Frozen Atonement - The Beginnings

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Alex knew that Taz would sleep for a while and perhaps he should get up and go downstairs and speak with others, but he just didn’t want to leave her. She looked so peaceful as she lay there in his arms and wearing his shirt. He was just about ready to drift off to sleep with her when the sound of the door opening brought his head to lift, an instant growl to rumble in the back of his throat and his grip on Taz to get tighter.

Faith rolled her eyes as she stepped into the room and heard the growl. Men. Kings, to be more frank. They always growl first, find out later. There was no addressing the growl, instead she spoke with the little boy that was in her arms and clearly had been crying. “See? Mum is just sleeping, she’s alright.” Faith’s hand rubbed against the little boy’s back as she tried to soothe him. Nikki was clinging to her for dear life, curled up against her and looked to have been sobbing considerably over the fact he could not find Tazina. Faith smiled as she moved to the opposite side of the bed from where Alex was as she stepped right over and moved the blanket to put the boy down, adjusting the pillow for him as her head tilted to the side with a grin. “I bet if you laid there and snuggled with her, she’d be awake that much faster.”

Alex watched Faith a moment, looking towards Nikki as his heart broke. He hadn’t even thought about how the little boy must feel seeing everything he had, or what had he even seen? Alex wasn’t used to considering a little one other than his pack, but not his own kids because he had none. They always fell on the parent as the responsibility, but now he was the parent. He looked towards Faith, feeling out the tethers until he thought he had the right one as he tried to reach into her mind and speak. “Is he alright?”

Faith gave a nod of her head as she moved to the bookcase as Nikki curled up against Tazina’s back, snagging a small gryphon plushie as she moved over to hand it to him, still rubbing his back as she was humming, though, grinned as her gaze went towards Alex. “He is fine, a little late for his nap which makes everything catastrophic. I’ll come check on them both in an hour or so.”

Alex peeked over Taz’s shoulder to see Nikki already drifting off to sleep and couldn’t help the small chuckle that left him. He was a momma’s boy. Well, he was going to have to see if he couldn’t change that, because something about the thought of having a son that wanted to do everything with him thrilled him to no end. Nodding his head to Faith, he continued his mindlink with her. “Thank you. I know that I should probably come down and talk to everyone, but I want to stay with Taz.”

Faith gave a shrug of her shoulders then, her hand still rubbing Nikki’s back as she glanced towards Alex, watching him. “You are King, you can do whatever you want, and they can kiss your ass. Atticus is pretty pissed at his parents; Keturah ordered him back to guard duty for the rest of the day. Your mother is talking the ear off Tayah about what Taz likes and dislikes. Your pack is mingling among others and making friends. Two mates have been found. I met your siblings, who are in love with Nikki… and Finn has been amusing everyone with tales of you from your younger years.”

Alex groaned at the thought of what Finn was telling everyone, considering his parents didn’t even know half the s**t they used to get into. Great. Just great. A hand reached up, swiping down his face as he took a breath and gave a nod of his head. “I would say that I hope my siblings are behaving themselves, but it is likely Finn I should be worried about.”

Faith snickered as she nodded her head. “He is enjoying his tales of how the King used to shut the bars down and would prowl through the human world…”

Alex was up! He flew out of bed like a flash as he glanced towards Faith, finally speaking aloud. “I will be back. Thank you, Faith.” He didn’t even give her a chance to respond before he was out the door and back into the main room following the sound of laughter and finding Finn at the heart of things. “Finn!”

“So, there we were, buck ass naked and...” Finn glanced up as Alex entered and bellowed forth his name, a surprised look upon his features. “What? I was just getting to the good part.”

Alex shook his head, hand wiping his face once more as he let out a sigh. “Go to the kitchen and get Tazina some food for when she awakens.”

Finn glanced around, making motion towards the different dishes spread across the table and counter. “There are plenty of fo…”

Alex snarled, followed by a growl as he pointed towards the door. “Now, Finn.”

Finn rolled his eyes a moment as he stood up and hands went up in the air in surrender. “alright, alright. Become King and suddenly I cant tell everyone about how the fish nearly bit your d**k off.” Though he was quick to avoid Alex’s reach as he lunged forward, going over the chair and heading for the door, as he cackled with laughter and ventured out into the castle.

Alex had lunged for Finn; he had purposely tried to avoid that tidbit of information coming out and the round of laughter told him everyone heard it and he groaned. God damn Finn.

Alex glanced around and noticed there were a few familiar faces in the crowd, watching as his pack members mingled with Tazina’s family and friends. It made him feel good to know that they were comfortable enough considering what they had gone through, to open up a bit and come out of the replacement home and to be there for this party. He was just about to address them when he heard his mother.

“Where is my grandbaby?” Sue came in from the hallway behind where Alex was, looking around for Nikki as she spotted Alex, who was coming towards her.

