Healing Cherri (12 page)

“
What are the plans?” Thomas said from the corner.

“
We are working on an alternative if we have to leave. I just want you all aware, this is your choice, and we can’t make this for you. I know what my decision will be. Know if we lose the vote, I will no longer be the head of the Drekinn and I will take my place as part of the Pack. I know not all of you realize this, but I am part of the Pack,” Ms. Praton said and watched as the confusion filled the faces of her employees. There was too much going on to tell them everything right now.

“
As am I,” Brooks said. “So I would guess you could say we are all on equal footing in this room. From now on, unless Kade or Calli give us strict instructions to do so, we will not speak out of the Pack.”

Everyone nodded and Cherri held up her hand and said, “I'm just fucking wasted, can we go home and process?”

Chapter 11

Cherri was exhausted as they made the decision to transport the girls secretly back to the apartment. It was crazy stealth and Cherri had found it exciting for thirty seconds until she realized the hassle; she was going to be separated from both her mates until they got home. What if they arrived first and found all her clothes lying around? Shit, she hoped today the cleaner had come in.

They were taken down to the lowest level of the Drekinn building that she had never been to. By the looks of her friends, neither had they. Who the hell worked in the dank basement? It seemed like they could have known that these people were here. When they exited the elevator, they could hear and see the machinists working. Sparks were flying as the welded metal together and hoods of strange looking cars were open.

The girls paused and looked around. Kade was standing with Kiki, Sabrina, Trina, Thomas, Declan, and Nik. They were on what looked like a launch pad, it was red and white striped and bunches of warning signs were everywhere. Calli ignored them and walked to the pad and said, “How the fuck did we not know this was down here?”

Thomas laughed. “I don’t know what's on half the floors here. Ms. Praton and Brooks have their hand in everything. Apparently, this is the invention lab.”

The girls looked around and smiled. “Cool," Cherri said and nodded.

They all agreed and then Kade pointed to the row of shuttles that were smaller than the ones they usually had. “They have access to the old tunnels they used to use for transportation back in the day. They had been long shut down due to the wars when some of the tunnels collapsed. However, the Drekinn had shuttles in place to every one of their buildings, now that includes ours. We are going to use this for transport from now on so we aren’t out in the open. But because we're gonna get the shuttles home for today, we're flying them. We have a huge security detail, so don’t worry. We'll be in constant contact through the com link,” he explained and saw the frown on his mate's face. She was not going to be happy about this and go down without a fight. But he figured her out, Cherri knew when he said, “I have you guys all down here guarding Kiki, we have to get him back to the building and secured, because they took a big chance trying to kill him.”

Calli nodded reluctantly and kissed her mate. “Constant contact?”

“
For everyone, we have the channel set. Kiki, Thomas, and the girls are going to go first so they're in front of you. Then you three. Let’s move,” Kade said and kissed Calli once more.

Cherri felt two hands on her shoulder and she turned around and found both of her mates there smiling at her. Declan bent down and kissed her gently and then Nik. She wanted to rip their clothes off right there and claim them; she could feel her wolf getting impatient.

“
We will meet you there,” Declan said, and Nik nodded.

Cherri smiled and turned to watch them leave. She sighed and then turned back to her friends and flipped them off when they started mimicking her. They all had to have instructions and so it took a while for the lead dweeb to come and explain all the buttons. Shit, you would think they had never driven before. Well Cherri had, even though her license was taken away for speeding. It was all very unfair. But maybe these little jobbies won’t count as vehicles.

So they entered the small shuttle and Calli grinned when it was just the girls, the thing could be driven but was on autopilot so they wouldn’t have to worry.

“
This is so cool,” Calli said. “You so realize this little thing can go practically anywhere in the city undetected. We would just have to find an entrance to the city above, but there are plenty.”

Cherri and Rissa smiled and nodded, they knew what their friend was thinking and it was brilliant. They could arrive and disappear at places without ever being followed. Nice.

The shuttle was about the size of a small, old time car thing, Cherri thought. When it began to move, they all watched curiously as they entered the tunnels.

“
So what does Kade say about this?” Cherri asked.

“
Well, he thinks the same as I do. We need more of these little shuttles built. Because until the threat is eliminated, it would be an awesome way for us to travel around the city,” Calli said and laughed. Kade must be speaking some more in the link.

Rissa nodded. “I know some guys, who know some guys. They would probably be able to help.”

“
Of course you do,” Calli said, rolling her eyes. Rissa knew mechanics, geeks and anyone who was electrically inclined. It was a weird little network. Calli and Cherri loved to tease her about them.

“
So, two mates?” Calli said.

“
You are a jealous bitch, besides, Rissa will have two too,” Cherri sniffed.

Rissa lifted her head up from the screen of the computer that was always attached to her and said, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“
Didn’t you listen to Ms. Praton?” Cherri asked.

“
Of course, I have it on vid. But she never said I would specifically have two mates,” Rissa said looking at her best friends. “I can’t even keep the plants alive, I forget while I'm working. How would I deal with two, they would require too much attention. No, I will have one and he will be a geek like me!” Rissa pronounced and then looked at her friends hopefully.

They both burst into laughter and Rissa frowned. “What?”

“
Hey, if my high maintenance ass has two mates, then you can too. I don’t know what the hell I'm gonna do with them, but trust me. I will enjoy it,” Cherri said smugly and they talked the rest of the way to the apartment building about men. Cherri loved this time when they had privacy all to themselves. It was like the old times, and by the time they got to their building and saw their mates standing there waiting, Cherri and Calli were both more than ready. Rissa sighed heavily and her friends turned to look at her.

