Authors: Tigertalez
Alphy crossed his hands in the air and swung them out,
“No, then use their local hospital’s machine. We are flying out tonight, and
you are not bringing it.” He whipped around to face him and Kace with a
thunderous look on his face, “Take it back upstairs.”
Slate inwardly sighed. He may have shifter strength,
but it was no picnic hauling the thousand fifty pound device back up small
stairs and into the apartment over the garage that was currently being used for
the doctor. Turning his head, he caught the look of feral glee on Kace’s face.
“What are you so happy about? We still have to lug the thing back up those
lousy-ass stairs.”
“Yeah, but at least we don’t have to lug it across the
country.”
The rumbling sound of an approaching truck got Slate’s
attention.
He watched Kace close his eyes and lean his head back,
“Please be our new pack members and not more medical supplies,” he grumbled.
Seamus puffed out with an irritated breath and rolled
his eyes. “Honestly, you would think I was asking you to donate a kidney!”
“If only it were that easy.” Kace made an exaggerated
face. Slate kept his face passive, even though inside he was laughing his butt
off as the two bantered.
“Slate, with me.
Seamus, you get to help Kace return the machine.”
Alphy pointed towards the garage while giving Seamus a look of warning.
Vampires were deceptively strong so Slate had no doubts they would be able to
do it without him. Slate made his way to his alpha’s side.
Slate was beside his alpha when the U-Haul hummed its
way into the clearing. Movement caught his eye, and turning his head, he saw
the alpha’s mate, Gale, and the rest of the pack gather on the front of the
wraparound deck of the main house. Slate put his focus back on the slowly advancing
vehicle. Beside him, Alphy held out his arm and pointed to a spot, indicating
to the truck where to park.
The truck’s engine whirred when it pulled up and
parked in front of the garage, then silenced when it was turned off. He and
Alphy approached as the men exited the truck. The passenger bent his neck
slightly, in proper greeting to his new alpha. The other man, who had been
driving, walked around the truck and stood beside the other, and also exposed
his neck.
Alphy touched their necks in response to formal
outward sign of compliance. “Welcome to the
Kaska
pack.” Alphy reached his hand out to the first vampire.
The vamp took his hand. “Thank you, I’m Peter
Anand
.”
Alphy gave a brusque nod. “Peter.” Then he slightly
turned to the other vampire and held his hand out to him.
The vampire took it. “Marek
Presper
.”
“Marek.”
Giving
another brisk nod, Alphy pulled his mate, who had joined them during the
introductions, against his side. “This is my mate, Gale.” Alphy nodded his head
to the man who accompanied her.
“And my beta, Enzo.”
Alphy turned to Slate.
“And my lead enforcer, Slate.”
Slate stood up straighter at being introduced. It was the first time he was
officially introduced to any outsiders as lead enforcer since he’d won the
enforcer challenge just days ago. A zing of pride warmed his chest.
Alphy gestured to the van. “Let’s take a look, shall
we?”
Walking to the back of the van, Slate could see and
smell the excitement emitting from Gale. She and her brother were eager to see
the gargoyles. Everyone knew that Gale, her brother Paul, and her mother,
Connie, hadn’t been told until recently that there were other paranormals.
That was an entertaining
meeting.
Just as he thought of Gale’s brother, Slate spotted
the sixteen-year-old slowly
make
his way to the van.
Paul was still recuperating from the beating his former alpha’s enforcers had
given him. He still had splints on his arms, bandages around his ribs, and one
over his left eye, which he had permanently lost.
A metallic echo sounded as the back door was rolled
up. Everyone peered into the revealed space. Inside were a few bags and three
giant mounds wrapped in thick, blanket padding. While the men took out their
bags and set them on the ground, Slate heard Gale as she leaned into her mate and
whispered, “Where are the giant statues?”
Slate suppressed his chuckle.
