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by Alanea Alder
Meryn's expression became thoughtful. "So, if Ari is mated to Brie, and Brie's dad is mated to Uncle Doran, what's that make me and Ari?"
Ari looked at his brother. "Cousins?"
Rex beamed out at the room. "The adorable menace is my baby cousin!"
"I can still call you hot right?" Meryn asked.
Rex nodded as Aiden growled the word, 'No!'
"Much better," Amelia murmured as she sat back.
Brie realized she was right. This was much better than wallowing in despair. She stood and held out her hand to Ari. "Like father, like daughter." She raised an eyebrow at him.
Ari, much like Doran, shot out of his chair. "Goodnight," he said simply. He scooped her up in his arms and ran from the room, leaving catcalls and whistles in their wake.
Chapter Six
Once they were outside, Ari set her down on her feet. "We have a couple options."
"For what?" Because there was only one thing she was thinking of, and if that's what he was referring to, options were always good.
"We can return to my rooms at the Lionhart estate or head to the Unit Warrior villa."
Oh, that's what he meant.
"Since I've already seen the Lionhart estate, we can go to the Warrior villa. I just need to grab my clothes from your parent's place."
"That won't be a problem," Ari smiled, then reached down and took her hand. "Why the shift in attitude. Wasn't I your 'supposed' mate?"
"I'm not sure. Earlier, when I was feeling like my head was about to explode, just being in your arms made everything feel safer. That kind of comfort can be an aphrodisiac, and I found myself craving you more. If Fate, or whatever, feels like we'd be a perfect match, I'm going to throw caution to the wind and just try this out. I mean, Fate can't choose worse than I've chosen for myself over the years."
Ari frowned. "I'm ecstatic that you have accepted our mating, but I'm not sure how I feel regarding the 'it can't get any worse' mentality."
"I'm a cop, Ari, we're pessimists by nature."
"Warriors aren't much better." He gently tugged on her hand, and they slowly made their way through the golden city until they were back at his parents' home. He opened the door and they stepped into the foyer. "You run up to the bathroom and grab your stuff; I'm going to my room to grab my fatigues, duffel, and your gun from the safe."
"Fatigues?"
"Yeah, tomorrow Tau unit is training, so our fatigues serve as our workout gear."
"Hmmm."
He flashed her a boyish grin. "I'll model them for you tomorrow."
She laughed and began to jog up the stairs. "Damn right, you will."
Once in the large bathroom, she discovered that someone had laundered and delivered her clothes. They sat folded neatly in a pile on the counter. The travel toiletry kit sitting on top made her smile. She scooped everything up and went to Ari's room. He was waiting for her by the closet. "Come here," he asked.
She followed him into the closet and he led her to one side where the wall was covered in different mirrors. He had her place her hand on the center mirror. "Now, you have access as well." She stared as the mirror slid aside to reveal a massive gun safe. "This is so damn sexy."
He chuckled and retrieved her gun. He showed her that it was loaded and handed it to her. She tucked it away with her things and he closed the safe.
"Your squire is a miracle," she said, holding up the kit. He handed her a small travel bag and she dropped her things in.
Ari's face brightened. "Leo has been taking care of us since before I was born. He's just as much a parent to me as my mother and father."
"So, what Meryn said about them being like Super Moms is true?"
"Very much so, in fact, it's probably one of the best descriptions I've heard for a squire. Granted, not all squires are the same. Most strive to become even a fraction as good as Sei Ryuu, Cord Danuthal, and Sebastian Hearthstone."
"So, we're just lucky?"
"Pretty much."
This time she didn't wait for him. She reached down and took his hand, earning her a bright smile. "I wasn't kidding when I said I was all in," she reminded him. They walked downstairs and into the warm evening air.
"Once you make up your mind, that's it, huh?"
She gave a half shrug. "I've always been that way."
Together, they walked through the streets, past the splendor of the Upper City, until they came upon a brightly lit building amongst some of the older homes on the street. The windows were thrown open, and male laughter could be heard from the walkway. Rising from the center of the large building, a towering holly tree created a dark green canopy overhead. She pointed to the evergreen. "Why a holly?"
