Page 21 of Welcome Home: When Shifters Unite!
“Maisie, get the damn broom and get moving. I don’t have all day,” I snap at her because she is looking at the broom like it will magically jump up and do all the sweeping for her.
Four hours later, a tired Greta, Tarlo, Elena, Troy and I walk out of the basement with a bedraggled, filthy and whining Maisie behind us. Not one of us cares a cuss that she’s had to work hard, and that has to have been a fresh experience for her. I bet she’s going to be stiff tomorrow, maybe even walking like a zombie! I can’t wait to see it.
As we walk away, I hear Troy and Tarlo muttering to Elena. I only catch a few words, but it seems that they are trying to convince her of something, and she is not readily agreeing. It hassomething to do with the school, and unless I miss my guess, they want her to step in as the new school principal. I have enough to deal with, so I leave them to it and wish them good luck with their endeavors. Elena is no pushover.
Chapter 11
*Adira*
Sitting in the office I state, “Robbie needs to do more weapons training, Leo. I know you have been doing some with him, but I think with all the threats, we need to step that up. Maybe Thorn can do some with him, and Rom, he has told us he’s a good fighter.” I look up from the letter Bernice had brought to the house this morning. She was in a hurry to hand it to me, so she must have considered it important. She had handed me two, in fact, this one and one, with an official Elder Council stamp on the front.
“Okay, I’ll speak with Thorn and see what time he can find to teach Robbie more fighting, because his weapon training has gone well. He can fire anything you hand over to him at this point in time. He’ll make an excellent sniper one of these days. But if he gets in a scuffle he’s the underdog, and not just because of being human against a shifter, but he has no fighting skills whatsoever.”
Leo turns to leave the office, then stops and gives me a serious look. “We need to up your training too, Adira. I know we are doing some in the evenings, but that’s only for an hour, and it’sjust not enough. Blue needs to learn more, even though she is fast on her feet.”
“Yes, I think you're right. Blue has mentioned she wants to learn more, so how about we keep the hour in the evening, and add Sunday morning up to lunch at least?” I’m hoping he’ll agree to that because time is limited with everything I’m having to learn in regard to running the pack.
“Alpha Adira. We have a Travis Blackbird at the edge of the border demanding to speak with you.”
The mind link is from one of the patrol warriors, and I know he is a great warrior as I watched him fight last week. He has speed and agility, which you would expect from a panther. I quickly reply, as I want nothing happening before I can get to the border.“Tell him he has to wait outside the border or it will be seen as an act of aggression and we will act immediately. I am on my way.”
Walking out of my office I pass Leo, who is speaking with Robbie, but seeing my urgency he chases me out of the kitchen, and farmhouse. I am not going to arrive at the border sweating and looking out of place. I’m the Alpha of this pack and I will appear as one. I walk swiftly, as I don’t want to leave my patrol warriors worrying.
“What’s going on?” Leo asks, and I am not a bit surprised he is keeping pace with me.
“We have another visitor from the Blackbird Pack. My ex-mate, you know, the one that mated to my ‘not’ sister.” I did finger quotes on the not, and it had Leo smirking at my sarcasm.
“I’ve called Thorn and Rom to the border. We don’t know if this asshole has brought any backup with him. But he’ll find he’s not so brave when he’s met with a lion, tiger, panther and leopard.Oh, and of course, let’s not forget a furious she-wolf named Blue.”
I smirk because I can just imagine what that would look like to anyone coming here thinking they could intimidate us. Nodding at Leo, I give a push on my pace because, honestly; I want to see what happens next.
As I’m walking, I think about the letter I’d just opened which I’d left on my desk for my attention when I get back. It is from Cayden, Spirit of Battle. Well, that’s how the letter was signed. Sounds regal if you ask me, but then all dragons think they are something special.
I don’t have time to think about what the letter entailed as we reach the border and the standoff between an angry Travis in his wolf form, which is Cloud, who I know didn’t want to be rejected, as he wanted Blue, for his mate.
Rajah, Talon’s panther is pacing in front of the border, letting it be known he’s ready for a fight if one is coming. But what surprises me is Travis is alone. The vehicle behind is empty.
I take a stand behind Rajah, with Leo on my right. I hear footfalls and in seconds Thorn and Rom appear, both in human form, but they are both looking ready for anything that may develop.
“What do you want, Travis?” I ask and ignore the whine that Cloud gives to Blue. Blue ignores him, as she is of the opinion he could have stopped Travis from mating with Joliee. But both myself and Blue know he had to be compliant to complete the mating mark bite.
“I need you to come to the pack. Explain that Joliee is my mate, and that you were not. I need the pack to find peace, and they are not accepting that I mated and marked Joliee thinking you were my Goddess given mate.”
“But it’s the truth, isn’t it? I was your mate, and if you think I’m coming to your pack to tell lies to save you and Joliee, you are very much mistaken. The mess you are in is of your own doing. It has nothing to do with me. I rejected you, and you accepted it. Now move on, sort out your own dirty laundry. Maybe you should have realized that Joliee isn’t Luna material before you put that mark on her neck. Now, move along before my men here, show you what real shifter men are made of.” I don’t wait for his reply. I walk away, blocking out his shouts. I don’t stop when I hear fighting erupt, and I don’t care which one has taken him on, either.
Back at the farmhouse, I’m sitting behind my office desk and studying the letter.
Thank you for contacting me regarding my cousin Blaflono. I knew he was deceased as I felt the familial connection snap. He disappeared from my life when his mate died, becoming a recluse, which is natural for a dragon unless they find a new mate quickly.
As for his possessions! Well, I think he would have liked the town to benefit from what you may find. I am going to schedule a visit, and while with you, I will sign anything that will dot I’s and cross T’s completing legalities. I would, however, like to retrieve our family Bible, which has our family lineage registered within it.
Oh, I will check his bank details, as I know he had sold his gold and jewels when Melusinda died. His mate collected pretty things, particularly blue, hence he had a lot of sapphires in his collection. I will update on this when I visit.
Again, thank you for contacting, and I look forward to meeting you.
Cayden–Spirit of Battle
To say I’m relieved is an understatement. We all know dragons can be ornery creatures, and they have the worst tempers you could imagine. We also cannot fight them as we’d end up cremated from the flame they’d easily breathe on you. I’ve only seen a dragon once, and that was when I was a pup. It was a female, and she was huge in my eyes, but now thinking about it, she’d be around six feet in height, I would think at a guess. She was fit, not even a little fat on her bones. She was spectacular; I have to admit.
