Chapter 14

Fourteen

Standing at a desk beside Caleb, my eyes hurt from going through the mountains of paperwork we had finally separated into piles.

It had taken us five hours to get through the basic items and next we were moving onto the more complicated tasks.

But first, lunch.

Triston and Branson brought us lunch, an indoor picnic of sorts, even in a cute basket.

Riddick stood from the couch where he had been working on a laptop on some other issue, and joined us on the large rug that was in the center of Caleb's office.

I ate some cheese, meat, and crackers, then sipped on the sparkling wine they'd brought. "Are we allowed to drink wine on lunch?"

"You'll have to ask the boss," Triston said.

We all turned to Caleb.

"As long as you aren't getting drunk, I don't mind a drink or two at lunch. Plus, the queen gets special permissions." He winked at me.

"Good to know," I said and took another drink. The wine they had brought was incredibly good. Pulling out my phone, I took a picture of the label.

"Why did you take a picture of the bottle?" Riddick asked.

"Because it's really tasty and I want to make sure I remember which one it was."

Triston smiled. "Don't worry, my queen, I will add it to the list."

"List?" I asked, tilting my head slightly as I looked at each of them.

"A list of your favorite things," Branson explained. "Like those chocolates and the cookies with sprinkles."

My heart did a weird little flip in my chest at the knowledge they had a list of my favorite things that they shared with each other. I didn't say anything, but I also had a list for them as well. Though it was harder to find favorites for four of them.

"How are the new members settling in?" Caleb asked Riddick.

Riddick nodded, finished his food, and said, "Good. I spoke to Jolie and she's going to help us get a bus route to take the children to the nearest school. We also found some jobs for a few of them, but still have about six that are in need of one."

"We may be able to help with that as we're going through our new resources," I said. "We have a few jobs that need filled for the mines and the selling of the crystals in town."

"Oh, that's good to know. I'll talk to them a bit more about their capabilities and let you know." Riddick pulled out a small box from the basket he had brought and set a cute chocolate cupcake on my plate.

"Where's mine?" Caleb asked with a frown.

"Sorry, they only had one left at the shop," Riddick said and winked at me.

Caleb reached for it and I quickly popped it into my mouth. He growled.

I did a little happy dance in my seat as I ate the super sweet and delicious cupcake. So good!

"So, I was able to track down some of the remaining high-level members of the H.E.," Riddick said.

My head whipped around as I turned to look at him. "What?"

"We've been trying to track down the last remnants of the H.E.," Triston explained.

"I thought they had gone into hiding and we were safe for now."

Caleb said, "It is better to eliminate them fully instead of waiting around for them to try to attack us. I would sleep better at night knowing we have purged them from this world than to let them commit one more atrocity or put you at risk."

So, we weren't safe yet. That had my anxiety returning.

"Let's finish up our tasks here and head home to shower and change before our dinner plans," Caleb said as he stood.

"Dinner plans?" I asked.

He flinched. "Uh, yeah."

My brows furrowed. Why was he acting so strange?

Caleb opened a drawer and pulled out a black laptop. "Ember, can you review the workflow chart for the mine and also the five locations Riddick whittled down for the storefront?"

I stood, took the laptop and frowned at my name etched into the corner. "What's this?"

"Your laptop," Riddick answered. At my continued confused look he said, "We all have laptops, so it is easier for us to continue our work when we aren't in the office."

Our office was in the same building as the Council and Rhys's architectural office. They'd given us an entire floor, but we had only set up one office so far.

Sitting on the couch next to Riddick, I opened the laptop and frowned at the lock screen. "What's my password?"

"Caleb set it," Riddick replied.

We all turned to Caleb.

He smiled wide. "Your password is: rabbits rule all one word with capital r's and an exclamation point at the end."

Branson and Triston chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'll get you back for this."

He winked. "Anytime."

After logging in, I sighed at the desktop background. A picture of Caleb, shirtless, posing with his hands behind his head, flexing. There was a text strip over it that said, "Just for you."

Riddick looked over and chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?"

