Ana

Staring out the window, Ana was forced to focus to hear herself think. The whirling blades of the helicopter drowned out most of her thoughts, until she was shouting at herself just to be heard.

A voice came across the headset she was wearing.

“Are you sure?”

It was Ferro. She looked up at him, sitting across from her. They were currently flying over a valley between mountains covered in vibrant greenery. This was his home, she was told. Genesis Valley. It seemed appropriate by how healthy and alive the place looked. Ferro seemed to have that effect.

She nodded. “I’m positive, my love. The test I took yesterday confirmed it.”

Her mate leaned back against the padded seat wearing a serene look of happiness. At the corners of his mouth she could see them slowly tick up into a smile.

Their ride jolted suddenly.

“Apologies, folks,” came the pilot’s voice. “Little bit of turbulence. If you’ll ensure your seatbelts are buckled, we will be descending soon.”

Ana focused on Ferro, and much to her surprise found him holding tightly to the seat of his chair, knuckles turning white.

“Are you scared?” she asked in disbelief.

“I prefer to do the flying myself,” he forced out, his voice tight with nerves.

“Oh my God. This is priceless,” she guffawed, her entire body shaking until tears streamed down her face and she was struggling for breath, overwhelmed by the moment and everything associated with it.

The pilot gave her a weird look as he pulled open the door. Her face was still bright red and tears filled her eyes and tracked down her cheeks, but her shoulders were not shaking with sobs, but laughter as Ferro all but fled the helicopter in a panic.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized to the bewildered pilot, courtesy of one of the shifters they had rescued. She still couldn’t remember which one. She’d had to learn so many names lately, and they were all beginning to overwhelm her. Arralax? Radden? She gave up.

She scampered down from the helipad, heading toward a door that Ferro was holding open. They had landed on a large mansion complex, high in the mountains above a small town nestled in and amongst the trees. He had told her this was the home of the mining company that controlled most of the land around them.

“I hope you are happy,” he said with gruffness as they descended a set of stairs.

“Oh shut up,” she told him, planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

He tried to growl, but couldn’t hold back the smile on his face. “A father,” he said softly. “After all this time.”

She smiled, swelled by the absolute certainty of his desire. “It’s a miracle really,” she said. “There is no way we should have been able to tell that soon.”

Ferro shrugged. “Well, we are sort of miracles ourselves,” he answered.

Ana paused to consider that. “That’s one way of putting it,” she said, giving him a more passionate kiss.

Her mate growled, his hands picking her up as he pressed her against the concrete wall of the stairway.

“Not here,” she said, gently nibbling on his lower lip in a move that she knew drove him crazy.

“You do not make it easy, my love,” he growled, setting her down and taking a deep, calming breath. “Ready to meet even more people?” he asked.

She giggled. “Oh come on, it’ll be fine.”

Ferro had begged and pleaded to be dropped off at his bar with her. But when they had received a message from one Marcus Kedyn, co-founder of the Lionshead Mining Consortium that ran the Valley, Ana hadn’t been willing to let him say no.

“Besides, if I’m going to live here for a while, I need to know these people,” she said, dragging him along down the next flight of stairs.

Although they hadn’t discussed a permanent plan, she had been able to see that going to his home for a period of time would be the logical thing to do. She didn’t have a home to go to anyway, so there wasn’t much to keep her away.

Besides that, she wanted to meet his granddaughter. Ferro had been so relieved to find out Karlie was okay. He seemed to care about her an awful lot, and Ana was excited to see them reunited.

“Ready?” he asked, hand on the door.

Ana took a deep breath. Beyond it, she knew there would be all the people Ferro had been telling her about. His friends, and even some family. She hoped they would accept her.

Of course they will.

Her response was a single word. “Yes.”

Ferro opened the door.