Kiki and the others were shuffled off to the elevators by the Enforcers, who were also waiting for them. They waited for their turn at the landing pad. But Calli was frowning at Rissa, and Cherri was getting ready to crawl back into the backseat and find out what the sigh was from. When Rissa made noises like that, it was something big. She was not a complainer.

Calli snapped the door lock, and Kade frowned and bent down, but she held up a finger and spoke to her friend. “Talk.”

“
Nothing, I was just thinking that I'm the last of us to find our mate. What if I never find him, what if I drift through life lonely and like, pathetic? Seriously, I know that's not realistic considering how cool we all are, right? But still, it's a possibility,” Rissa said sadly.

“
Ah, honey, no, that won’t happen, we wouldn’t let it, even if we had to get like a bum off the street to mate with you,” Cherri said and grinned.

“
Bitch,” Rissa said.

“
Seriously, look at the way things are going. Calli found her mate like, a week ago; I find mine times two, today. You're next, and it should be like another seven days, eight at the most. Look at the odds. I mean there are three of us, what are the odds that only two of us would find their mate within a week of each other without even hitting the clubs?” Cherri said.

Rissa perked up. “You're right, OMG, seven days. I have so much to do. You guys go with your mates, I have to clean my new place, and wash all the sexy underwear I own. I am down to the ugly ones my mom buys me for Christmas. And I have to stock food, I mean, look at your mates, they are like massive, if mine are like that and I have to feed them, it could get scary with a book of CHOCO COCCA PUFF’s and Almond Milk. That would suck.”

Rissa bounced out of the car and then kissed Kade on the cheek and turned to Declan and Nik and pointed at them. “You remember our motto, ‘you fuck with one, you fuck with all’. Live by it.” Then pulled them down to kiss also and ran up the stairs to the elevator.

“
What the hell?” Kade said.

Calli crawled from the shuttle and laughed. “Rissa.”

“
I know that should explain it all, but sometimes it's like she's talking another language,” Kade said, shaking his head.

Both Declan and Nik held out a hand for their mate to take when getting out of the car. She grinned at their chivalry and said, “Rissa's a brilliant, eccentric chick, and I can’t wait to see who her mates are. This could make all our lives fun.”

Declan and Nik led her to the stairs behind her friend to the elevator. It was ingenious how they had the underground transportation shuttle. When they walked up the narrow stair that was only lit by a small light, they came to a door with a pass code. Declan entered it in and then the door slid open like an elevator door and they exited into the lobby of the building. A desk was manned by Enforcers from the Drekinn Agency. The guys nodded and Cherri yelled hello to the guys, and her mates frowned at the familiarity. Cherri rolled her eyes and pulled her mates toward her elevator. This place had so many floors that the elevators worked on a pass code. You had to enter the one given to you to go to your floor. But because the top four floors were all connected, it really didn’t matter, it was a formality. She hoped the guys were okay with the connecting apartments, because that was not going to change.

“
Did you get a chance to see the apartment?” she asked politely.

Both men shook their head. “Ms. Praton already had all of our stuff sent over, so we hope they didn’t make too much of a mess for you,” Nik said and Cherri laughed. She knew what her place looked like before she left for work yesterday. It had looked like a store threw up in there, because for some reason, she had a hard time choosing what to wear; she really hoped that the housekeeper for the building they hired did hers.

Calli yelled over her shoulder before her mate pulled her to a separate elevator, “Have you guys been told about her lack of home keeping ability? Don’t worry, we'll make sure you don’t get lost in the clothes and get fed. It's a team effort with Cherri.”

Cherri flipped her off and then followed her mates to their elevator. It was stupid really, but for security they each had their own elevators. They entered the small pad that was now referred to as an elevator. And held onto the small handles. She could see Calli and Kade, who apparently couldn’t wait to get to their apartment, because they were all over each other. Shit, Cherri thought, awkward moment, since she turned and both of her mates were staring at them too.

“
Uh, forgive my friends, they're just, um, a little excited to finally be home,” Cherri said brightly and the guys looked at each other.

“
They have the right idea but with three of us, I don’t want to fall off the pad,” Nik said and grinned.

Cherri frowned and said, “Hey, have you had the talk with Declan about what I want?”

“
Yeah, we talked about the whole courting thing and dating. But since there are two of us and one of you, we voted. Although we're willing to pamper you beyond your wildest dreams,” he said smoothly, “we will be claiming you tonight.”

“
Oh really,” Cherri said, folding her arms and glaring at them. She really didn’t mind so much, but they were not going to rule her life, she hoped they knew that. "What if I insist?”

Declan laughed and said, “Darlin', we've had twenty-four hours to plan what we were going to do while you were asleep, you don’t stand a chance.”

Cherri frowned deeper and then turned to the door they had just stopped at and entered the code she knew by heart again. It beeped red at her and she frowned.

“
We changed the code so all of us would know it,” Nik said and reached around her and punched in a series of numbers.

“
What is it?” Cherri asked, looking over his shoulder as best as she could.

“
The day we’re claiming you,” Declan whispered in her ear, and she shivered.

The door slid open and there was pandemonium in her living room. Rissa, Calli, and Kade were there making stupidly sweet noises at something that was in a large crate with a giant pink bow.

“
What the hell are you doing in my place?” Cherri called and stomped toward her living room.

The place was huge. Each apartment had over three thousand square feet. And was entirely surrounded by bullet, missile and basically weapon proof windows. The view was amazing; they could see the whole city from any room in the house. And the cool thing was the electronic shades. It made the windows turn different shades of black to keep out the sun or to just dim the natural light. Her apartment was still being decorated, but she had the major areas done. The living area was chic, and had pale pinks, blues, and purples all around. She loved the almost island feel of her place. Calli and Kade’s were dark reds and purples, which suited their Alpha royal side. Cherri was much lighter.