"Wait, Aiden McKenzie. The Aiden McKenzie? The Unit Commander?" she asked.
Meryn nodded. "Yup."
"That's crazy. Your mate is kinda like my brothers' boss."
Elizabeth turned to her. "Who are your brothers?"
"Caiden, Kyran and Tristan Ironwood. They lead the Nu, Xi, and Pi Units in Storm Keep."
"What a small world," Elizabeth murmured under her breath.
"Truly," Amelia admitted.
"Ladies, I suggest we head out. If we sit here much longer, the men will launch an all out assault on this poor shop." Rheia said standing. She gathered the bowls, including Meryn's now empty second bowl, and threw them away.
"Thanks for the escort. I heard it can sometimes take hours to get someone from the city to guide you in." Amelia stood and walked out with them.
"No worries. I mean we're heading that way anyway," Meryn said, blushing.
"Too cute!" Amelia pulled Meryn in for a hug. She pressed her cheek against hers and swayed back and forth.
"She's hugging me!" Meryn complained.
Rheia laughed. "And yet, you're not dead."
With her ears turning red, Meryn muttered, "It's not so bad."
"Somehow I knew we'd be friends," Amelia said, letting go.
Meryn looked up at her. "How'd you know?"
"I'm half witch. We get flashes of intuition."
"It was the ice cream," Rheia and Elizabeth said at the same time. The four looked at each other and started laughing.
"Okay, maybe it was the stellar ice cream choices." Amelia bumped hips with Meryn.
"Let's go introduce you to the guys," Meryn said, pulling her hand.
They looked left, then right and stepped out into the street. They had only taken a couple steps when they heard the terrified shouts from the men. When Amelia looked to her left, she saw a car heading straight toward them. Seconds later, she felt the rush of magic and a small explosion blew the hood up on the car causing it to veer to the right where it rammed into a light pole.
Beside her, Meryn's knees gave out. Amelia quickly wrapped a steadying arm around her waist to keep her upright.
"Meryn!" A deep male voice shouted.
"Rheia!"
"Beth!"
As men surrounded them, a tall figure walked past them. The man she assumed was Aiden didn't wrap an arm around Meryn to support his mate; he simply lifted her off the ground and into his arms.
A blond man was holding Rheia, and an incredibly handsome, dark-haired man checked Elizabeth over.
A fourth man, with auburn curls, took her hand. His warm, honey-colored eyes looked frantic. "Are you hurt?" he asked.
She shook her head and stared at him in shock. "Keelan?"
He frowned. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
She smiled wide. "No, but I know all about you. Your brother Kendrick is best friends with my eldest brother and my Athair."
"Amelia? You're Amelia, right?" His face broke out into a huge smile. He pulled her into a spine-cracking hug. He stepped back, still smiling. He was so warm and open, completely opposite of his brother.
Bang!
"That's me. I'm glad I got to see you on my trip. I'm only staying a night. I have a reservation with Rise and Shine in the city." Amelia couldn't believe she had almost been run over in a human city. Damn her brother with his premonitions! He could have said watch out for cars!
The auburn haired man blinked. "You're going to Lycaonia?"
"Yes, then I'll be heading home in the morning."
"It's great to meet you, though I am sorry about the circumstances."
Bang!
"Aiden, the perimeter is secure. Let's get the ladies to the SUVs and back to the Alpha estate," a sinfully gorgeous blond said, walking up from their right.
The large man cuddling Meryn looked up. "Good idea, Ben." He looked around. "Where's Darian?"
Bang!
They all turned in the direction of the loud noise. Keelan buried his face in his hands. The handsome blond began to laugh and the three men with mates looked smug. Amelia watched in amazement as the tall warrior smashed a human's face against the large stop sign.
She took a moment to appreciate that the warrior had no problem keeping the somewhat portly man in the air. But what really impressed her was the fact that he had no problem keeping the man in the air nearly three feet off the ground so that his face could connect with the stop sign.
"I'm sorry, did that hurt? Let me do it again," she heard a deep voice rumble.
Bang!
"See this sign. It is red. Red is the universal color to stop. Are you color blind? No? Well, even if you were, there are four large, bright white letters on this sign that spell out the word 'stop'. Let's go over them, shall we?"
"S." Bang!
"T." Bang!
"O." Bang!
"P." Bang!
"Oh, dear," Elizabeth said, trying to hide a grin.
"Darian, fall back," Aiden yelled across the street.
The golden warrior turned and, without looking back at the man, dropped him unceremoniously to the pavement. He walked over, checking over their group. "Is everyone unharmed?"
Amelia felt her breath catch; she recognized that voice. Looking closer, she nearly fainted when she saw his eyes. Lavender eyes. He had lavender eyes! She took in every single detail of his handsome face. A face that she had memorized in a dream so long ago.