Chapter Thirteen

They were sitting in Declyn and Safire’s living room; Fire insisted.

“This is beautiful” Sage was looking around a bit awestruck the difference of just this room to the apartments they used to live in was incredible

The room was large and comfortable. They had gone with wood floors with some well-placed rugs to give it that comfy feel. The furniture was big and soft. It made her want to curl up in a ball and stay a while. The walls were painted the lightest of blue that enhanced but didn’t overwhelm the room. The best part of the room was that everyone looked comfortable, and they looked like a family.

“Someone has great taste.” She smiled at Fire.

“Thanks, Declyn let me go wild and do anything I wanted, and this was the result.”

She cut her eyes at Declyn, he stayed silent, but he wore a smile that said it all.

“Alright,” Fire stood up. “We have a problem. I have no idea how or when it started. Anyone have any thoughts?”

Deja stood after Fire sat, she didn’t say anything, but she was staring at Cait. Breaking eye contact, she started to pace while everyone stared at her.

“I have a thought.” Deja shrugged loosening the tension in her shoulders. “When I first stumbled onto this compound the world seemed normal. Drug dealers, prostitutes, people going to work every day. Everyone was still falling in love, getting married, having children, and then there were those that were doing things we never thought of like making pacts with the devil, etc.”

She walked over to the window and looked out. “The world was as it should be or at least as we have come to know it. Then I turned into a dragon? I think it is some kind of dragon hybrid. What if the world changed when I did?” She went and sat down by Enzo, who immediately started running his hand over her back trying to comfort her.

“Don’t get me wrong I’m all for letting Deja take the blame for whatever is happening in our world, but I think that by placing blame, we are missing the bigger picture.” Cait flashed Deja a smile before she rolled her eyes at her. Deja taught her how to do that.

“Then what do you think is happening?” Declyn asked her.

“Alpha, I know you want my theory, but I still need to wait for confirmation. Having said that I can tell you this, we are the catalyst for what is happening. I’m sure most you have figured that out by now. Here’s what we don’t know. Why? What is it about us that caused this to happen? Will it only happen with females or if a male walks into our compound will it happen with him?”

“How many of our females are unmated? I only met Minx.” Jessie looked at Declyn.

“She is the only unmated female in our compound,” was his reply.

“Why? She’s nice and attractive, no one male was interested in her?” Fire asked him.

“She keeps to herself. I doubt many males have gotten close enough to her to think about her being their mate.”

“I have a different question. If this is happening here, is it happening in the Thalian compound?” Deja looked around the room as she spoke.

The Thalians were the other group of aliens that crashed landed on the Earth when they did. They had been in a battle when their ship passed through some kind of rift in space that brought them here. It was their final battle with the Thalians that caused Deja’s first change. Now they had taken care of their issues, but with everything happening in their compound, they had little time to see what the others were up to.

“That’s a good question I will send an emissary to them for an exchange of information. Anything they know could be useful.”

“This is all good but what about the shadow things? What are they? Why are they targeting me? How do we kill them?” Sage was tired, it was in her voice for all to hear.

“Jasper and I have been working on this.” Chase gave Sage a smile. “We came up with three theories. One, they are native to Earth like the humans and have either been dormant or staying low key.”

“Two,” Jasper picked up. “They are aliens that have recently come to the Earth, or three. They are aliens that have been on the Earth for years but were dormant.”

“Four,” Sage said her frustration getting the better of her. “My ex-wants to sacrifice me. Sacrifice that means tying me down to some insane circle and making me hurt until I’m too dead to feel anything. So, excuse me if the talk of theories and whether the aliens are natural to Earth or from outer space doesn’t exactly thrill me.”

Jasper went to reply, but Caden was up and shaking his head. Jasper sat in his chair with hooded eyes.

“Sage is right. We need to solve the problem at hand before we can solve the overarching problem.”

Caden was standing next to Sage asking her with his body and his eyes what she wanted to do next.

She pulled at a strand of her red hair watching as the curl in it straightened all the way out and bounced back after she let it go.

“We’re mated,” she said softly as if it was finally beginning to sink in.

