The Forgotten One (7 page)

“Touch it and I’ll bite you,” she snarled.

Dylan looked at her, and she winked. “It’s my Momma’s gift for us girls.”

“I think we need to move close to her,” Ana said. “I so could enjoy this every night.”

Hedrick snorted. “I’ll make sure you have ice cream, little wolf.” He scooped Ana up. “Come on, it’s getting late. Night, ladies. We’ll see you in the morning, and thank your Mom for making all of us feeling welcome.”

“She’s using too much energy. How is she going to protect herself extending her gifts like that?” Her father growled, holding her mom’s journal in his hands.

A big blob of ice cream landed on top of her father’s head. Everyone stopped and stared until Dylan started laughing and then they all joined him.

Baal turned his dark eyes on her, his lips twitching. “You, young lady, are not helping here.” He grumbled. “It could have at least been chocolate. Strawberry, really?” he said as the ice cream disappeared.

“Strawberry is my mom’s favorite ice cream. She especially loves strawberry short cake with the ice cream on the side.” Willow fed Dylan another bite of ice cream. “Come on, let’s give your aunt her privacy, sweetie,” Willow went to put her ice cream down, but Maxim came over and picked up Dylan.

“You, little boy, need to be in bed. We have a big wrestling match to go to,” he said, moving out of the room. Alton followed him.

“Oh, I’ve started a bath for you,” Alton said glancing back at her.

“Thank you,” she got up to leave, but Tamara stepped up and hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you are my sister and well now you’re my…” Willow covered her mouth with her hand.

“You even say it, I swear, you’ll be wearing ice cream next,” she grumbled.

Lars laughed. “I’m glad you are okay and welcome to the family. Don’t let grandpas give you a hard time either,” Lars said.

“I heard that,” Alton yelled from down the hall, making her smile.

“Come on Dad, let’s give them some privacy,” Willow moved out of the room toward hers. Baal moved with her till they came to the door.

“I’ve read some of what your mother wrote about that night. I see little bits and pieces now. All of this could have been avoided if I didn’t have my head in my ass when I met her.” He sighed and smiled down at her. “But you, little girl, will not be going on those missions anymore. The things you did even has me shaking. You might be vicious, but I have a feeling you are like your mother, needing love and to be taken care of. Yes, Alton and Maxim will be a good match for you.”

“We’ll see. Do you really think your father will protect us and that we don’t have to worry?” she asked.

Baal looked to the side, then nodded. “He has given you his mark. If it’s one thing I know, my father does not lie. He’s a prick, but you’d have to be to deal with all of those degenerates that come down there. No, you are safe, princess. Go take your bath. I’ll see you in the morning.” He kissed the top of her head right before he disappeared.

“I am so going to need a long vacation,” she mumbled, and moved into her bedroom, smiling. The scent of lilacs filled the air. Flowers, lilacs and different wild ones she’d never seen before, were scattered around her room. She moved into the bathroom where candles were lit all around and a glass of wine rested on the tub which was full with bubbles and steaming warm water. “Oh, I can so get used to this,” she said stripping out of her dress and stepping into the tub, moaning.

“Oh yea,” she took a sip of the wine and groaned. “I bet it’s an expensive bottles too.” She mumbled and laid her head back, relaxing for the first time all day.

* * *

Alton nodded to Maxim, knowing their woman was soaking in the tub. Maxim sat down on the bed next to Dylan. “Do you want to tell us who your friend is?” Maxim asked, not wanting to scare the boy.

The boy glanced up at him, then at Maxim, but an old voice came out. “There is no reason to question the boy.”

“You have woken early, usually we do not see you till we reach puberty?” Alton said.

“Special circumstances. I couldn’t allow my host to be destroyed by his father.” Dylan tilted his head to the side, but the old eyes held his. “Ral, it’s been a long time. I had heard you had taken someone on Earth.” Nanra stated.

He took a deep breath and relaxed, allowing his other to rise. It had been years since it had said a word, even though when his wife had been killed neither of them had said much, just anger and emotions took over for the first two weeks afterwards. “I have been here for a while. Now, tell us about this new threat or why show yourself to us?’

“Our enemy from old has found out about our alliance with the other species. I have been told to expect the first arrival of Tarrs here on Earth in the next three Earth years. The being inside him stilled.

