New Friends

Laker picked up Cass and Rider grabbed Hunter under the arms and put him over his head. “Where do we go?”

I looked at both the little one. “All you need to do is hold all four elements close to the people do nothing else.” I said. Both Hunter and Cass nodded.

“We know.” Hunter said. “And we’ll listen to our uncles.”

I looked at Quinn, “You can stay with us, but listen to whoever you can and see if you can get any identifying information so we can tell Jack and Sage and get them where they need to go.”

I put my arm around Alex and smiled, “You can come with me.”

Quinn didn’t stay with us though she stopped in the main infirmary and was listening to something from the look on her face. I smiled at Alex, “You keep an eye on her?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I’m monitoring them all.”

“Can you do more than one thing at a time?” I asked.

Alex smirked at me. “Oh pretty boy, I can do all sorts of things at the same time.” He leaned in and kissed me again and I let a small moan escape. He knew exactly how to quell me. I wanted to go upstairs with Alex. And I knew that kiss had been more than a kiss.

I pulled away and licked my lips. “You think you can distract me that easy?”

“I know I can.” Alex said and then sighed, “What did you need me to do?”

“There is a guy and a kid I’m going to talk to. I’m hoping you can help me get information”

Alex nodded and as we walked he whispered, “I was hoping you’d take us all back up stairs.” He sighed, “Until I got down here and saw and heard the magnitude of what you were doing. I thought we could help. You are such a bad influence on me.”

I chuckled, “How so?”

Alex stopped me and turned me to look at him, “I don’t play good Samaritan without an angle.”

I grinned playfully at Alex, “You have an angle now. The sooner we get done, the sooner you can have me all to yourself. Your angle just changed to a different kind of profit.”

“Look at you being all wise. Maybe there is something to all this king shit.” Alex teased and took my hand and pulled me towards the lion and the wolf sitting in a corner of the room while Doc attended another patient at another table.

“Hi.” I said, “This is Alex. My fiancé.” I said with a grin looking at Alex and he gave me that little shrug. It was the truth.

The man nodded and the kid shrank away. Which I expected.

“Can you tell me your names? I don’t like not knowing. Reference points even if I may not remember.”

The man looked at me with a curious stare. He was trying to figure me out. “I’m Darwynn. The kid is Faelen.”

“How do you know him? I mean only to ask because you are a lion and he’s a wolf.”

“How do you know?” Darwynn asked.

“How do I know what? That you are a lion and he’s a wolf?” He nodded in response. “Because I see your eyes. They aren’t wolf, and I know you are a big cat. So I assume lion since they are most common. Faelen feels like a wolf even though he’s not changed. I feel pack running through him. I can smell the forest and the damp leaves that make pack smell like home. I have two young wolves living with me and grew up among them.”

“You were raised by wolves? A Venatori.” He looked at me again and frowned. “Not Venatori. What are you?”

“I am half Venatori, half human. But my mother was a carrier of Theranthropy, my children carry it and my half brothers are. My best friend was raised by a pack, not me. I just got to spend time with them.”

“You don’t have the tattoo.” Darwynn exclaimed.

I smirked. “That’s a long story, I did have one until recently. How do you know the kid?” I asked again.

“I met him in the cells. He was alone, in a corner – the only child in the pen with us. They used him to make us talk. No one likes to see a kid hurt after all.”

“So you don’t know him otherwise?”

Darwynn shook his head, “How did you get down there?”

The man shook his head, “I don’t know. I was with the rest of my pack, they all sided with them. I didn’t.”

“Them?”

“They call themselves the New World Order, they are a…”

“Bunch of vampires hell bent on taking over the world as the superior race.”

“Not just vampires – anyone who will side with them is given a mission, the rest of us are tortured until we turn. The humans…” Darwynn shuddered. “They lock them up in pens and treat them like cattle. I even saw them force breeding.”

“So your pack sided with them why didn’t you?”

“I … I just didn’t. I don’t have a reason.”

I knew that was a lie and looked to Alex to see what he’d say. He smiled, “He doesn’t like vampires much. A group of them did horrible things to him and his, including turning him into a monster.”

“Do you know who did it?” I asked.

The man nodded his head, “Yes, and I’ll him if I ever find him.”

“Give us that information and we’ll help you. And in return you’ll help us figure out what’s going on with those who took you. I’m assuming they aren’t the same people.”

“I’ve been a lion for most of my adult life. I was no older than the kid here.”

Doc interrupted us. “I have treated all the major injuries save this young mans. I’m afraid we will need to rebreak the bones, and set the properly, unless we can force a change.”

“He can’t be more than 16, he can’t change.”

Darwynn corrected, “An Alpha can make any one of change – ready or not. I’ve heard of packs that make the young ones changed at 16, others at 18 so it’s controlled.”

“If he changes will it fix him?” I asked Doc.

He nodded, “From all my research – yes. The shift into wolf will set him straight, and then the shift back to human will mend his bones. It’s why shifters never really break any bones. You never seen one in the ER for those types of injuries.”

“Both of which are painful.” I said.

I went over to Faelen and smiled at him, “You heard?”

He nodded, “I won’t force either option on you. You’ve been tortured enough. But I’d very much like to help you, and see you walk again. I’ll be here with you the whole way. You tell me what you want to do.” The boy just shook in the corner.

Alex whispered, “He says he’s gonna change anyway. Might as well be forced too.”

I sighed, “I don’t want to force you, Faelen. I don’t want to break your bones either. But we need to fix your bones somehow.”

The boy wrapped his arms around me and held tight, “He’ll change Nox, he trusts you.” Alex said with a half smile. I wasn’t sure if it was proud or jealousy but I could only hope it was proud. Always proud of you, pretty boy.

I smiled back at him and nodded. “I need to clear the room Doc.”

The man nodded and everyone was quickly ushered out – all but me, Alex and Faelen.