Alex gave a bit of a growl as he moved over towards his mother and held a hand up to her. “Mother, stop.”

Sue snorted a bit as she looked at Alex, her hands going to her hips as she watched him and then glanced at her husband beside her before going back to Alex. “What do you mean stop?”

Alex sighed as he shook his head. “The party, the grand baby, everything, just stop. I don’t want to push Taz away and there is a lot she doesn’t even know yet. You need to back off and give us both some time.”

Sue huffed a bit as she stood up a bit straighter. “Why, I never thought you…”

“Sue, enough.” Paxton finally spoke. The shifter was usually quiet and somewhat in the background, but he looked from his son to his mate beside him as he finally spoke. “Leave the boy alone. He has just become King, his mate will find out her family is not her family, her son is scared, and our entire pack was uprooted, and our lands lost. Stop. Give them all time. I think it’s about time we went home, actually.” Paxton left no room for argument as he reached out to take Sue by the elbow and lead the woman to the door.

Alex gave his dad a grateful look before he turned to look back at the crowd of others, glancing towards his sister as he made his way over towards her. “Hey Kai, how are you holding up?”

Kailin turned her gaze towards Alex as she beamed, looking rather proud of him. “Hey big bro, or should I say King?” there was a teasing tone to her voice as she laughed a bit.

Alex gave a shrug of his shoulders as he sighed and reached up, running his hand across his hair, a nervous habit he had for as long as anyone could remember. “It’s a lot and mom is… well mom is mom.”

Kailin just shrugged at that as she scooped a large chunk of dip up and offered the baked bread to Alex. “Try this. The cook here is ah-ma-zing.”

Alex took the piece of bread from his sisters’ fingers as he glanced at it before popping it into his mouth with a moan. Oh, she wasn’t lying, it was pretty tasty. He gave a nod of his head, only speaking when his mouth was devoid of food. “Catori. I think you will like her, but be wary… she’s a cat.” Alex said teasingly back at his sister.

“Merow” Kailin snickered as she went back to stuffing her face and pointing across the room towards their brother Dax.

Dax was in the corner with a pretty little auburn-haired kin that had her leg draped over his and he seemed to be hanging on every word that came from the woman’s mouth. Alex arched his brow, looking back towards Kailin, then, “Did he find his mate?!”

Kailin just grinned as she gave a nod of her head. “Should have seen the look on mom’s face. She thinks that she is getting grandkids times three.”

“Times three?” Alex’s brows furrowed as he reached out to snag another piece of baked bread and dip it into the concoction that he might sell his soul because it was so tasty.

“Mmhm” Kailin smirked as she looked away from Dax and towards Alex. “You know, Nikki, a new one from Tazina and a new one from Dax. Oh, her name is Skylah, by the way.”

“Skylah” Alex repeated as he watched the pair for a moment.

Dax seemed utterly engrossed in conversation with the woman and he had to admit she was pretty. Though his thoughts were disrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching as Faith was coming towards them. “Awake already lil man?”

Faith smirked as she carted the boy over towards the pair, who still looked very unhappy about the fact that Tazina was still asleep. “He wants mumma to wake up and do their normal Friday night routine. He isn’t happy about missing it.”

“What is their normal routine?” Kailin was the first to jump in as she snagged a piece of fruit and held it up towards Nikki to see if he wanted a bite.

Alex just stood there, watching the pair and listening, as he too wanted to know. He thought Taz had said something about his grandparents watching them while the parents had a night off.

“They have their ice cream with Catori, come back here and play with the grandparents, he has a short nap, then he gets dinner and a movie with mumma before spending the night with all his friends. But Atticus promised him a hideout fort which he is pretty adamant about, so I mind linked Keturah to send him back. Since he is missing out on mumma, maybe uncle Att will make him feel a bit better.” Faith tickled Nikki’s sides, watching the boy squirm and swat at her hand with a snicker. He wasn’t too thrilled about his plans being messed up. Though he did take the fruit from Kailin and stuff it into his mouth, looking at Alex curiously.

Alex smiled at Nikki, both hands reaching out towards him, offering to take him up and frowning a bit as Nikki jerked his head away to bury himself against Faith and hide. “Oh? Is that how it is? I guess I will just have to go eat dinner and watch a movie by myself… how lonely that is going to be.”

Faith gasped as she heard Alex, looking down at Nikki as she tried to adjust to him a bit. “Are you going to let that happen?” One hand reached up, wiping the boy’s face as clean as it was going to get for the moment. “Your tummy is going to be awfully upset if you don’t eat your dinner and daddy is going to watch cars alllll by himself. You wouldn’t want to miss Mater, would you?”

Nikki looked skeptical when Faith said ‘daddy’ but the mention of mater perked him right up it seems. “Yous an Nata coming? Knuckle Att says we makin my fort?”