I refused to look at Caleb to give him the satisfaction. Instead, I opened the documents he wanted me to review and covered up the picture of him.

First, I reviewed the five buildings that Riddick had found for us to use for a storefront for selling the crystals we were going to get from our mine. We wanted to sell some other things as well, but I wasn't sure what those things were. Triston was handling that part of things.

Two of the buildings were in outer areas, so the lease was cheaper, but it was also not as convenient or as heavily trafficked.

Three were in the downtown area, and one was much more expensive than the others even though it was a smaller square footage. While we didn't need a huge store, we also didn't want to get one that was small and wouldn't allow for expansion depending on what other items we started selling.

There were so many things to consider and it was not an easy decision. I made a list of pros and cons for my top two picks and saved it. "How do I send you my notes?" I asked. I knew the very basics of computers, having used them in school, but wasn't fully computer literate.

Riddick leaned over and explained how to use the email and showed me the list of saved email addresses so I wouldn't have to memorize them, and how to add attachments as well.

"Sent the storefront stuff," I said happily once I hit send.

"Thanks," Caleb said, his brows furrowed as he looked at something on his computer.

I opened the next item, the mine's workflow slideshow that detailed each of the steps and what staff were required as well as what each staff member was responsible for. I opened a spreadsheet, copying the information over so I could have a list of each position with their key duties, then highlighted the ones that were currently vacant, so we could talk to the clan members that needed jobs to see if they were able to do any of them. I also added a manager and two sales representatives for the storefront to the list since it was all part of it.

Truthfully, I wouldn't mind being one of the sales reps, but I knew that was out of the question as queen now.

"Why are you scowling?" Triston asked.

"Just thinking how being queen changes some things."

"Like what?" Branson asked.

"Like, I couldn't be one of the sales reps for our store, even though it does sound like it would be fun."

"Being a customer service person in any aspect is rarely fun," Branson said and shook his head.

Triston nodded his agreement. "Customers are often rude and expect to be treated with extreme politeness even when yelling at you. I've dealt with more than a fair share of assholes in my jobs."

"I couldn't imagine their faces if our queen was there, though," Branson said. "I doubt they'd be as rude when faced with her."

"Or they'd be extra rude because of the prejudice against hybrids," I countered.

"Trust me, love, you don't want to do a customer service job," Triston said and shook his head.

"You'll be too busy with other tasks anyways," Riddick said. "However, I don't think it would be a bad idea to have her there serving customers on the grand opening day. It would make for great pictures and articles."

"I'm willing to do that," I said with a nod.

"One perk you have over being king and an alpha is that people are less scared of you," Caleb commented. "If I were to try to work in the store, I would unintentionally scare people away just from my aura alone."

"Is that why you suppress it so much?" I asked. I hadn't really talked to him about it before, so I was very curious.

He nodded. "I spent a lot of time learning to rein it in. My alpha aura was strong even as a child, so the kids at the school were scared of me and gave me a wide berth even when I just wanted to play. Papa Dan taught me how to do it."

"Does it hurt or is it uncomfortable to suppress it?" It seemed like it would be tiring to suppress something that was just part of who you were.

He shrugged. "It's second nature at this point." Frowning, he said, "I'm doing it now, actually."

"What?" I asked.

Everyone turned to look at him.

He exhaled and I felt his aura press against my senses. My eyes widened as I realized how powerful he was.

"Whoa," Branson whispered. "You really do suppress it all the time."

"Except during sex," Triston commented.

I looked at him with a brow raised.

He smirked. "His guard drops while he's having sex and he stops suppressing it. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed."

"That's because she's too busy orgasming," Caleb said cockily.

Rolling my eyes, I returned to my laptop. "Riddick, I'm sending you the staff list with highlighted vacancies so you can discuss with the new clan members looking for jobs."

"Thanks," he said. "I'll talk to them tomorrow."

Caleb stretched his arms over his head and groaned. "Alright, let's call it a day and head home."

Closing my laptop, I nodded. "Sounds good to me. My eyes are burning from all the reading."

