Chapter Seventeen

 

“Take a seat.” Declyn was in the kitchen waiting for her. He placed a plate in front of her.

“You made me chicken salad.”

“Do you like chicken?”

“I do.” She picked at the lettuce.

“But you’re not eating.”

“Sorry, I’m not very hungry.”

“You have to eat Alpia. We don’t know what’s coming next and you have to keep your strength up.” He pulled her chair close to his before he picked up her fork. “Take a bite.”

She opened taking the bite he offered one after the other until she couldn’t take another one.

“I’m full.”

He looked down at her plate she hadn’t eaten half, but he shook his head.

“I think we should talk about what’s happening.”

“Let’s talk about how I’m evil.”

“You’re not evil.”

“How do you know?”

“I wouldn’t be attracted to you if you were evil.”

“Thanks, I was hoping for something a little more concrete.”

“Tell me about your dreams?”

“Some people say they go places. They call them out of body experiences or dreams. They go to places they never been to before they see things that are impossible for them to know.”

“Do you believe them?”

“I never really spent any time thinking about it before. I was always to wrapped up in my own world.”

“What if they’re telling the truth? Does that make them evil? Could it be as simple as they can access a part of the human mind that others can’t?”

“Why wouldn’t the rest of us be able to do the same thing?”

“Maybe you’re to wrapped up in your own world. Or maybe you weren’t meant to be a rocket scientist and no matter how much you study, the formula’s and theories go over your head. Then maybe you grasp the formula’s, but to you, that’s all they will ever be. The same way another person picks up a pencil or a paint brush but never gets beyond a tree.”

“I understand but how does this affect me?”

“I want to talk about your paintings.”

She nodded, but her shoulders dropped as she waited to hear what he said. He reached over picked her up and moved them to the couch.

“Safire. You need to hear this because you need to know this. I love your paintings, but they are real planets and real natives of those planets.”

“I’m not human.”

There was a knock at the door, and Cait walked in.

“Hi, can I come in.”

“Come in.” she gave Cait a smile and waited for her to take a seat.

“Tristan would have come, but Jade isn’t feeling well, so he went to check in on her.”

Declyn raised his head, his eyes were piercing her.

“Alpha, we just found out. Neither of us thinks it is serious but as soon as we know, we will let you know.”

He nodded, and she turned her attention to Safire.

“I was asked to look over your blood work as well as the DNA we took from you. I was able to compare it to the known DNA base of several million humans. You hit every marker as being human.”

“I did?” Her voice was a little shaky, and her eyes were bright as she stared at Cait.

“You did. You’re as human as the next person.”

“Thank you. For a minute, I was beginning to believe I was something other than human.”

She hugged her tight. “Hugging the doctor probably isn't the right thing to do, but I’m so relieved.”

“I’m going to check on Jade. Have a nice day.”

“What are we going to do today?”

“Pull up the carpet.”

She groaned. “Hey, at least we have help.”

“We do?”

There was a knock on the door. “It’s open.”

Caden and Xander walked through the door followed by Enzo, Ven, and Cole.

“We heard someone wants to get rid of the carpet.” Xander flashed her a smile.

“You heard right. Where do we start?”

“You start out back.” Declyn pulled her to him kissing her and then directing her to the back door.

“Deja, Jessie.” She waved as she walked outside. “What are you doing?”

“Cooking out. The guys usually do it, but since they are working, we get to show them our grilling skills.” Deja was throwing Mia up in the air who was squealing.

“We need to start the grill.”

“I’m on it.”

“Jessie, what are you looking at?”

“I’ve been thinking of going to school for nursing. The community college has an LPN program.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” She placed the charcoal on the grill.

“You think so?”

“I do. Tristan and Cait are excellent doctors from what I can tell, but if there are going to be more human females coming in, it will put them at ease to know a human is also taking care of them.”

“Is that some sort of speciesism?”

“No. I think it’s rather normal. Yes, I know there’s a fine line in what I’m saying. I think it would make people feel better initially to know that someone from the same planet was also in the room. Not because they are bigots or any other thing but as we know from the things we have all gone through on Earth that some of us have problems dealing with beings different from ourselves.”