The two men hopped up into the back of the truck, and Alphy
signaled for him to join them. Obeying his alpha, Slate swung a foot up into
the truck and heaved himself inside. Each of the two vampires had taken to one
of the mounds to unwrap, so he made his way to the third form and started
stripping it of the blanketed padding. More of the light grey form was revealed
with each blanket he removed. Slate glanced over at the tail end of the truck
to see Paul had finally reached them and was standing by his sister’s side.
They were both very curious.
“Is this
another false myth? I thought gargoyles turned into fierce statues.” Paul asked.
“Not always,” Peter
replied. “They don’t need a bed, but they usually curl up on the floor when
they roost.”
“Roost?”
Gale slightly tilted her head, and she and her brother both shared the same
look of confusion. Slate grabbed his bundle of blankets and walked to the end
of the truck, dropping them in a pile with the others.
Marek spoke up as he walked with this bundle of
blankets to the edge of the truck. “That’s what they call it when they turn to
stone.”
“There’s not a lot of stuff in here, thought you guys
were
gonna
stay for a while.” Her brother looked
around.
“Oh we are, but we were told space was limited and we
would be rooming with each other.” Marek smiled wide enough to show his fangs.
The vampire continued, “We only brought some clothes. The rest we left back in
Toronto until houses could be built. And the gargoyles don’t amass much of
anything at all. They only wear loin cloths because that is the only thing that
will turn to stone with them when they roost.”
Peter added, “And they hold their fated mates above
anything, so they only gather things for their mates, when they mate. And since
these guys are unmated…” He let the rest of the sentence hang.
Alphy urged his mate along. “Let’s head inside and get
some supper. I’m sure they’ll join us when they come out of their roost.”
Everyone started following the alpha making their way into the house. After
folding the blankets and stacking them in the bed of the truck, Slate followed,
joined by Kace and Seamus, who were just coming out of the garage.
Inside, most everyone settled around the dining room
table getting acquainted with the new members. Aunt Betty was directing Connie,
Gale, and Havana in the kitchen, preparing supper, inundating the air with the scent
of the richly seasoned meal. The twins ran around chasing Reese, and all three
were getting scolded for snitching into the bowl of rolls. Slate’s lion relaxed
inside his head as he kept an eye on the scene. It was warm, happy and
inviting.
Just as the food was being arranged on the kitchen
island for serving, an unusual earthy scent tickled his nose. He stood up and
watched a half-dressed Nix lead in three giant gargoyles. Slate had worked with
gargoyles before, so he wasn’t surprised by their appearance, but Gale, Paul,
and Connie hadn’t, and from the scent of surprise Slate detected, some of the
others hadn’t either. Silence deadened the space. Even the tots were standing
still with big eyes, looking up at them.
All three stood no shorter than the alpha, who was six
foot six. The one in the lead was the largest, and he had to be pushing seven
foot. Vibrant tattoos stretched over the bulking muscles of his dark blue skin.
They adorned his arms, chests and a little bit on the forearms of his black
wings. On his forehead, just above his larger ridged brow, he had a natural
crown of four small black horns. His black, wavy medium length hair looked like
it had been combed back.
The one to his right stood just a few inches shorter
and was a deep, almost electric, blue with white shoulder length hair. He had
six small white horns crowning his head with blue tips and blue on his winged
forearms and fingers that veined through the webbing of his white wings.
On his left was the shortest gargoyle,
who
stood about as tall as Alphy. His deep red wing-forearms
and fingers stretched through the yellow and orange shading of his membrane. He
didn’t sport any horns on his short spiked orange-haired head, but his claws
were the same shading as his wings and his ridged brow was pierced with small
gold loops. All of the gargoyles’ wings were folded and held closely to their
backs.
One of the tots, Abigail, ran up to the largest
paranormal and held her arms up in the universal sign of “pick me up”. Slate
heard Connie let out a gasp and start to move, but her mate placed a hand on
her shoulder to stop her. He looked back over to the giant gargoyle and
witnessed him bend down onto his knees and gently pick up the child. Abigail wrapped
her arms around his neck and gave him a hug, and her light brown, almost
auburn, curly hair brushed over his shocked smile.