“We are.”

“I should go home with you.” Being with him would be her new home if he wanted her. What if he only mated her to save her life because he thought no one else would ever want him?

Her eyes jerked away from his. What if he was only being polite? Maybe this mating thing can be undone. He could have anyone, but he settled for her.

Caden took a step backward when she refused to look at him any longer. He should have known better. Why would such a beautiful female want to be stuck with him?

“If you want to leave, I can’t stop you, but I can’t guarantee I won’t follow you.”

She stood up; his standing over her was making her feel small. When she looked around the room, she realized everyone was focused on her and Caden even though they weren’t looking at them.

“Can we go outside?” He nodded and led her to the door.

He started walking, and she followed him until they stopped at a house with a beautiful porch.

“Xander and I live here. The house next to ours is Cole’s, and Jessie’s, and their daughter Mia.”

She climbed the steps and sat on the top one. “I love your porch it’s so big.”

“Thanks, as twins we thought we would need a bigger more structured house to live in. That combined with the fact that we never had privacy in our previous life became the plan for our house.”

She swept her hair to the side and laid back on the porch. “What are we going to do?”

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. They needed to decide how they were going to proceed with each other and with the situation, they found themselves in.

“I want you to live with me. We can take each day and make decisions as the need arises. You’re my mate, and I didn’t ask you to become that just save your life. I asked because already I can’t imagine my life without you. I love your smiles, and your tears and sadness make me want to hurt whoever hurt you. I want to see you happy and feel your hands on me. Is it too soon to do that?”

“You're serious, aren’t you?” How could this have happened? She was so sure that her life was over and then out of nowhere Caden showed up. He took care of her when she was sick. That one would always have the power to overwhelm her. The only person who ever took care of her was her mom, and now that she was gone, she assumed that experience would forever be denied her.

“I’m serious Sageray.”

“Sageray?”

“There is a rift in space that they call the Sageray. It is black and deep from what we learned, and no one gets too close to it. Twice a year that rift is filled with multicolored rays. I still remember my first time seeing it. I have never seen anything more beautiful until I saw you.”

And tha’st why he already had her heart. She lifted a hand to wipe at an errant tear. Everything she went through the last two years filled her mind, there were warnings, reminders to take it slow, and she pushed it all away.

Life was short, and she knew it better than most. She wouldn’t waste it pondering on things like what was love. Instead, she would revel in the fact that he made her heart beat fast, and she was wet and feeling needy. Yep, she was going to do the one day at a time thing, but that was what her life was about. She wanted to live every day to the fullest because she understood that tomorrow wasn’t promised to her.

“Let’s take it a day at a time and see what happens between us.”

“Would you like to come inside?”

“Yes.” He held out a hand for her which she took. They walked inside the house.

The door was large enough for several people to fit through. The living room was huge. If they both had mates and children, this room would fit everyone comfortably. She glanced at Caden but didn’t comment. The room screamed he had planned for more than him and Xander.

“Not a lot of furniture in here.”

“Xander and I don’t need much.” He took her hand and led her to the kitchen.

This was his room. She knew it the minute she walked in. The kitchen was situated so that every move would be efficient. It was designed with a black-and-white theme, there were hints of the lightest purple to give it color. The room felt masculine, but it also felt alien at the same time.

“Do you and Xander share the same favorite colors?”

“Black and purple. Did you know that purple is an Earth color, I never saw it before I came here?”

“Really?” She turned to look at him, but he wasn’t smiling like it was a joke.

“Really. The first time we saw the color we were both floored by how vibrant it could be or how dark.”

“What color do you like?”

The question made her stop to think. There was a time she was sure red was her favorite color then she changed it to be blue. It might have stayed that way, but Jim ruined the color for her.

“Orange, I know it’s a little bright, but when you see the sun rise or set, and the sky is painted with different shades of orange. It takes my breath away.”

He was staring at her again. His eyes were looking at her lips as they spoke to him. The more he stared, the more her nipples harden and her pussy flooded with warmth. They were just getting to know each other, she couldn’t want him this bad.

“I want to kiss you.”