Children of the Moon

Companions

Alain's POV:

I watched as the trucks turned into the circular driveway. As soon as the first one was in front of the stairs, it shut down and the other ones followed suit. The doors opened and they got out, coming toward me. Chamdra looked up at the front of the manor and frowned.

"I thought this was all supposed to be finished?" she asked and looked at me.

"The rumors that I spread around fifty years ago worked against me," I answered, laughing and she smiled at me.

"Do you want me to work on it?" my only male companion asked me as he walked over.

"Make sure Jessie and the police are off the property first," I answered and he nodded before getting a far away look on his face.

"They are gone" he said and he waved his hand in a rolling motion while his eyes flashed. By the time he was done, the trucks were gone and the manor looked like it had always been lived in. Even the large fountain in the grassy area of the driveway was working and the hedges trimmed. I laughed out loud and shook my head.

"You were always a stickler when it comes to details, my friend," I said. "Shall we go inside?" I opened the door to the manor, stepped inside and said "Welcome to my ancestral home, everyone. Choose your suites and get settled."

Chamdra walked up the stairs and chose the first one one on the right. In her eyes, being the most powerful creature here, besides me, she should be our protector. So she always took the first one. I had told her that it would not be necessary but she always insisted. I reached out and touched Altewen on the shoulder.

"Could you come to my office, please?" I asked and he frowned. I walked down the hallway and he followed. I walked into my father's office and sat down behind the desk feeling a little nostalgic. I remember playing in here while my father worked. I sighed and leaned back in the chair. Altewen closed the door behind him and leaned against it looking at me.

"Anything the matter?" he asked.

"I made Jessie's position with us permanent," I answered and looked at him. "I felt the pull from her."

"Is she human?"

"She is human and I still felt the pull from her and I acted upon it," I said. "She will be living with us here in one of the suites on the third floor. Could you please make sure that the room next to this office will be hers?"

"She is a lawyer, is this correct?" he asked and I nodded. His eyes flashed."Done."

"Another thing you should know," I said, looking down. "I have found my mate. She is a human police officer." He looked at me and smiled.

"Congratulations, my friend," he said. "You deserve happiness, too. Have you taken her?"

"I couldn't embarrass her in front of her co-workers, so I held myself back," I said. "I could barely control myself." I sighed.

"Go get your room set up, my friend, and thank you." He smiled and left my office. As I leaned back I suddenly got a bad feeling. I frowned and sat back up, thinking about everyone who had been here or was here. As I thought about Jessie, the feeling got ten times worse.

I jumped up and was ready to run out the door when I felt a familiar feeling.

*What's wrong?* Attila's voice came inside my head. I froze. I hadn't even realized that I had reached out to him.

*I am sorry to have disturbed you, my friend,* I thought back to him. *I have just had a major bad feeling about something happening to my lawyer.*

*We will be right there,* he said and I turned around when I felt a cold wind behind me. I was glad to see him, his twin brother, and others of his family standing there. I grabbed his forearms in greeting.

"Where is she?" he asked and I told him about her quitting her job and packing up.

"I had thought of sending Altewen to get her later and then this bad feeling hit me," I answered and he touched my forehead. He then disappeared. I blinked and shook my head. "Let's get you all settled in. Are you hungry?" Some of them nodded. Timothy looked at me curiously.

"A human? Really?" he asked and I nodded.

"Strange, isn't it? I would never had thought about it but the Moon Goddess gave me a tug so I listened," I said. "Maybe we'll find out something about her later after she gets here." He nodded and they followed me as I led them to the dining room. Matthew whistled in appreciation as we entered. It was big enough to hold around two hundred people. The wooden flooring was polished to a fine sheen and the tables were solid redwood with hand carved legs. The same with the chairs. I took them to the grand table up front and told them to take a seat. I stood at the middle chair and clapped my hands together. The top of the table shimmered and a feast materialized on it.

Chamdra and the other ladies walked in and, seeing Attila's brothers sitting with me, she growled loudly. I looked up and waved them over to sit with us. They came over cautiously and I introduced them to one another. Chamdra's eyes lit up in recognition and she nodded to the other ladies. She sat down beside me and dug into the food. Timothy looked at them then to me.

"Weres?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Superhumans," I answered. "Some of the new Goddesses. Or will be when they find their other half." Timothy and his brothers jumped to their feet and bowed to them. My companions looked startled and bowed their heads in return.

"I have treated them all like my friends, Timothy," I said. "They are not used to being revered. I thought it best to give them a normal life to see how others live and interact. They all have regular jobs."

"And you ladies know what you are?" he asked and they all nodded. "And you are ok with this?" Chamdra smiled and looked over at him.

"We are all in agreement that we have to learn how everyone else operates," she said. "How else can we help them when we don't understand them. I think this is a brilliant idea." The Celts all grinned at her then dug into their own food.

When we had finished eating and were sitting at the table talking, the door bell rang. A few minutes later, Attila, Jessie and a brownie walked into the room with Altewen. The brownie almost tripped over his own feet staring at my friend. I raised my eyebrow at that when I saw Altewen look down and smile at him. The brownie bowed to him.

"Yer highness," the brownie said. Jessie blinked at him.

"Mac?" she asked. "What are you doing and talking about?"

"May I introduce you to Prince Altewen of the Seelie high court," he answered in awe. Altewen shimmered and stood in his Royal robes and without any glamour. His knee length golden hair was unbound and, to keep his hair from falling into his face, a silver hair band. His eyes were cobalt blue with long lashes in a beautiful face. As soon as he had changed, the brownie fell to his knees. Altewen leaned down and brought him back up.

"I am not at Court right now, small one," he said. "Here with my friends I want to be treated like a regular person, not a prince."

"I understand, sire, but that will be hard to do for me," Mac said. "The high King demands it of us all and the punishment is great for disobedience."

"My father is not here. He could not even enter here," Altewen said and looked over at me. I nodded back to him and waved them forward.

"Come sit, eat your fill and be welcome here," I said.