Little Abigail sat back a little and smiled at him. “Hi,
I’m Abby.” Her little voice carried around the silenced room.
The low timbre of the gargoyle rumbled gently, “Hello,
Abby. I’m Dultyn. Thank you for that special hug.”
He smiled at her. His sharp white teeth and fangs
could be seen, but Abby didn’t appear afraid. She lifted her fingers up and
poked at his fangs, and then she ran her fingers over his heavy and spiky
ridged brow. “Do they hurt?” Her voice nearly squeaked.
Dultyn lightly chuckled. “No, little one, they do not
hurt.”
Alphy stepped up to the three and extended his hand to
Dultyn. “Welcome to the
Kaska
pack. I’m Alpha Ralph.”
The gargoyle set the little tot down, stood and took the alpha’s hand. Alphy
pulled his still gaping mate forward. “This is my mate, Gale.”
Gale shot her hand forward and nearly bounced with obvious
awe and glee. “Hi. I’m so excited to meet you.”
Slate could see amusement cross the gargoyle’s face as
he took her hand as gently as he handled the tot. “Hello, Gale, I’m honored to
meet you.”
Alphy continued, “My beta, Enzo.” Alphy nodded towards
Enzo, then
indicated
Slate
.
“My lead
enforcer, Slate.”
Dultyn turned to the blue and white gargoyle on his
right. “This is Bogdan, and to my left is Stelios.” He turned back to Alphy.
“We are grateful for your hospitality.”
“You are welcome here.” Alphy proceeded to introduce
everyone around the room. Dultyn, Bogdan, and Stelios nodded their greetings to
each member. When Alphy was done, he turned back to the three gargoyles. “I’m not
sure if you’ve been informed that some of us have to fly out tonight for a few
days on some business, but should you need anything or have any problems, my
beta will be here.”
“Yes, we have heard. Raymond enjoyed telling everyone
of your great victory.”
They were interrupted by Abby, who lightly tugged on
his long loin-cloth. Everyone looked down at her and saw her lift her arms up
again. “Up, up,” she squeaked.
“Abby,” Connie scurried forward, “you shouldn’t bother
them.” She picked up her daughter and turned, first to the alpha, then to the
gargoyle. “I’m sorry, alpha. I’m very sorry.”
The gargoyle smiled in response. “Don’t be. My brethren
and I have a great deal of care for little ones, especially females. To have
her affection is a great honor.”
Slate had to bite his tongue to stop the laugh that
threatened to overcome him at the mixed shocked and confused look Connie gave.
“Especially females?”
She blushed as soon as she said it.
She obviously hadn’t meant to ask that out loud.
Alphy interjected, “My mate, Gale, her brother, Paul,
and their mother, Connie, didn’t know gargoyles existed until recently.”
Slate could see understanding dawn on Dultyn’s face as
well as the others’.
“Ah.” Turning his sights back on Connie he offered her
a smile. “There are no gargoyle females. The gargoyle gene can only be passed
on to a male offspring. Also, not all of us get a female mate as gargoyles are
all bisexual, and only a female mate can grant us a chance at a female
offspring.”
Alphy chuckled. “Meaning, Honey-bear,” he had leaned a
little sideways and down to his mate, “that they can make a male pregnant but
can only have male offspring with them.”
Before the ladies, and Paul, could fully fall into
their shock, Slate added, “And that is only if it is their destined, claimed
mate. They aren’t fertile until they claim their fated mate and go through
molt.”
He saw Gale rapidly shift her gaze around. “What’s a
molt?”
Dultyn answered her question. “Molt is a change we go
through once we have claimed our mate. It allows us to shift into human form
and not be ruled by the sunset. We can shift back and forth at will.”
Paul had stood when he was introduced, but now he was
sitting, his one eye big and round. “And I thought learning everything about
shifters was a big adjustment. You can really make a man pregnant? How is that
possible?”