm right? Neither she nor Sydney believed me when I told them what you said about that shifter commander going home after the battle where the Dark Prince saved his life." She made a face at Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth had to turn her head. She knew now that Meryn was right, since she now knew that Gavriel had actually been there.

  Gavriel leveled his gaze at Elizabeth, his eyes twinkling. "You should listen to Meryn; she is getting to be an expert regarding paranormal history."

  "Wait? What story? That is the first time I heard that ending too," Aiden said.

  Meryn beamed up at her mate. "Gavriel said that after the vampires healed the shifter commander, he turned his back on the war and walked all the way back to Lycaonia to see his newborn son."

  "Why weren't we ever taught that?" Ai
den asked, looking at his father.

  Byron shrugged. "It's the first time I've heard it, too. Lots of stories were lost after the Great War; two whole generations were wiped out before it came to an end."

  "Are you sure about this, Gavriel?" Byron asked.

  Her mate nodded and sat back. "The shifter was tired of fighting. He knew his mate had died giving birth to their son and to him it would dishonor her if he were to die before making sure the baby would be okay. Once healed he thanked every vampire who treated him and began walking. The Dark Prince knew that the shifter would never make it to Lycaonia on his own so he traveled with him. Many times the Dark Prince saved the shifter's life on the long journey back to the shifter city. When they arrived, the shifter didn't stop to rest, to eat or drink. He went directly up to the nursery to meet his son. When he asked the nurse if his mate had named the baby she shook her head and said that his mate had requested that he name their son upon returning home. The shifter held his son close, the tiny child was the last link he had to his mate. He looked up to the Dark Prince and asked him what he should call his son. The Dark Prince was honored to be asked such a question and answered with the name of the godson he had lost centuries earlier, 'Mikhail'. Once father and son were settled the Dark Prince left promising that he would look after Mikhail and his descendants."

  Aiden chuckled. "Mikhail was my great- great grandfather's name," he said before shoveling a small quiche into his mouth. Meryn elbowed him.

  He looked down at her. "What? They can't be the same. Can they?" He looked around.

  Byron was nodding. "Dear Gods, this needs to be added to our family journal," he whispered.

  "Let me get this straight, the Dark Prince from vampire legend saved my great-great-great grandfather's life, named my great-great grandfather and promised to look after his descendants? Come on! It's not like there's a five thousand year old vampire sulking around helping to defend this family." Aiden protested then stopped as all blood drained from his face. He turned to look at Gavriel.

  Her mate smiled and wiggled his fingers at him. Aiden collapsed into the dining room chair next to his father.