“What are our people doing?” he finally asked.

“I’m here and others are coming. We are now even considering the wolves as hosts. We need our warriors here to help stop this threat.”

“Wait a minute. Who are these Tarrs?” Maxim asked, looking back at him.

The beast retreated as did the one in Dylan’s body. “Come, I’ll explain later not here in front of the boy. He’s not ready for that.” Dylan’s body curled up around his stuffed dragon, sound asleep, not even aware that they were there.

Both of them moved out into the hall, but Alton was not ready to move into the bedroom. Maxim and the others needed to know the great threat coming their way. He cringed even thinking of the thought that they might need to call in Baal’s father.”

Baal appeared in the living room, as Hedrick, Gage and Lars followed them. “Tell us what these Tarrs are and how we prepare for them?” His grandson asked, as the others stood close by, listening.

“They are a species that travel from one planet to the next taking what they want. They haven’t been able to take over Miters planet yet.” Alton glanced to his side to see his son appear next to him. “You heard?”

His son nodded. “As did most of our men. Do we know if they’ll go after the humans? Do we need to warn them? If they come here, can they find the other worlds associated to Earth?” Trevor asked, not wasting time.

“Yes, they will make mincemeat out of the humans. They’ll use them as food, like their cattle.” He sent an image of the creatures to the others. “They run from six to eight feet tall, have four arms, two eyes in the front and one in back and their fangs carry a poison that would knock down an elephant.” Alton tilted his head to the side. “Ral does not know how many come. They use ships that are about the size of the human’s large cruise ships. They are advanced, but not, getting their technology from other worlds that they have destroyed.” Alton hissed and looked at Maxim, then to Baal. “They’ll use the females to breed and it’s not pretty.”

Alton sat down and glanced at his now father-in-law. “If they reach Earth, we might need help, and I’m talking your mom and father.”

Everyone in the room hissed. “You’re kidding, right?” Trevor asked.

“No, I’m not. This threat is more than a vendetta. We’re talking about this threat invading the Fae world, Baal’s world, everywhere. If they get a hold of one of our people, they’ll learn about all of the different worlds.” Alton showed them how they withdrew the information from their victims, sucking the brain matter out of the skull. “They don’t align themselves with anyone. They think they are unstoppable, even though they have not been able to penetrate our world.”

Gage frowned. “How many different worlds are there?”

Alton laughed. “Too many to count. Earth is a bump of salt in something that is much larger. Ral and his kind picked this world because it was small and wouldn’t draw their attention. Well, we were wrong.”

“I want more information on this threat before I even speak to my father or mother. I need to know how they will be coming here, when and how many. I don’t like the idea of bringing the humans in on this. They have a tendency to act rash before thinking. I take it Ral can keep us aware of what is going on?” Baal asked.

“Yes, he has contacted his homeland. When he gets more information, I’ll pass it on.” Alton tilted his head to the side, looking at Maxim, then at Hedrick and Gage. “Ral’s people would like to bring more of their beings here. They’d like to bond with the wolves to help. From what Ral is telling me, there are three high warriors that would consider it an honor if you three would allow it.”

“I will do this first, before my grandsons do this,” Maxim said. “We need to see how this affects us as a species. Do we do it now?” he asked, but already Alton knew one warrior, Bac, had entered his mate’s body.

Alton grabbed onto him, holding him down as the transition went through his body. It was a rough one, which brought a very wet Willow running out into the living room, followed by Tamara and Ana.

“What the hell is wrong?” Willow asked, holding a towel around herself.

“Go get dressed, he’ll be fine in a minute.” Alton said just as Maxim jumped up over the couch, his body shitting into something he hadn’t seen except on horror movies. Yep, it was quite a sight.

The women stepped back, except for Willow who ignored him and moved forward. “Willow!” Alton shouted, but she ignored him as she reached up and laid her hand on Maxim’s furry chest.

She was small compared to the beast that stood there at least eight feet tall, staring at her. “Maxim, are you okay?” she asked.

“Don’t think it, Bac. We don’t know if you are hers too,” Ral snapped, now moving towards their woman.