"Take your laptops with you," Caleb instructed and tossed Riddick and I black bags. One of the bags had a rabbit keychain on it, so I assumed that was mine and started to put my laptop inside of it.

"That's mine," Riddick said and held out the other one.

My eyes widened and he said, "I wanted something to remind me of you."

Chuckling, I took my laptop out and handed it to him. "You guys are so silly." I wasn't going to say how happy it made me out loud, though.

Triston and Branson packed up the picnic and we all headed to the elevator.

When the doors opened, we found Rhys and Fox inside.

"Hello," Fox greeted.

"Finished with your day of work?" Rhys asked.

Caleb nodded. "You guys, too?"

They both nodded.

"How are things going with your new positions?" Fox asked. "Any new hybrids show up?"

"We had a mother and daughter show up yesterday," Triston answered. "Daughter is about five and is a hawk shifter like Kieran, though a different kind of hawk. We introduced them and she immediately shifted and flew with him. Apparently, she's been dying to find another flying shifter that wasn't a dragon."

"It's so interesting the different animals you all can turn into," Rhys commented.

"I mean, elves shift into multiple types of animals," I pointed out. "So, it's not that unique."

"We don't usually shift into large animals like bears, though," Fox said.

"Which is also interesting to think about," I said. "Why do you shift into small-ish creatures only when we have shifters in multiple sizes?"

"I would love to do some lineage tracking on those with unique animal forms to see if it has to do with elven blood or not," Fox said.

"I'm definitely interested in that as well," Triston said with a nod. "It would be good to know more about ourselves, since so little is currently known."

We stepped out of the elevator to the underground parking garage, heading to our cars.

Nico teleported in front of us, grabbed Caleb and I by the arms, and said, "I'll teleport them to your house when we're done. You three go to your pack lands and wait there."

Triston, Branson, and Riddick nodded their understanding.

He teleported us out of the parking garage and into a sunny area, making me cover my eyes a moment before they adjusted.

"We received a report of a fight and I came to intervene, but I arrived too late," Nico said softly.

Opening my eyes, I gasped at the destruction surrounding us. We were in a suburban housing area and at least a dozen houses were destroyed, some still on fire.

"Did you catch the culprits?" Caleb asked.

Nico nodded, and we headed towards a small group of people, huddled in a loose semi-circle. The sound of a young child crying could be heard, but I couldn't see them.

"We did, but it wasn't in time to save one of yours."

"Ours?" Caleb asked.

"A hybrid was killed?" I asked, feeling anger brewing.

"Yes, but that's not the worst part," Nico whispered.

The people noticed us coming and broke apart, revealing a little girl hunched in on herself, crying so hard she was hiccupping, a blanket draped around her tiny shoulders. A smattering of blood over the side of her face that I could see.

Immediately, I ran forward, sliding on my knees on the blacktop, not caring about the way it tore into my jeans. "Sweetheart, are you injured?" I asked her, pushing back her hair so I could look at her face fully.

She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face, and after staring at me for a second, she threw her tiny arms around my neck. Her cries increased in volume as she clung to me. She was a hybrid; I could feel the pull to her.

Sliding my arms beneath her legs, I picked her up, and stood, turning to face Caleb. "Don't worry, little one, we've got you." She was injured, but her emotional needs seemed most important at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Nico whispered. "I wish I could have saved your father."

An orphan. The poor little thing couldn't be more than five-years-old.

"Do you have any aunts or uncles?" I asked softly.

She shook her head. "Papa was all. We had to hide. Hide because of what Papa and I am."

Tears sprang to my eyes. "No, not any longer, sweetheart. You're coming home with us. You're safe now and no one will harm you."

"Her mother was an elf and her father a mage and shifter hybrid, from what I could gather so far," Nico whispered to Caleb. "Her mother died shortly after childbirth."

"I'm taking her home. Can you teleport Caleb once you've finished talking? I need to treat her." I patted her back softly and rocked back and forth a bit on my heels to get her to feel safe and comfortable.

"Yes, go ahead," Nico said with a nod.

