"When Aiden and I were one hundred years old we were training hard at the academy where Adair could keep an eye on us. Every so often, we would get sent out on patrols to get our feet wet. One night, Aiden was doing a standard night patrol, running the perimeter when a mission came in. Instead of sending Aiden back to the academy Edward decided to use the mission to humiliate Aiden in place of his father. The other Alpha Unit members argued, but Edward pulled rank. The men did the best they could to cover Aiden since he had never been out on a mission before. But they soon realized they didn't need to. He took to it like he was born to it, maybe he was." Colton paused. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"The mission was worse than they were led to believe. The unit was up against three ferals, them banding together was unheard of back then. Jean-Marc, Edward's second in command put his foot down and insisted that Aiden stay behind and watch the horses. He didn't want him getting hurt. Edward was supposed to keep their escape route open, but he didn't. He left. Later they found out that he had gone to the local brothel. Aiden heard the men shouting and probably for the first and last time he ignored orders. He ran into the fray and covered the men as they retreated. The entire Alpha Unit was killed that night in the streets except Jean-Marc. Aiden was able to get him to the horses and strap him down. He went back down that alley three more times, fighting against all odds to retrieve the bodies of the other Alpha Unit members. He managed to get the men onto their horses and led them to where the Beta Unit was covering the perimeter of the town to ensure no ferals escaped. He was so badly beaten and bleeding so heavily they didn't think he was going to make it. It would be a couple days before he woke up. I was at his side the entire time. Before Jean-Marc passed away, I heard him report to Byron what had happened. To this day I've never seen Byron so mad. When Edward walked into the infirmary where Aiden was being treated Byron shifted into his third form and attacked. It took Beta, Delta and Gamma to pull Byron off of him."
"What's third form?" Meryn interrupted. Colton opened his eyes and looked at her.
"As a shifter we normally have two forms. Man or animal. One or the other. But in rare instances when the man and the animal are completely in sync, when both want something with the exact same levels of intensity, we're able to shift into a third form, half man, half animal. It's only happened a dozen other times in our written history."
"And Byron was able to do that?"
"Yes, which practically cemented him as an Elder until the day he dies. At the hearing Edward appealed to his men to testify on his behalf and every single unit member turned his back to him. Edward was tried by the council and found guilty. He was executed and cremated so that his body would not be buried within the city. His ashes were given to his sister, one Daphane Bowers, formerly Carthage."
"Holy shit!" Meryn gasped.
"It gets better. Daphane pushed to get her son assigned as Unit Commander, Donovan Bowers. He's actually not a bad guy, but he never wanted to be a warrior. The men refused. They said they would only take orders from Aiden. The council didn't know what to do. Aiden was so young, barely out of his teens in shifter years, though Donovan wasn't that much older."
"What did they do?" Meryn asked.
"There was nothing they could do. It wasn't that Aiden went back and fought alongside the Alpha Unit, it wasn't that he cleared a path for escape despite the overwhelming odds. It was the fact that he went back for the fallen dead, that he risked his life to bring them home, showed the men that he cared more for them than his own life. That is why his orders are never questioned and why every single active or retired unit member will always defer to him."
Meryn's heart ached for what Aiden had gone through, but more than that she felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
"Not that I don't want to learn more about Aiden, I do. It's just ..."
"Why did I tell you?"
"Hmm"
"Tonight you will see a different side of Aiden. I don't really know if I can put it into words." Colton grew silent and thought for a minute.
"Aiden commands the respect of the most powerful men in the city, but more than that he has their undying loyalty, love and trust. Nearly all of Lycaonia's unit members will be there, past, present and future, since trainees are allowed to attend in uniform. Even if he weren't Byron's heir, which is prestigious enough, their support alone makes him a voice to be heard."
"You mean in Lycaonia right?"
Colton shook his head.
"Darling, when Aiden takes over from Byron he becomes the shifter's Elder."
"Right, in Lycaonia, since there are four cities and four council members per city." Meryn said. Colton stared at her for a second.
"You don't understand. Meryn, Lycaonia is the shifter capital of the world. Byron is the shifter Elder that represents all shifters. The other three shifter Elders report to him. In Noctem Falls, the vampire city Magnus Rioux is the vampire Elder, all vampire Elders report to him. In the witch's city of Storm Keep Caiden Ironwood is the witch Elder, all witch Elders report to him and in the fae city of Éire Danu Brennus Vi'Eirlea is the fae queen's consort and fae Elder, all fae Elders report to him."
"Oh my God." The enormity of what Colton had just explained sunk in.
"Aiden commands every single unit warrior across all four cities. Right now that plays a small part in our politics, but when he takes over from Byron he will literally be the most powerful man in our world. Did you really think that an average unit member's mate would get this much protection detail?" He bumped her shoulder with his. Meryn put a hand over her stomach. So tonight was actually going to be a million times worse than she had imagined.