"Did you mean it?" Aiden asked quietly.
"Of course I did you idiot. I chose you to be my children's Athair when we were pups."
"Thank you for the honor, I will help protect her with my life," Aiden said, sounding choked up. The damn bear had always been sentimental.
"Congratulations Aiden, we know you'll be a wonderful Athair." Sascha clapped Aiden on the back.
Aiden winked at Penny and nodded at Colton before turning to face the men. "We have a new little cadet with us today. She assures me that she is great at hiding and is very fast. We'll be dividing up into units; the goal of this drill is to protect your bell tower from this stealthy assassin," Aiden said pointing to Penny. Colton was surprised to see her put on a pretty scary "game face", but he was even more surprised to see two of the warriors step back from her. He leaned in. "Did your Uncle Radek teach you that?" he whispered. She nodded. "Not bad kiddo." She held up her mitten hand, Colton gave her a high five.
"Any unit that cannot defend their tower will have extra laps and will be put on the list as available babysitters for one afternoon." Aiden looked at his clipboard. "Trainees, your jobs will be to distract your unit, giving our angel opportunities to ring those bells. Alpha trainees, your job will be to record how many times each bell is rung. Any questions?" Aiden asked looking up.
"What will the Alpha Unit be doing?" Sascha asked pointing out the fact that they only had three bell towers, one each for Gamma, Delta and Beta. The absent two units were running patrols.
"We'll be making sure nothing happens to Penny. Let's get something straight men, I love all of you like brothers, but if anything happens to my niece I will happily turn you over to her mother, and trust me, she is not a woman to be trifled with, understood?" Aiden gave them men dark looks.
"Yes, sir!" Male voices rang out.
Aiden walked over. "Okay Penny, it's up to you now. Do you think you can take these puffed up warriors down a peg or two?" he asked.
Penny nodded and wiggled. Colton put her down and stepped back. Penny removed her coat and mittens. Like all shifter children, her temperature ran warm. They were usually bundled up if they weren't going to be moving much, but since Penny was going to be moving around a lot, her jeans and fleece shirt would do just fine.
"Go easy on us baby girl," Quinn called from the field, his tone almost teasing.
Penny turned and looked him in the eye, never changing expression. Wordlessly she reached down, picked up some mud and covered her face.
"Oh fuck!" Quinn and the rest of the men stared at her.
"What are you two idiots waiting for? Get those barrels of hay up to block the tower," Sascha barked. Suddenly the men were a lot more serious about this drill.
Colton knelt down next to Penny. "Take your time. It will be a lot more fun watching them panic if they can't see you than if you manage to ring the bell but they saw you coming." Penny nodded and spread her feet apart to stretch.
Colton stood and frowned down at his daughter. "Remind me to call Radek and ask him what he taught my daughter."
Aiden nodded. "No kidding." He turned to Penny. "Hey angel, if you manage to get all three bell towers I will buy you whatever dessert you want after dinner for a whole week."
Penny stopped stretching and held up two fingers.
Aiden laughed. "Two weeks, huh? You drive a hard bargain, but you have yourself a deal."
Colton shook his head. "I have the best kid in the history of kids, including the time we were kids."
Aiden nodded again. "Agreed. Okay men close your eyes let's give her a thirty second head start."
When Colton turned to see what Penny would do, she was already gone.
Best. Kid. Ever
*****
"Adam, Aiden's brother, runs the clinic. They're just wrapping up some much needed renovations, so you'll have to excuse the mess," Beth explained as they got out of the car.
"I've probably seen worse," Rheia assured her.
They walked through a heavy set of metal double doors and down a long hallway. From top to bottom, the entire building looked brand new. The smell of paint and cut lumber was thick in the air. Rheia walked behind Meryn and Beth, peeking into rooms. She saw box after box piled together covered in plastic. It looked as if none of the imaging machines had been unpacked yet. They turned down another hall that opened up to a large waiting room area. Beth pulled out her cell phone. After a few seconds she spoke.
"We're here. Okay, see you in a second." Beth smiled at Rheia and put the phone away.
A minute later, a tall, dark haired man emerged from behind a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. Without even asking, Rheia knew this was Adam; he looked just like his brother.
"Adam, I would like you to meet Rheia. She's only just arrived this afternoon and it looks like she'll be here for a while. She is Colton's mate and a doctor," Beth informed him.
Adam's face broke out in a smile. "Welcome! I could really use your help here at the clinic. Between an unexpected baby boom and feral attacks, we don't have the personnel to deal with everything."
Rheia smiled up at him. "I'm actually relieved. I didn't think a paranormal city would even have doctors, considering how quickly you heal."
Adam's eyebrows shot up "You have experience treating paranormals?" he asked eagerly.
She nodded. "As a child I helped my mother to treat the squad of paranormals that lived in our town. After becoming a doctor I continued to treat them."