Caleb walked over, ran a hand down her hair, and whispered, "Don't worry, cub. We will take care of you."

She turned to look at him and asked, "Are you alpha?"

He nodded and smiled softly. "Yes, I am your alpha and king."

"Papa told me find you. I find you?"

He nodded again. "Yes, you found me, cub."

She looked up at me. "You alpha, too?"

I smiled. "Queen," I explained. "Alpha's mate."

Her eyes widened and she clung to me harder, putting her head against my shoulder. "I miss Papa."

Squeezing her tight, I said, "I know, sweetheart. I know. I'm going to teleport us to our pack lands now, okay? It will feel a bit strange, but don't worry, you're safe."

She nodded against my shoulder and continued to cry and sniffle.

Teleporting to our house into the living room, I was glad to find Triston, Branson, and Riddick there. "I need my medical bag," I said urgently. "I also need someone to start a bath."

"I'll start the bath," Triston said.

"I'll grab the bag," Branson offered and jogged out of the house.

Her cries had lessened, but she continued to sniffle and whine.

Riddick looked at me with wide, questioning eyes, but I didn't want to discuss her parents' deaths in front of her, so I just shook my head. "Later."

"I'll go see if I can borrow a set of clothes from Theresa," he offered and hurried out of the house.

Branson returned and set the bag down on the cushion in the living room.

I walked down and sat on the couch, then set her on the cushion. She clung to me, not wanting to let go. "I need to look at your wounds, sweetheart. Can you please let go for just a bit?"

She sniffled and reluctantly let go. Tilting her head up, I smiled at her adorable little face. She had beautiful emerald green eyes and a cute little button nose. At her hairline was a deep gash that wasn't healing as fast as I liked. Grabbing the saline solution, I cleaned her wound, and checked for others, but it seemed to be the only one.

"What's your name?" I asked as I checked her eyes with the light, testing their dilation.

"Lily," she answered.

"How old are you?"

"Five." Her eyes darted towards Branson, who was hovering by the kitchen.

"Don't worry, he's one of my other mates," I told her.

"Bath is ready," Triston called from the second floor.

"Let's get you in the bath and clean you up," I said and scooped her up into my arms.

She set her head on my shoulder and her little fists gripped the sleeves of my shirt.

An intense protective feeling surged within me and I almost growled at the knowledge that someone had harmed her. If I could have, I would have tracked them down and destroyed them.

Triston squatted down and smiled. "Hello, little cub."

She ducked her head shyly.

"He's another of my mates, I have four, so don't be scared. They're all very nice and will protect you," I whispered to her as we walked into the bathroom. Triston had filled the tub halfway, which would help since she was small. There was also a fresh towel on the counter for her.

Shutting the door, I set her on the counter. "Okay, let's get these dirty clothes off and get you into the water."

She nodded and raised her arms straight up. Tugging her shirt off, I tossed it into the hamper we kept for our towels.

"Can you get your shorts off or do you need help?" I asked as I set her on the ground on her feet.

"I do it." She got her shorts off and walked to the tub, peering inside.

"Ready?" I asked, lifted her, and set her feet first, slowly into the water to give her time to acclimate.

She rotated and laid on her back, floating on the water, and closed her eyes. "I love water."

That was good to know.

Grabbing a loofa, I soaped it up. "Can you sit up so I can scrub you?"

She obeyed, but puffed her cheeks out. "I hate getting cleaned." Her eyes filled with tears and she sniffled. "Papa always did it."

Lifting one of her arms, I cleaned the grime from her and said, "I'm sorry for what has happened to you. It's not fair and not right. I know it hurts, but I will do whatever I can to help you and keep you safe."

She sniffled, wiped her hand across her nose, and asked, "I live with you? Here?"

We had a few guest bedrooms, so it wouldn't be a problem to give her one. Plus, I couldn't deny the desire to adopt her. I had already been contemplating it when I heard she was an orphan, but wanted to talk to Caleb first. Being asked by her now, I didn't hesitate to answer, knowing Caleb would be fine with whatever decision I made.

"Yes," I answered with a nod. "You'll live here now."