My Guardian

Both Stefan and Meryn turned to the prince, grinning. "Thanks!" they said together.

Aiden clapped the young wolf on the shoulder. "Let me tell you about how humans age. I am not a dirty old man."

"Forget that, I want to hear about what happened seven hundred years ago," Meryn interjected.

Bethy sighed. "Meryn! Social cues remember. This isn't a topic for discussion at dinner."

"Why?"

Bethy looked around the room as if asking for help answering the question.

The prince raised an eyebrow at his niece. "Well Bethy, aren't you going to answer her?"

Gavriel took pity on his mate and answered for her. "Meryn, I know that you have been obsessed with paranormal history, but it is a bit different when the events being discussed personally affect the people in the room."

"Yeah, but if Stefan is right, a lot of shifters were killed, and according to Magnus, vampires were hunted down. Why isn't any of that in the history books?" Meryn asked, crossing her arms.

Bethy frowned. "It is, isn't it?"

Meryn shook her head. "Nope. I read up on Noctem Falls, and it didn't mention any of this."

Bethy pulled out her phone. Seconds later, she handed it to Meryn. "There."

Meryn used her finger to scroll and read. "In the summer of 1315, a skirmish broke out between the vampires of Noctem Falls and a local wolf pack. Reason unknown." She turned to Stefan. "How many shifters were killed?"

Stefan turned to his father for the answer. Demetrio rubbed the back of his neck. "The entire western pack was decimated. We buried three hundred and twenty nine pack members. The remaining wolves had to join our pack; there weren't enough members left to sustain themselves."

Meryn pivoted and stared at Magnus. "Well?"

"Two hundred and four," the prince answered, frowning.

Meryn handed Bethy back her phone. "Skirmish, my fucking ass. More like pitched battles, why isn't this in the history books?"

Magnus looked a bit shocked. "I had no idea it was not there. Demetrio?"

The older wolf looked just as surprised. "This is news to me as well."

"Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is ready." Sebastian's booming voice had more than one person jumping. The unsettling news about past events had everyone preoccupied.

Magnus walked over to Meryn and offered her his arm. "Aiden, if you would allow me to escort your beguiling mate to dinner?"

Aiden smiled and bowed to Magnus, extending him the honor. Slowly, everyone made their way to the dining room.

*****

Once everyone was seated, Sebastian and Ryuu walked around and served dinner. Eva was nervous about her jeans until she saw Meryn in the same Ghostbusters tee shirt she had on earlier.

"No, thank you, Sebastian, I'm not really feeling like beef stroganoff tonight." Meryn held her hands over her plate to avoid being served.

"Denka, are you unwell?" Ryuu asked.

"I'm not feeling nauseous if that's what you mean; it's just that nothing looks good to me right now. All I really want is some more of Sebastian's magic pudding."

"Meryn, you can't live off pudding," Aiden said, a worried expression on his face.

"I can't help it."

"I will go get her some right away. I have heard more than one woman say that when they carried, if they denied their cravings, nothing else tasted right." Sebastian passed the large serving bowl to Ryuu.

Adora nodded. "It's true. When I carried Stefan, I went an entire month living off venison stew. It was years before I was able to eat it again."

"Thank you, Sebastian," Meryn said, looking relieved. Sebastian headed toward the kitchen as Ryuu began to serve everyone's dinner.

Magnus turned to Demetrio. "How are people settling in?"

The older wolf gave a terse smile. "I think it would be easier on everyone if we knew an exact date of when we could head home. We were still getting arguments against coming here last night at the city's estate. The attack this morning has really spooked a lot of people. I think in the back of everyone's minds, we didn't really believe we'd be attacked."

Adriel looked down the table to Magnus. "Sire, we need to think about where these people will go. We have already received more than was projected, and your announcement was only sent out yesterday. We simply do not have any plans in place to house this many people."

Beth turned to her uncle. "He's right. Just organizing trips to the bathroom became a logistical nightmare this morning. More tunnel escorts are desperately needed along with semi-permanent living quarters. They can't stay in the Grand Hall forever."

"I do not think any of us were prepared for this many people, this soon," Magnus admitted.

Sebastian returned with a large bowl of pudding for Meryn. She picked up her spoon and dug in.

Eva liked the pudding, but she was a shifter; she needed more than sugar and milk to keep her satisfied, and Sebastian's beef stroganoff was the best she had ever had.

Gavriel twirled the noodles on his fork. "For the time being, we could set up temporary housing in the Grand Hall. We could send someone to the city for tents and more cots."

Eva thought back to the Unit Level. The small houses looked like they had been carved directly out of the stone walls. "Do we have anyone who can create houses similar to the ones on the unit level?" she asked.

Etain nodded. "I bet the twins could do it, if shown how. What they lack in knowledge, they more than make up for with power."