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Reece
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“Reece, they are going to go after our children next. Are they going to Colorado Springs? Are they going to hit Trinity Falls?” Trinity's words swirled inside of my head as I looked at her. I could see the wild look that was starting to enter her eyes at that moment. And not only could I see it, but I could also feel it too. I don't mean that she was affecting me with her look. No, that wasn't necessary. What I meant here was that I was starting to feel the same exact thing that she was.
Panic. Rage. Anger. Fear. All of that and more was raging through my system at the moment. I could tell that I was about to start losing control of myself just like she was. These people were threatening our family now. Not just our people.
I wasn't trying to say that we weren't already taking this seriously, because we were. But the moment that these people threatened our families, our children, was the moment that they made the biggest mistake of their lives.
“Trinity, I think that is exactly what they are saying. This here, California, is on the same continent and in the same country as our home. It is the proverbial backyard to our castle. And our courtyard would be the area immediately outside of our home. They are taking this fight directly to us. And they didn't think that we would figure it out in time, that was why they gave us this message. They wanted to warn us to go home so that we would be waiting for them.”
.....
Why was it that everything I was looking at was bathed in red? Why was it that I was starting to sweat just a little bit? Heat never really bothered me that much. I mean, I get to where a room is too warm for me to consider it comfortable, but it doesn't usually make me sweat. Was this an effect of the rage? This was something that I had never experienced before?
“Reece, you might want to calm down just a little bit.” I heard Artem call out to me from the other side of Trinity. “I don't want my parlor to catch on fire.”
“Huh?” I looked at my hands and saw that I was indeed starting to burn. “Shit. I lost control as well. Trinity, it's contagious.” I tried to make a joke out of the moment, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Come here, you overgrown mutt.” Trinity grabbed onto me and pulled me close to her. She was still covered in ice while I was covered in flame. I knew that I wasn't going to hurt her though. That wasn't how we were built. I was her fire, and she was my ice. We were made to complement each other and to neutralize each other when we needed it.
When Trinity pulled me in for a hug, I could almost immediately feel the extreme cold that was covering her entire body. She instantly extinguished the flames, causing a thin gray stream of steam to rise from between us. I wrapped my arms around her as well, melting more of the ice and cooling myself down at the same time.
Soon enough, I could tell that we were both back to normal. There were no more flames, and there was no more ice covering Trinity's clothes or body. We were just two normal looking people that were hugging each other tightly. Our clothes hadn't even been affected. There were no burn marks or wet areas from the moments that had just passed between us.
“All better?” My Little Bunny asked me as she pulled away from the hug.
“Yes, much better. Thank you.”
“Well, Reece, you helped me earlier. It was only fair that I help you now.” She squeezed my hand as she spoke. She wasn't smiling though. I don't think that either of us were capable of smiling at the moment.
“So, now that you both are a lot more calm, should we talk about this?”
“No. I think the message is clear enough. We're going to take the evidence that we have and go home. If you would like to, you can come with us. We will welcome you with open arms. Also, the castle might be the safest place for you and your family.” I stepped away from Trinity, putting distance so that I didn't scoop her into my arms and run out of the room this very moment.
“Yes. I think that I would feel safer if you all came to stay with us until this is over. You are family, and I don't want to see anything happen to any of you.” Trinity added as she looked at Star and Artem.
“I appreciate that, I really do.” Artem was giving me a pained look. “However, I think the best place for me right now is here, with my pack. I need to protect them. If these people come after my territory again, I swear that I will stop them. I think that we need to patrol and initiate worldwide curfews for everyone. Trinity, please, do what you can to protect everyone.” Artem looked just as upset and nearly as panicked as I felt.
“I will, Artem. I will send out the notice today. In the meantime, work with other packs and patrol the areas. But don't let anyone go alone. They need to stay in pairs, and close to each other at all times. These people can flash a magical light at you that will put you into a trance. That was what Talia saw in her dream. They use runes to accomplish magical things. And they look and act human, but there is something off about them.” Trinity was explaining to him what we found out.
“Artem, one of the men arrested was part of this group of murderers. However, he activated a rune on his body and killed himself. We didn't learn much except that they plan to murder us all. That we already knew though. They say that it is their mission, and they are taking it seriously.”
“Understood. We will deal with the body and be on the lookout for any others in the area. I will make sure that all packs within a hundred miles of here have the scent of these people. I will make sure that they don't kill in this area again.” He was determined to be as effective as possible. He was a good Alpha too, so I knew that he would do everything that he could to succeed.
“That's good. Trinity, I think we need to leave, now. Let's gather the others and get home as soon as we can. If we hurry, we will be home by four.” It was two in the afternoon here. That meant that it was three back home. As long as we hurried, we would be home in no time at all.
“Yeah, let's get going.” She nodded and agreed with me. “Artem, Star, please be careful. And let us know if you find anything at all.”
“Of course.” Star was the one that nodded in agreement. From what I knew, she was a good Luna to this pack. And she always did what she could for her people. And she used her Fae side to make things easier on them as a whole.
Trinity and I left the parlor after that. We found everyone that we needed to and had our things packed up within minutes. It wasn't a neatly done packing job, but it was done.
“What is going on?” Talia said as she ran toward us down the hall. Alexio had been informed that we were going home, but we hadn't explained it to Talia yet.
“We're going home. I thought that you would want to go home.” Trinity smiled at her in as calm of a face as she could muster.
“Mom, please don't lie to me. What is going on?” Talia glared at her and then at me.
“Talia, it's probably nothing. We just got a message that something might be happening at home.” I didn't want to explain it all to her, but I didn't want to lie to her either. I also knew that Trinity didn't want to lie to her and that was why she looked so uncomfortable when she told Talia that we were going home.
“A..ar..are these people going to our home? A..are they going to hurt Reagan and Rika? O..o..or are they going after Zachary, Zander, Zayden, Zaley? I..is our family in danger?” She looked like she was about to panic. I knew that she was worried for her siblings the same as I was. “I..is Lola, Nona, Papa, and Móraí in danger?”
“Honey, we've all been in danger since these murders started. We're in no more danger now than we were then. Please, don't worry. We're just being careful, that is all.”
“O..OK.” Talia nodded, but I don't think she believed us all that much.
Within minutes, we had everything ready to go. Star, Artem, Elise, Isabelle, Olivia, Brayden, Jodan, Julian, Spencer, Blair, Blake, Cohen, Dalton, Gil, and Zack came to see us off. It was as sentimental as any other family goodbye that we had, but I was in a hurry to get it over with. I just wanted to get home and see that these people hadn't hurt one of my children. I just needed to reassure myself. And yes, I knew that I could call them, mentally or over the phone. That wouldn't work though. I needed to see them. To hug them. To know that they were safe. I just needed to hold them in my arms and smell their scents. I needed that. As a father, that was all that would satisfy the emotions that were roiling inside of me.
“We will see you guys again soon. Come for a visit when you can. And Artem, let me know how those things turn out, OK?” I took his hand and shook it while my Little Bunny created the door back to our castle.
“Yeah, sure thing, Reece.” Artem smiled, but it was forced. “We will come and visit you all for the holidays this year. I will try to get all the boys to come with us then.” He was talking in code with me as well. Basically, he was saying that I better end this shit with these killer assholes so that we can all be together again.
“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded and hid the true emotions that I was feeling. None of his kids would know that anything was wrong at all.
Now that the door was ready, it was time for us to head home. It was time for us to see our family again.