Ari held open a simple iron gate. "We didn't always have one. But when Darian became a unit warrior, he donated a cutting from his family's tree so that us poor warriors would have someone looking over us. In return, we try to keep things as lively as possible for the Alina guardian."
Brie remembered what she learned about how Darian's entire family was murdered. "I think any guardian would like it here." She pointed to where the amber glow from the lights inside seemed to beckon them forward.
"We do our best." He opened the door, and the male voices were even louder.
"Ari! Welcome home! Done being important at the Lionhart estate?" a warrior teased as he walked down the stairs toward them.
"Ari's back?" another voice called out.
Soon, the foyer was filled with warriors. More than one reached out to ruffle Ari's hair in a brotherly fashion. Ari smiled at them all.
"Guys, I have someone important I want you to meet. This is my mate, Brie Wilson. Brie, these men are my fellow unit brothers." He puffed out his chest. "Isn't she wonderful?"
"Too good for a baby boy like you!"
“I’ll run your things up,” another volunteered. She handed off her small bag, as did Ari.
"A thousand blessings on your mating!"
"Welcome!" All around them the men called out their greetings.
"I thought you were attending the palace dinner?" the dark-haired warrior asked.
Ari gave them a shit-eating grin. "We were, but then my mate decided we should retire early."
The men groaned, and a set of hands gently pulled her from Ari. "You know what that means?"
She felt a moment of panic before she realized she was being steered toward the kitchen. "Late night snack party!"
"No! We're going to bed early!" Ari argued.
The men ignored him and sat her down at the long island in the middle of the expansive kitchen. The men worked together like a well-oiled machine, pulling out snacks and components to make munchies. She smiled at Ari's chagrin, but knew he wasn't too upset by the way he kept sneaking chips and salsa.
"There he is!" a familiar voice said accusingly.
Ari winced. "Sorry guys, but my mate wanted to leave. What was I supposed to do?"
Kincaid walked in and placed his hands on his hips. "Take us with you for gods sake! My delicate nerves can't handle all the royalty!"
"Yeah, because us all leaving wouldn't have looked weird after my mate gave me a come-hither look."
Kincaid glared at him. "Don't care."
"Besides, you know she likes us more," Gage said, breezing past Kincaid to kiss her cheek. He looked over to the counters. "Snack party!"
Kincaid looked a bit mollified. "Snack party?"
Priest sat down next to her. "Has the idiot even made introductions yet?"
She shook her head. "I may request everyone wear name tags the next few days. Between the warriors and the palace, my brain hurts."
Ari sat down on the stool on her other side. "I'm sure the guys won't mind doing that for you."
"Oh! I actually have name tags, hold on!" A blond warrior ran out of the kitchen.
"Leave it to Balder to have name tags," Ari smiled as he shook his head.
The dark-haired warrior placed a bowl of chips in front of her. "In the meantime, I'll start. I'm
Bastien Géroux. My uncle is Simon Géroux, Founding Family head in Noctem Falls. I serve in the Phi unit along with Nerius Li'Meiner, fae. Kael Lyon, lion shifter. Jace Frazier, wolf shifter, and Ian Angelica, witch."
Priest nudged her. "We call him Angel."
Bastien leveled a look at Priest. "You really want to go there, Meredith?"
Priest scowled. "I hate that you guys know my name."
Bastien and most of the men belly laughed. "Know? We were at your naming ceremony, eaglet."
Priest sighed. "Yeah, yeah, we know. We're the kids around here."
The blond that had run from the room raced back in holding up a small plastic package. "I have these from when we volunteered at the children's hospital." He began passing stacks of sticker tags and pens to the warriors who sighed and wrote their names before slapping them on their chests. When she saw the first one, she laughed, now she knew why they were sighing. All the name tags had adorable baby animals on them.
