*****
While they finished packing Aiden called his mother and let her know what had happened. She promised to make dinner extra special for both Byron and Meryn.
"What's next Commander?" Colton asked.
"Call Lorcan, tell him I'm pulling Alpha out of rotation. Until we catch this fucker you guys are assigned guard duty at my parents' house. I'm not letting Meryn out of my sight."
Meryn tried to hide her sigh of relief. It wasn't that she didn't think she'd be safe with Adelaide and Byron, she just felt better knowing that Aiden would be there too.
"Roger that, be right back." Colton was pulling out his cell phone as he walked out the door.
Aiden turned to Meryn.
"Everything packed?"
"Yup, Darian and Keelan took the last of the boxes down and Gavriel volunteered to speak to my landlord about my lease."
Aiden smirked. "I bet he did. Come on, let's go make sure the guys aren't causing trouble."
Meryn didn't wait for him to take her hand, she latched on to his arm instead. She wasn't sorry to see the last of the apartment. She knew it wasn't in a good part of town but it was the only place that didn't have a waiting list. When they passed the rental office Meryn peeked inside and saw that Gavriel had the slimy-looking landlord up against the wall.
"And you will replace the front door and make sure that the foyer is well lit, won't you?" Gavriel's tone was pleasant but the man in front of him was sweating bullets. Keelan watched, amused. Every time the landlord looked in his direction Keelan would wave his hand and the trio of rats at his feet would hiss at the slumlord.
"Enough fun guys, time to move out." Aiden barked. Gavriel and Keelan turned in unison and joined them. Outside Colton and Darian had two men pinned against their SUV. Aiden sighed.
"I swear I can't take them anywhere."
"When we got here they had taken the tires off your car Aiden, I think Darian and Colton were just making sure that everything was good to go." Keelan said. Aiden's dark gaze turned to the two men. He stalked over and stood behind Colton.
"See, you didn't move quickly enough, our boss here has noticed what you've done. We tried to warn you buddy." Colton spread his hands as if giving up.
"No, please! We're sorry! We put them back! We put them back!" The larger of the two men babbled.
"Run." Aiden's harsh tone made both men flinch. They stared at him in terror.
"I said run! If you look back, I'll be the one right behind you!" Aiden growled. Both men screamed and took off.
Meryn walked over to stand beside the men.
"You're all little boys. Every single one of you." She nudged the back of Aiden's knee with her foot laughing when his leg collapsed causing him to wobble.
"Those men deserved worse. Maybe they'll think twice before doing such wicked things again." Gavriel's tone was cordial.
"Move out!" Aiden barked and the men moved to their car. Aiden held the door open for her and she got in. Two days. Her life had been completely changed in just two short days. She shook her head and tried not to think about it. She was having more fun now than she had in years. She glanced over at Aiden. She had never been in love before, but so far it was a wonderful feeling. Growing up, she and learned to rely on herself. Having people take care of her was something new. Grudgingly, she was being forced to open her tiny bubble and let others in. That was more terrifying than falling in love.
"Whatever it is, quit thinking about it so hard. What will happen, will happen." Aiden's voice startled her out of her anxiety spiral.
"What if I'm scared about what will happen?" She whispered.
"Tell me what scares you and I'll kill it." Aiden shrugged. Meryn shook her head; of course the arrogant bastard wouldn't dream that she was scared about her future with him.
"Why are you so confident about us? Do mates ever get divorced?" She watched his face carefully. She was beginning to like his frowny face. If that wasn't love, what was?
"No. Once we find our destined mates, we are with them for life."
"How do you know that we're destined mates? Maybe you just like my perfume." Meryn didn't know why she was fighting this so hard. Given what she had been told about paranormals she knew Aiden was her mate. But, it was difficult to believe that he blindly accepted her because of Fate and not because he desired her.
"You don't wear perfume." Aiden's simple reply made her want to beat her head against the dash. She turned and stared out the window, silent.
After a few minutes she watched as the car Colton was driving turned to head towards Aiden's parent's house. Their car veered off to the right. Aiden pulled over to the side of the road. The tree branches overhead extended out over the road creating a fall-colored canopy in reds, oranges and yellows.