"Colton!" Rheia ran in front of him and held her arms out. "Give me my daughter," she said in a dangerous voice.
"Sure. I just figured you must be exhausted from driving all night, I was trying to help," he carefully placed Penny in her mother's arms. "If you only accept one thing right away and without question, let it be this. There is nothing I wouldn't do for her. In my heart she is the same as my own flesh and blood, I would die for her, for both of you." He hated the indecision and pain he saw on her face. Smiling he reached out and thumped his mate between the eyes. He winked at her stunned expression.
Slowly her features began to relax. "Just give me time. I lost my home today. I don't know if my brothers are alive. I met you and the whole world turned upside down. She's all I have," Rheia said gripping Penny tight.
"You have me now. Oh, and them." Colton jerked his thumb behind him where nearly thirty men began to look anywhere but at them, trying to appear busy.
"I feel better already," she joked. The men smiled.
"Come on, prickly pear, I'll introduce you to your housemates and then we can go to bed."
Rheia stumbled at his words and he caught her elbow to keep her upright and from dropping Penny.
"I'm not going to bed with you," she protested.
Colton rubbed his chin. "I bet you will. What do you think, Penny?"
Penny held out her hand and gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh Penny, you don't know what he's saying." Rheia walked past him into the house. Colton closed the door behind them.
"Maybe she does," Colton said and looked around. "I know it's early, but are Meryn and Beth up yet?"
Gavriel nodded and Aiden exhaled. "Meryn will be down in a few minutes. She said that it's too early to be alive, but she wanted to meet Lycaonia's newest citizen, I think she's been getting bored."
The men shuddered.
Ryuu walked in from the dining room and bowed to Rheia. "My lady. My name is Ryuu, I am the squire for this home. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to bring it to my attention." He turned to Penny, his face softening considerably. "And who is this treasure?"
Penny hid her face in Rheia's neck; she peeked out, staring at Ryuu with one bright green eye.
Rheia rubbed the girl's back. "My name is Rheia Bradley, this is my daughter Penny."
Ryuu placed a white gloved hand over his heart and bowed to the little girl. Penny wiggled her fingers at him. Colton was surprised to see Ryuu in Western style dress; he had come to associate the squire with the traditional Japanese style clothing he normally wore. It was a shock to see him looking like a turn of the century Victorian butler.
Behind them, Beth and Meryn walked down the stairs arm and arm. Beth looked immaculate as usual, her blonde hair in a braided up-do. Today she wore a charcoal grey business suit. Beside her Meryn couldn't look more like Beth's opposite if she tried. Her short brown hair was sticking up in every direction, in what she called her "wild" look. Colton thought it was perfect for her. As usual, she was in jeans and today's tee-shirt had a large blue box on it. Though awake, Meryn looked disgruntled and angry. Yawning, she stomped down each step, whereas Beth glided down gracefully. Beth stopped and eyed Ryuu's attire with a curious expression on her face before turning to Rheia.
"Rheia, we heard your introduction to Ryuu as we were walking down. Welcome to the Alpha estate. My name is Elizabeth Monroe and this is Meryn McKenzie," Beth greeted his mate cordially. "Your daughter is beautiful." Beth's smile was kind as she waved at Penny.
Penny however was staring at Meryn who was swaying slightly beside Beth and blinking drowsily. Meryn looked over, caught Penny staring and began to stare back. With their eyes locked neither one of them looked away. As the silence grew, everyone began to look around uncomfortably. Finally, Penny extended her arm. She pointed to Meryn's shirt and gave a thumbs up.
Meryn's eyebrows shot up and she smiled. It was rare to see Meryn smiling before coffee. Colton noticed Keelan was edging behind Darian nervously. It was no secret that Meryn before coffee scared the poor witch to death.
"Cool kid. Come here, brat." Meryn simply plucked Penny from Rheia's arms and started walking towards the dining room. "I'm hungry and I know my squire has food somewhere. Speaking of which..." She stopped, then turned to look behind her and tilted her head. "Yup, I was right. Ryuu, you do have a great ass." Without saying another word, she went into the dining room. Aiden was sputtering and growling like a bear with a thorn in its paw as he followed her.
"Who is that strange woman who has my child?" Rheia asked turning to Colton, her eyes a bit wild.
"That's Meryn, she's Aiden's mate," Colton explained.
"The one that set the car on fire?"
Everyone nodded.
Rheia turned and hurried into the dining room.
Colton looked around fighting to keep a grin off his face. "So. Who's hungry?" He threaded his fingers behind his head and walked into the dining room whistling.
*****
Rheia's hands itched to take Penny away from the odd, short woman, but Penny looked perfectly content sitting on her lap looking at the woman's shirt. Trust her daughter to find another Whovian in the house. She had no one to blame but herself; she had indoctrinated Penny into the fascinating world of Doctor Who when she was desperate to find something the child liked. She stumbled across an old DVD one day and Penny was hooked.