Alex was a bit surprised because he hadnt seen the boy talk a whole lot. Clearly, he could, he just didn’t. He watched Faith for a moment. Cars? He wasn’t even sure what that was. He had no nieces and nephews that were in blood. Sure, he had those adoptive ones from those that were like his brother, but suddenly he remembered that two of them were in the hospital and his best friend was no more and it tugged at his heart a bit.

Kailin leaned her elbows on the table for a moment, not even caring since her mother wasn’t around to reprimand her for it. She wasn’t old, only nineteen, she should be out exploring the place and having a good night and yet here she was catering to a four-year-old. “How about we all go with you to watch the movie and have dinner? I’m starving.”

Faith grinned a bit as she looked at Kailin and gave a nod of her head. “You go with daddy. I will go get Renata and we will meet you in the theater, ok?” Faith tried to pass Nikki off to Alex, but he wouldn’t go, nearly flipping himself backwards before Kailin caught him.

Nikki clearly favored women because he was all too willing to go to Kailin rather than Alex. Alex was slightly hurt by that fact, but he also realized that most of those in the boy’s life, aside from his uncles and grandfather, were all women. Strong-personality-type women too. He settled for letting Kailin handle him for the time being before looking towards Faith. “We have no idea where we are going.”

Faith gave a shrug of her shoulders as she glanced over towards Skylah. “She does.” Holding up a finger, she moved over towards Dax and Skylah a moment. “Skylah, please escort them all to the theater room while I gather up Renata and the others.”

Skylah paused in her conversation with Dax as she looked up towards Faith and offered her a smile. “Cars tonight, right?” She was already moving to her feet as she looked back towards Dax. “Come on, if I am suffering through that movie again, so are you.”

Dax looked a little surprised. Why the hell were they having to watch it? He moved to his feet with a sigh as he took hold of Skylah’s hand and let her lead as he watched Faith heading off into the outside where children and adults alike were partaking in a snowball fight and building snowmen and other figures out of the snow.

Alex just watched it all and took it all in for the moment. He didn’t want to disrupt Nikki or the other children’s normal routine, but he also had little desire to leave Tazina and go to watch a movie. There was a sigh as he noticed the party was mostly dwindling anyway. Looking towards his brother, he couldn’t help but to laugh at the love-struck look in his eyes as he turned to follow along with the small group.

Kailin seemed content to carry Nikki with her, following Skylah as they exited the room, and she was content to look around and probe for more information. “Soooo, they have a theatre room?”

Skylah looked over at Kailin as she held hands with Dax and laughed. “This place has everything. I work in the nursery, and we have around five hundred kids. Give or take? There are several theater rooms, many banquet rooms, the throne room, several kitchens, many common areas, a huge dining hall, the pantry, gardens, greenhouses, stables… you name it, we have it.”

Alex, Dax and Kailin all seemed rather surprised by this, but Alex and Dax seemed to let Kailin field the questions. She had always been that kind of person to begin with, ever the curious one, to the point that they often joked she should have been a cat. “So, tell us about the place and how it operates?”

Skylah knew where she was going and let her feet continue the well-walked path as she laughed a bit. “Well, anyone that stays works, in whatever way they want, but they work. Keturah always allows for an adjustment period, but after that they find a job. Some of them, who are more solitary than others, want to live outside the castle but still on the crown property. Keturah sets them up with a house and property and most of them are farmers and where we get some of our supplies.” Skylah paused a moment, glancing towards Kailin as she grinned. “We were having a girl’s night after the grandparents took the kids. We were heading down to the village; you want to go with us?”

“The village?” It was almost simultaneous as Alex, Kailin and Dax repeated the word to Skylah.

Skylah gave a nod of her head to them all with a little laugh. “Yes, you will love it. A lot of the money we earn comes from there. All kinds of shops for furniture, food, textiles and everything in between. Book stores, everything. It is a huge tourist attraction for humans year-round. Swimming in the summer months and skiing in the winter months. Although we do have a few humans that work there and know about us, most are oblivious.”

Kailin grinned as she looked at her brothers and then at Skylah. “I’m in! Maybe we can find a few single hot guys.”

Dax gave a deep growl at that, his gaze shooting towards his sister. That was his mate. She was talking about finding a guy with and his baby sister. He wanted to hear none of it!

Alex shook his head. “I don’t think Kai is going.”

Kailin rolled her eyes at Alex. “You may be King now, but you are not dad or mom, and I am going. I never got to explore anything and lost everything just like you did. I need new clothes. I am going.”

“Not without an escort you aren’t.” Alex retorted and left no room for argument.

Skylah laughed a bit as she glanced back towards Alex. “We have an escort and security. Faith always goes with us and Taz too. Although we all knew Faith was the heir to the throne, we didn’t know that Taz was, but that explains why Atticus always went with us. He is head of the wolf guard.”

Alex internally groaned at that. The head of his own guard was the older brother of his mate and the one he had disobeyed the order against? Oh sure, nothing could go wrong there…