"Give her some space," Meryn suggested.
"Maybe that is the best thing. She probably would not want to talk to me right now anyway." Adriel felt like his stomach was in knots.
Meryn rolled her eyes. "No, seriously, give her her own space. She's giving up like a house and a bar and stuff. Give her a place where she doesn't feel like a refugee."
"Meryn, you are a genius." Adriel felt a spurt of hope. He now had a plan of action.
"I know. It's what I do," she said matter-of-factly. Aiden stood and gently set his mate down in the chair. He cupped her face and kissed her softly. "For the sake of my heart, please, just stay down here and eat pudding."
Meryn nodded. "I'll even surround myself with pillows and soft blankets. I'll be in a safety cocoon."
"You're just going to binge watch Doctor Who and play FarmVille, aren't you?" he asked, smiling.
"You betcha. I didn't work my ass off to get Wi-Fi for nothing." Meryn rubbed her cheek against his. "Be safe."
Aiden stood. "Of course." He turned to Adriel. "Let's go."
*****
Eva walked into the large tent in the center of the hall.
"Eva!" Stefan called out.
The next thing she knew, she was swept up in a hug. Normally, she would squirm to get down, but she needed a hug after the fight with her mate. If she could call it a fight.
Stefan stepped back frowning. "What happened?"
"I heard about the murders; how's Benji?" Eva looked around.
"Mom has him. He's too little to understand what happened, but he does keep calling out for his momma." Stefan clenched his jaw. "When I find the bastard who did this, I'm going to rip them apart." Around them, the pack answered their Alpha's anger with low growls.
"Did you get a scent?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, whoever it was covered their tracks." Stefan led her to the table where other wolves were seated. Families stood crammed into the tent to discuss what had happened. She glanced back and noticed that Micah stayed in the background near the entrance. He nodded at her, letting her know he was sticking around.
"We have to do something; we're sitting ducks out here. They'll just pick us off one by one," a woman called from the crowd.
"It's not like we can leave either. One: we can't float outta here. And two: we'd have ferals on our asses the second we hit open desert," another male yelled.
Eva climbed on to a long bench. "They are making plans to get us into real housing. I was there last night when they were going over what problems had to be addressed first, so was Stefan. The unit witches will be working almost around the clock to carve houses out of the rock. It will get everyone out of the Grand Hall and into homes."
"Of course you'd say that, Eva; you're one of them now," a male called out.
Eva looked out over the crowd. "Was that Wade? Wade get your skinny ass up here!"
A tall lanky man came forward and was pushed until he reached the small opening at the front of the room. "What?" he asked defiantly.
"I babysat your pups when you got so drunk you were dry humping your mailbox when your mate was out of town visiting her sister." Eva stuck her finger right in his face.
He turned beet red as a female voice was heard above the crowd. "He did what?"
Eva looked around the room. "I've watched all y'all's kids, even Benji." The crowd quieted down in a respectful hush. "I'm the same person I was then, I'm just mated, that's all."
"To a vampire!" a woman yelled.
Eva rounded on the woman; she was Wade's mate. "At least my mate didn't try to fuck my fish shaped mailbox, Loradean, so don't get pissy with me because you found out that Wade did something stupid. Again. We all know it's part of his charm." Wade shot her a grateful look. Around them, folks started to chuckle.
"My mate is a good man. He's smart and loyal, and he cares too damn much about everything. Even now, I bet he's worried sick that he missed something that could have prevented this. But more than anything, he's fair. It makes no nevermind to him that we're shifters; he cares for each life equally." Eva stopped. Which meant he didn't see her any differently for being a refugee.
Well, damn.
"Like Fate would give Eva anything less than Prince Charming? If her mate wasn't on the up and up, y'all know she'd be the first one to put a boot in his ass," Josie yelled, her hands on her hips. Everyone was nodding now and smiling.
Stefan walked over. "What? You look like you just got smacked up side the head with a two by four."
"I gotta go. I've done fucked up, and I gotta say I'm sorry." Eva ran her hands over her face. She hopped down off the bench.
She felt a hand on her shoulder; Stefan grinned down at her. "He's got you running in circles; I think I may end up liking him after all."
"Thanks, Alpha. All right mutts, let me through. I gotta go find my mate." Eva squeezed between people heading to the exit.
"Give 'em hell, Eva Mae!"
"Tell that vampire prince we're not freeloaders, Eva. We can help."
"I'll do that!" Eva promised.
When she got to the exit, Micah smiled and held out his hand. "Ready?"
"Let's go!"
*****
Adriel felt impatient as everyone got settled. Magnus had called an emergency meeting with the Eta Unit along with Aiden, Gavriel, and Beth to discuss the murders.