“How did you handle knowing that Declyn was an alien?”

“It phased me, but maybe not as much as another person. I’ve always believed that there is life on other planets, so I wasn’t taken by surprise.”

“I always thought it was more of a theory than a reality.”

“I guess I see things differently. Deja, are you ready for me to light this?”

“Not yet. Safire, would you be willing to go to the store?”

“Of course, what do you need?”

“Jade picked up a common cold, but somehow she gave it to her father. In him, it’s acting more like the flu. Cait needs to call a prescription in but can’t call it in under their names. Can she call it in under yours?”

“Yes. We’re going to have to work on this. Do you need anything else?”

“I do. Let get me get a list together.”

“You do that I’m going to talk to Mia.”

“Hi, baby girl.” She sat down in the grass next to her. “What are you thinking about?”

“The bad thing.”

“What bad thing?”

“The shadow.”

“Does the shadow bother you?”

She shook her head. “It’s scared of my daddy.”

“I’d be scared of your daddy too.” She gave an exaggerated shudder making Mia laugh.

“If you ever get scared you make sure you tell your daddy.”

“I will.” Mia gave her that wicked smile before she dived at her. They were rolling around in the grass laughing.

“Alright monkey, Ms. Safire has to go to the store.”

“Bye, Ms. Alpha.”

“Later sweet pea.” She walked over to Deja. “I want a baby. Don’t say anything.”

“Not saying a word. She will make you want to a have a little girl just like her. Here’s the list. Thanks for going to the store.”

“No problem, I’ll be back soon.”

She went down the side of the house and stood outside wondering if she should let Declyn know where she was going. What harm could running to the store cause? A quick look in the garage showed her that her car was parked like she had never moved it. Her purse and her keys were in there, so there was no need to go inside.

This is a mistake.

She knows it’s a mistake, but she’s determined to do it.

Why, Fire, why?

Because she couldn’t live in fear that’s why. She had to stand up for herself and the other people in the world like her. If she caved in, then what chance did they have?

That’s nice, a lofty goal, but what chance do they have if you're dead?

Let’s stop, turn around, and take Declyn with us.

Stop acting like your scared it’s just the store. It’s not that far away. We’ll be there and back before you know it.

We are scared.

I hate to say it, but fear might have a point this time. We should take our mate with us.

She slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of her that stopped for a red light. Alien that lives in my head said what?

He’s our mate. You have got to realize that by now? How can you accept aliens and not accept that he’s your mate when you sleep naked in his arms?

I was wearing a bra and panties!

She’s reaching.

She’ll get there give her time.

If she survives going to the store on her own.

You can all shut up we made it to the store in one piece. How could he be her mate? She had been attracted to him from the first moment she met him, but that didn’t mean anything. No, she felt no desire to leave him, but it wasn’t like they had been together that long.

He was tearing up all the carpet in his house for her. That stuff was horrible he should have done it even if she wasn’t there. There was a possibility he cared. Okay, more than a possibility and she should have told him where she was going. If freedom meant walking out the house when you knew people were after you, she wasn’t that interested.

She got the prescription from the pharmacy and called her mate. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Fire where are you.”

“Hello wolf, I’m at the store I came to pick up a prescription for Amira and Lazzar. I’m sorry I should have told you.”

“I’m coming to meet you there.”

“You don’t have to. I’m picking up a few last-minute things for Deja, and then I’ll be home.”

“I’ll meet you at your car then follow you back.”

“Alright, I’ll be sitting in the car waiting for you.”

“Fire don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t, and I’m really sorry.”

“See you in a few.”

She hung up and grabbed the hot dogs according to Deja both the girls really liked them. Then she backtracked and grabbed some steaks and ice cream because it couldn’t be a party without those two things.

“Looks like your grilling out.”

She gave the cashier a friendly smile. “I am. My guy and a couple of friends are going to make a day of it.”

“I like those kinds of days. What’s even better is you look happy.”

Her eyes got wider before she smiled even brighter. “I am. You have a nice day.”

She got into the car rolled the window down and opened one of the Klondike’s that she bought.