Page 442 of Flirting with Darkness

Caleb tugged on my fingers. “Mom, can we eat dinner before we go?”

“Sorry, cub, but we have to go pick up things for dinner at home.”

He huffed loudly, hung his head, and shuffled to the dining room to say bye to everyone.

“You sure it’s a good idea to send someone as powerful as him to a school with humans?” Ezio asked as he stepped around the corner and into view.

I gave him a quick hug. “Would he be better off going to school here when he’s not just a werewolf?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I didn’t say I had the answer, just wondering if putting him around humans is going to be a good thing.”

I sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know, but he has a good heart and he doesn’t like to hurt people, so I think it should be fine.”

“Are you increasing security?” he asked.

I nodded. With sending a royal to the public school, it was a higher likelihood that someone might try to kidnap him or use the other kids as hostages to get our attention.

“I’d like to get that assignment,” he said. “I’ll talk to Dan.”

“You want to be a guard at the school?” I asked, eyes wide.

He smirked. “You know that I love kids and with an alpha of his stature there, it will be necessary to have another strong alpha nearby in case things get out of hand.”

Having a strong alpha at the schoolwouldbe necessary when dealing with children who were also alphas. I had considered that but hadn’t really thought about how adding Caleb to that mix would go.

“It would make me feel better to know that you’re there,” I admitted.

After saying our goodbyes and getting the items we needed from the grocery store, Caleb and I returned home to find Rhys, Foxfire, and Deryn sparring on the lawn.

Caleb gleefully ran into the middle of the fray, jumping onto Rhys’s back before launching himself at Foxfire, his little hands transforming into wolf paws with claws extended.

Most mothers would have been nervous about a small child fighting with three alphas, but Caleb had been sparring with them since he could walk.

“I’m going to start dinner!” I called out as I left them to their sparring.

“Barrier breach!” Nico yelled as he walked out of the house, his staff in his hand.

I dropped the bags of groceries on the doorstep, forced scales over my vital parts, and ran to Caleb who was being held by Rhys.

“Mom?” Caleb asked.

“It’s okay,” I said reassuringly. “Your daddies will take care of whoever it is.”

“I highly doubt that,” a deep voice said from behind me.

3

My body felt like it was stuck in a high gravity machine. Every part of my body felt heavy and unmovable. It was a wonder I was able to stay standing at all.

Caleb’s eyes widened and had I been able to move, I would have spewed flames at the mystery man who stepped in front of me and took Caleb right out of Rhys’s arms.

“Come, little abomination, I have a much better home for you than these troglodytes could ever provide,” he said. He cradled Caleb against his chest gently, pressed his fingers to his head, and used a spell to put him to sleep. The man wore plain jeans and t-shirt, his dark hair combed back and beard neatly trimmed. He was so plain looking that he could blend into any crowd and disappear in minutes. Power shimmered around him, but I couldn’t tell how powerful he was while frozen in his spell. He looked into my eyes and said, “Don’t worry, I have no intention of harming him. He’s going to be raised with others of his kind, the way he should have been.”

He patted my cheek, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

As soon as he disappeared, the pressure disappeared as well, and I screamed as I fell to my knees.

All four of my mates pulled out their cell phones and started making calls.

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