"No! Give me the lion one!" one of the warriors protested. Laughing, his friend handed him the name tag with the baby lion on it. He wrote his name down and smiled at her. "Hey, cuz! My name is Broden Lionhart. I serve in the Upsilon unit with Balder Ri'Ilindra." He pointed to the warrior who had passed out the name tags. "Tiergan Faulkner, tiger shifter." He nodded to the warrior who was drawing stripes on the ginger kitten on his own name tag. "Caleb LaVoie, vampire. And Heath Clover, witch."
He high-fived another warrior that looked as though he could be his twin. "This is my older brother Ramsey Lionhart, he serves in the Chi unit."
Ramsey winked at her. "First Kari and now Brie, the Lionharts are truly blessed to have such beautiful ladies join our pride."
"Ramsey," Ari growled.
"Just as snarly as your brother," Ramsey teased.
Ari grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Broden laughed. "You would."
Ramsey stood on tiptoe to look around the room, then pointed to the warrior pouring different drinks. "Aeson Vi'Liordon leads my unit."
A fae with strawberry blond hair waved at her. "He's currently planning revenge on Zach for locking him in his room on the day he was supposed to escort The Menace to the palace."
"Damn right," Aeson muttered.
Ramsey continued. "Matthieu Lucien, vampire. Leon March, fox shifter. And Carson Elderberry, witch." His finger went down the line pointing out the men making nachos. The Psi and Omega units are currently running patrols, so we'll leave out name tags for them for tomorrow."
"I really appreciate that, guys," she said, dipping her chip into what looked to be homemade pico. She took a bit and sighed happily. "This is so good."
Ari gently bumped her shoulder. "It's a weakness of mine. I had Leo show me how to make it."
"You made this?" she asked.
"Yup."
"All kinds of favors will be given for the pico if you add a margarita on the rocks to the combo," she offered.
Ari stood and immediately went to the sideboard that held familiar liquor bottles.
"Lucky bastard," Ramsey said.
Ari returned with a glass with a salted rim. "For you, my lady."
"You make my mouth happy, my mouth will make you happy."
Ari practically whimpered as he sat back down next to her.
"Lucky ass bastard," Broden repeated.
Ari turned to them, smiling wide. "Don't make me tell my father you were calling me a bastard."
Both Broden and Ramsey rolled their eyes. "Your father doesn't scare us; it's your mother that I would never want to cross."
Ari thought about that a moment. "True."
"Catherine? Your sweet as pie mother?"
Ari nodded. "You mean my lioness mother who is the Alpha of the huntresses of the Lionhart pride? Hell yeah."
Broden pointed between himself and his brother. "She's our mother's older sister."
She looked at them. "But you're Lionharts, doesn't that mean your fathers are related?"
Ramsey nodded. "Our mothers are sisters, and our fathers are brothers. Basically, two families completely merged together after those two matings."
Ari stole a chip from her bowl. "Our mother's maiden name was Eliana, which means 'daughter of the sun'. A matriarchal line as old and revered as Lionhart. Eliana's Daughters are known for being the best huntresses, so naturally when paired with the just as powerful Lionharts you get a generation of cubs that can do no wrong."
Broden nodded. "We are terribly spoiled, on both sides of the family. Ari, even more so being the baby."
"If the two of you end up having a baby girl, our aunts will probably lose their minds. So far, only males have been born from our parents," Ramsey added.
"Kari is pregnant. I bet you anything she's having a girl." Ari sat back. "Gods, a baby girl with our strength and her mother's intelligence would be unstoppable."
Ramsey suddenly frowned. "She'll need all her uncles to keep the boys away."
Suddenly he, Broden, and Ari were are growling low.
Brie rolled her eyes. "Or you could teach her to defend herself."
Ari pointed to her badge. "Auntie Brie could teach her how to shoot."
She sipped her margarita. Damn, the man had made it perfectly. "Of course, but I was thinking more along the lines of judo."
Ari blinked. "You know judo?"
"Yup. Had dad sign me up when I was four. Typical school yard bully kept pushing me down so he could look up my skirt. I asked my mom to show me how to fight big boys, and she suggested judo."
"Your parents didn't do anything to the little bastard?" Ari asked.