Willow looked up at him. “What do you mean? You mean your other is mine too?” her voice squeaked and Tamara laughed behind her.

“Welcome to my world. Lars’ other is also connected to me.” Tamara turned to Gage. “Are you going to go like that?”

“Yes,” he said and there was no waiting. The next being moved into Gage’s body as Maxim shifted and pulled Willow into his arms.

“I’m fine, but you were told to go put something on, please.” Maxim said, turning her around and smacking her ass. “Go,” Maxim moved to his grandson as Lars held Gage down as he too went through the merging, afraid he might hurt Tamara.

“I will expect a damn explanation for this. Four men? I don’t think so,” Tamara snapped and moved with Willow down the hall, followed by Ana who glared at Hedrick.

“Go on, do it, since it’s obvious you three didn’t even consider asking us.” Ana growled.

He glanced at Maxim and he sighed. “They’ll understand.” Maxim said as Hedrick changed next. It seemed the three warriors that were now here, were also friends with Ral.

He glanced at Baal, who shook his head. “I have enough, believe me, but thank them. I’m going to leave you to explain this to the women. Our first priority right now is to destroy the threat of Benitta. It has to be done now, so we can concentrate on this new and bigger threat. I’ll speak with you all in the morning.” He smiled as the women came in. “Good luck.”

Alton held out his hand and Willow moved to him, putting her hand into his. “This is going to be hard for you to hear, but know that Dylan is fine. Our son is protected by a very powerful warrior.”

“What?” she frowned.

“I knew the first time I touched Dylan he carried a Tarrs in him, as we all do now. But what we also found out is there is a bigger threat coming our way. That’s one of the reasons Ral’s people asked for more men to accept their gift. They want to stop this threat when it comes here.”

She shook her head. “What are you talking about? Dylan has a being living inside him?”

“Yes, he saved your son a few times from his father,” Alton said, immediately regretting it. She swayed and tears filled her eyes.

“I didn’t protect him enough?” she whispered.

“Great job,” Maxim said, and pulled Willow down in his lap. “Your son is fine and you have done everything you can to protect him. He just needed that extra protection.” Maxim placed a kiss on her cheek, hugging her.

“So what is this big threat that is coming here?” Ana asked, leaning against the wall, ignoring her mate.

“Not from this world. Think locusts, but on a very large scale. Six to eight feet tall, four arms, two eyes in the front and one it back and their fangs carry a poison that would knock down an elephant.” Alton took a seat just as Hedrick jumped across the room and lifted Ana in his arms as she started to slide down the wall.

Both Gage and Lars held onto Tamara as she stared at him. “Aliens, real life horror movie aliens are coming here?” she squeaked and looked up at Gage. “Can I have someone too?” she asked and Lars shook his head.

“No, I’m afraid only men. You carry life, but know all of us will be here to protect you and our children.” Gage said, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“
Four!
OMG,” Tamara’s gaze flew to Willow who sat up and stared at Maxim, then him.

“Really, four?” she whispered, then moaned. “That also means tighter ropes.” The three women groaned at the same time.

“Well, crap, now they’ll be on us like fly paper,” Tamara grumbled.

“Like they already aren’t?” Ana said.

Willow looked over at him. “When is this all supposed to happen?”

“From the information we have, they are expecting them to hit Earth’s orbit in two to three years,” Alton leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. “It’s getting late. We should get some rest.”

“Yes, especially since grandpa there has a wrestling match tomorrow.” Gage teased, earning a growl as he stood holding Willow in his arms.

“Keep it up and I’ll drag your butt into the ring,” Maxim grumbled.

Alton turned to his son, but he’d already left. “Seems like someone’s not too happy about you being here,” Willow sighed and laid her head against Maxim’s chest.

“My son will get over it. He needs to get his head out of his ass, as my grandson has said,” Alton grumbled and Lars laughed, moving with Tamara in his arms.

“Give him some time, Willow. He still hasn’t embraced Tamara either, but he’ll find himself alone if he keeps it up. Night folks.” Lars said as they moved back towards their room, as though nothing had happened.

“Come, it’s been a long day and I know this one needs to sleep,” Maxim said moving towards her bedroom. Both of them had already decided they wouldn’t take their claim today, but wait, giving her time to adjust to them and their touch.