Groose picked a chair in the hotel lobby near the front door to wait for Logan’s guest. Glancing at the private elevator, he gave a brief nod to his men standing guard there before resuming his surveillance of the arriving guests.
Pulling up to the elegant hotel where the Shaman was staying, Brian grimaced at his choice of clothes—well-worn jeans, slightly faded t-shirt and a pair of ‘had-seen-better-days’ boat shoes. Shrugging his shoulders—it was too late to worry about it now—he got out, handing the keys to the doorman and entered the lobby.
Groose rose, locking his eyes on the sea serpent. When Logan told him who Brian was, he nearly choked on hiscoffee.The friggin’ Loch Ness Monster?Was he for real?He’d heard the stories but just chalked them up to more human tales of things that go bump in the night. But Logan assured him it wasn’t fiction and now he was going to come face-to-face with him.
Brian stopped, looking around for the front desk, and, just as he spotted it, someone approached him—a shifter. Pretty sure the wolf was connected to the Blackwood Pack, Brian smiled, “Hello.”
“Hey, are you Brian?” asked Groose.
“Ay, that’s me.”
“Pleased to meet you. Logan sent me to bring you up to see Kieran,” Groose said.
“Aahh, the Shaman. Thanks, and ye are…?” asked Brian.
“Groose. I’m the Blackwood Pack’s head enforcer,” he said, waving his hand in the direction of the private elevator. “Please follow me and I’ll take you to his suite.”
“Ay, let’s go,” Brian said, with a grin, after seeing the amazement reflected in the wolf’s eyes on meeting the ‘Loch Ness Monster.’ He never tired of that reaction. It happened less now since there were far fewer shifters in Scotland, but that wasn’t the only reason he rarely saw it anymore.
Brian knew changes were happening in the shifter world. When he stopped in for a drink at Morgan’s now and then, he’d overhear shifters bragging about their financial successes. He wasn’t exactly sure when it had begun, but darkness had found a foothold, making shifters turn against their own kind, all in the name of greed. And as the stories became the rule and not the exception, Brian retreated into his own world, keeping his secret, worriedabout what someone might want him to do if his identity was ever revealed.
The incursion of humans into his world initially dismayed him, but that had changed over the years as he got to know many likable ones living in his corner of Scotland. As the years passed, Brian became more and more protective of them, and thinking someone might use him to harm his neighbors caused many a shiver to run down his spine.
Noticing the shifters guarding the elevator, Brian felt reassured that his friend, David, the High Priest, was now safe within the folds of the Blackwood Pack. Standing next to Groose as they ascended, he thought about what he was going to ask the Shaman, hoping Kieran and others in the pack would offer their considerable power to help him find the intruder. Stirring from his reverie when the elevator stopped, Brian glanced sideways at his escort. When the door opened, they were greeted by two shifters—their guns pointed at him.
~/~/~/~/~
Kieran sat on Fionn’s bed, watching his friend pace back and forth. “Wait a minute,” Kieran said, “are you telling me you are an adult in dragon years?”
“Yes,” Fionn answered, stopping in his tracks as he glared at his friend. “Aren’t you listening to me?”
“I am, but I can’t believe your father wanted to declare his nephew as his legal heir instead of his son. What a fucking asshole!”
“Yeah, well, that motherfucking uncle of mine has petitioned the court for an emergency hearing so he can assume legal custody of me. Ki, I’m telling you, he wants to kill me and take my and my father’s hoard for himself. What am I gonna do if Penn loses?” he asked.
“Does he think there’s a chance the judge won’t believe the midwife or her certificate?” Kieran asked.
“I don’t knooow,” Fionn wailed. “All he said is ‘you never know how the judge will rule’. That isn’t very reassuring.”
“No, it’s not. Mmmm, there has to be a way to convince the judge. When’s the hearing?” asked Kieran.
“Two days from now. Cody and Dylon will be there and Penn said I had to tell Logan today,” Fionn said.
“That’s not much time, but I promise I’ll come up with an idea. Have you talked to Cody or Dylon yet?” asked Kieran.
“No, Penn was doing that,” Fionn answered. “Ki, I won’t go to my uncle’s…no matter what the judge says.”
“Hmmm, no, I agree. I wonder if it would help to have David there…after all he is the High Priest of all paranormals,” Kieran mused. Then, hearing his spirit announcing Brian’s arrival, he jumped up and, wrapping Fionn in a tight love-sending hug, said, “I promise everything will be all right…the Alpha won’t let your uncle get his hands on you.”
“Are you sure? I’m not a wolf,” Fionn said, his mind now calmed by Kieran’s touch.
“Trust me Fi, it doesn’t matter. Your Alpha took in Theo and Norm and they are Ghost Bears. Besides, my mate told me Jackson loves dragons,” replied Kieran, grinning. “Now, I want you to do me a favor, okay?”
“Sure, what?”
“Don’t leave this floor unless you tell me first. I don’t think your uncle would try anything before the hearing but better safe than sorry, right? Logan and I have to meetwith Brian this morning but then we’ll be free so you can bring my mate up to speed, okay?” Kieran asked.
“No problem cause I promised to help Theo this morning,” answered Fionn.