She shook her head. "I told them not to. I wanted to handle it myself. So, I took lessons, and it didn't take long for me to get really good at throwing his ass around. He left me alone after that. I hit a growth spurt in middle school and most bullies left me alone after that."
"Why?" Ari asked.
She dragged her hand up and down in front of her body. "My mom was six-foot one, I'm six-feet even. I towered over most of the guys through high school."
Ari blinked. "Is that tall for humans?"
Brie was about to answer, then looked around the room. She was actually way shorter than most of them. Meryn suddenly popped into her head; the woman was easily at least eight to nine inches shorter than she was.
"To answer your questions, yes, amongst humans I'm tall. Poor Meryn, her neck must absolutely kill her from having to look up all the time."
Balder opened his mouth, then closed it. "You know, I never really thought about how much she can't see." He dropped to his knees. "She's about this short right?"
Brie nodded. "There about."
"This is awful! I can't even reach the counter!"
"It looks like it was built for you warriors, so that makes sense," Brie pointed out.
More than one warrior dropped to their knees to see what Balder was talking about.
"This is bullshit!" Jace exclaimed.
"Can she even reach the toilet?" Ian asked.
Brie held her sides, laughing as she watched a group of grown men walk around on their knees in the kitchen, discovering what they couldn't reach.
"I mean, this impacts daily life, right?" Jace asked, trying to reach a bowl of chips.
The men stood shaking their heads.
"No wonder our commander carries her around so much. I thought they were just in a honeymoon stage, but maybe it's a survival mechanism that he's subconsciously adopted," Balder suggested.
"And she's pregnant," Ramsey added.
Bastien rubbed his chin. "You know, men, I believe it is our duty to assist our commander. While he and his tiny mate are in Éire Danu, we should do everything possible to ensure that Meryn's stay is not only safe but enjoyable."
Priest clapped his friend on the back. "You are a fine example of what it means to be a warrior. I am proud to call you my brother."
"Annnnd Leana threatened him over the phone when he did his weekly check in with his uncle. She said
that Meryn had the love and support of Noctem Falls, and Éire Danu would do well to follow their example," Kael said, ducking out of the way when Bastien stepped toward him.
Bastien let Kael skip out of reach. "Magnus presented her with a Regalis card. You know how rare it is for one to be given out. That alone should make her everyone's priority."
"I think she's fine where she is. At the palace, she has not only her mate and her squire, but also the queen and uncles every which way she turns," Ari said.
Bastien thought about it a moment then nodded. "Agreed, however, if she ever has to leave the palace, I'd like to volunteer for guard duty."
Ari reached across the counter for a nacho. "I'll pass that on to Aiden. I know that man will not turn down guards for his mate."
Brie sat back and was surprised to find that she was truly enjoying herself. Being in a male dominated profession, she was used to being the only female in the room. The men joked, played pranks, teased mercilessly, and puttered around the kitchen, creating a laid-back atmosphere.
Around midnight, she was introduced to the Psi and Omega units as they came in from patrol duty. Balder leading Upsilon and Nerius leading Phi headed out the door to take over patrols. Ari took her hand and started saying goodnight to the men.
"A thousand blessings on your mating, Ari," Ramsey called as they walked out of the kitchen.
"Sleep tight!"
"I doubt they will be sleeping," Aeson said, causing the men to laugh.
When they were at the top of the stairs, Brie noticed that Ari had gone quiet. She peeked up, and to her delight, his cheeks were pink. He caught her staring, and with his other hand, rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about the guys."
"Don't be. I think they're wonderful. Yes, they're a bit boisterous, but at no point did they say anything that made me uncomfortable. I felt like I was in a room full of brothers."
Ari's smile to her statement was bright. "They are. Like brothers, I mean."
She rubbed his arm as they resumed walking. "I know. They watched you like a hawk while we were down there. Every time your drink got low, someone walked by and filled it. You mentioned you loved tangerines, and suddenly there was a bowl on the counter. It's clear how loved you Priest, Gage, and Kincaid are."