"Do they do this kind of thing every day?" Beth asked.
Rheia frowned. "I hope not, that kinda of jolt could cause brain damage."
They all looked at each other and sighed.
Rheia shook her head, this was her life now and she wouldn't change it for anything. The only thing that was missing was her daughter.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Rheia sat with Meryn and Beth in Aiden's office as they worked with Noah and Jaxon. She stared at Penny's drawing and smiled. Her eyes wandered over each face until she noticed something odd. One face wasn't smiling back at her, in fact it looked downright terrifying. She realized she was looking at Penny's nightmare, the scary man that haunted her dreams. The dark figure was outside the house by the window looking in. Rheia shuddered and fought back the urge to paint over the dark figure. If this is was what Penny needed to do to face her fears, she couldn't undo it. She still couldn't shake the image from her mind. Her daughter was very talented.
"Ladies, gentlemen, dinner is ready," Ryuu announced from the doorway.
"Come on, Rheia, Ryuu's pot roast is amazing," Meryn said walking up behind her chair. Rheia stood and walked out with Meryn. On the way to the dining room they passed another group of men.
"Hey, Lennox, what's shaking?" Meryn asked one of the men.
Lennox turned and smiled at them before bumping fists with Noah and Jaxon. "Good evening, Lady McKenzie. We finished dinner about an hour ago. Ryuu made us chicken Alfredo. We've been hanging out in the family room playing on the X-Box since ours isn't hooked up yet. We're about to head back to the barracks to unpack some more. Lord Ambrosios really went all out for us, the new addition looks like a five star hotel."
Meryn blinked. "Who?"
Beth laughed. "Gavriel."
Meryn grinned. "Oh yeah, I knew that. Lord Ambrosios sounds so swanky. Anyway, I'm glad you like your new digs. I didn't want you guys think we were kicking you out."
The other guys shook their heads. "Lennox is right, that place feels like a spa hotel, we've never had it so good." The smaller of the men smiled.
"That's good to hear, Basil. I'll pass along your thanks to my mate," Beth said, then turned to Rheia. "These gentlemen are the Alpha Unit's trainees. You haven't seen them much since they were helping out with construction. From left to right we have Kai Anders, tiger shifter. Cedric Ri'Emere, fae. Basil Barberry, witch and the charming one is Lennox Chevalier, vampire."
Rheia nodded to the trainees.
Basil stepped forward his face serious. "We heard about your daughter, if you need us to do anything to help, just let us know. We got to know her when she helped out with our drills I think we all fell a bit in love with the tiny angel."
Rheia blinked. "When did she help out with drills?"
Basil paled and turned to Lennox, their unofficial leader. Lennox smiled wide. "On that note, we're heading out. Goodnight, ladies."
The trainees didn't waste any time rushing out the door.
Rheia looked at Beth then Meryn. "They probably just meant that she got their water or something like that right?"
Meryn and Beth nodded. "Absolutely," Beth assured her.
Together they entered the dining room and the men stood. Rheia sat next to Colton. The look he gave her told her that he missed having Penny between them at meal times, too. Taking a deep breath she reached for his hand. His thumb slowly rubbed back and forth on the back of her hand.
As Ryuu served their dinner, she turned to Colton. "When did Penny help out with drills?"
Colton choked on the wine he was sipping as did Aiden. Colton turned to her smiling weakly. "Do you remember when I said I'd tell you later?"
"What did you have her do?"
"Just ring bells, that's all, baby." Colton said squeezing her hand.
"That's it?" Rheia asked. She knew there had to be more to the story since both men were sweating bullets.
"Yup, she used her ninja like skills to sneak past the different units and ring their bell tower bells. It helped the men look for an unseen enemy. She was amazing." Colton's face shone with pride.
"At least you didn't try to teach her how to shoot. I had to put my foot down with Radek over that one." Rheia picked up her fork and pushed her food around.
"I seriously need to call and ask him what in the hell he taught my daughter," Colton growled.
Rheia smiled. "It wasn't just Radek. Levi, Dax, Marco and Athan would show her things as well. I never knew what I would walk in on next. I remember one day I thought Athan was teaching her about the different parts of the body and how they worked. The more I listened, I realized he was showing her kill zones that had major arteries. It'll be a miracle if she turns out half normal."
Colton was about to respond when they heard a loud banging on the door. The men jumped to their feet and hurried to the front door. Aiden swung it open and Sascha rushed in cradling Penny. Behind him Quinn and Oron ushered in an older couple.
"Penny!" Rheia exclaimed and pulled her daughter out of the large, white haired shifter's arms.
"Sascha, report!" Aiden barked.
Sascha turned to Aiden. "After drills today we relieved Beta and took over guard duty. Thirty minutes ago we heard screams and breaking glass. When we entered the home the ferals were being held at bay by a flickering wall of light. We dispatched those ferals and chased off the survivors. We called in Beta to track them and brought Penny and the Carmichaels here."