Seven Years

We both widened our eyes at the sound of the doorbell.

“Austin!” a voice boomed.

He flew out of the room and I followed closely behind him. We hurried toward the front door where Denver stood beside a guy who was wearing a red tank top and long shorts.

We walked past them and when I looked at the man in the doorway, I frantically reached out.

“Maizy!”

Wrapped in the arms of a tall man with a defined jawline was my little sister. He glanced down at me with one sapphire eye and one brown, his dark hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail. Maizy slept soundly in his arms, dressed in her favorite pink skirt, white leggings, and princess shirt.

I scooped her up and smelled her hair, overwhelmed and sobbing like a baby. She stirred a bit and looked up. “Hi, Lexi,” she said sleepily.

“Hi, Maze. How’s my girl?”

She peered up at the man and back at me, whispering. Little did she know how loud her whispers were. “He’s my prince.” Then, after a few heavy blinks, she fell asleep.

“Thank you,” I said in a broken voice.

Austin stepped forward and introduced himself, quickly explaining he was the leader of a newly formed pack in the territory. The man watched him cautiously and I realized it was because he was a Shifter. Probably a well- known one in the area by the way Austin was speaking respectfully to him. Even I could sense his power.

“I’ll take her,” Denver said over my shoulder. My hands tightened. “Let me put her to bed so you three can talk,” he insisted. “I’ll guard her window and make sure she isn’t disturbed.”

Maizy needed sleep and I had to find out what was happening, so I capitulated, kissing her cheek.

“Wait,” the man at the door said. He reached around and pulled something from his back pocket, handing it to me with an uncomfortable expression. It was her princess wand. Just a small thing Maizy liked to carry around the house because she thought she could tap it on things and make magic happen.

“She kept hitting me over the head with it,” he said with a lazy grin. Sure enough, there were red marks across his forehead.

Denver took Maizy and the wand to bed.

“Come in,” Austin said. “My home is open to you.”

Maizy’s savior glanced down at the mountain of shoes by the door.

“No need,” Austin said. “Let me get you a beer.”

“Sounds good,” he rumbled in a loud voice. He wasn’t yelling; he just spoke at a volume that demanded your attention.

They walked a few paces to the right until they reached the bar just inside the living room. It was simple and seated three, with a black granite countertop and a canister of cashews. I glanced over at Austin’s brothers who were watching with interest. Two I didn’t recognize, but I could see they were identical twins.

Almost.

Austin strolled around the bar and pulled a few cold ones from a short fridge.

“Can we have privacy?” the man requested.

“Boys, out!” Austin bellowed. “You too, Lexi.”

“Uh-uh,” I protested. “Sorry, Austin, but this is my sister and mom we’re talking about. You’ll have to wrestle me off this stool if you want me out of here. No offense, mister,” I said, taking the seat to the man’s right.

He chuckled warmly. “She can stay.”

“I’m Alexia Knight,” I said, offering my hand for him to shake. He looked at it and Austin shrugged, setting the beer in front of him.

“My name is Prince,” he replied, lightly shaking my hand.

“Prince? As in the artist formerly known as?”

“That’s my name.”

“Oh,” I said with a growing smile, “I bet Maizy just loved that.”

I wanted to ask if his last name was Charming but decided my humor might not be well received.

Austin popped the caps off the bottles and they clicked across the polished surface of the bar. He sat on a stool across from us, offering our guest a look of gratitude. “I appreciate you bringing us the girl. Where did you find her?”

Prince leaned on his forearms and tilted the green bottle. “She was wandering around on the side of the highway, dangerously close to the shoulder. A truck ahead of me nearly clipped her, so I pulled over. She refused to go with me because I wasn’t in a uniform. My apologies,” he said, looking at me. “I had to pick her up and put her in the car by force. It was the only way to get her off the road. She finally told me her name, so I made a few calls. That’s when I got wind she was on the bulletin. Didn’t find the woman. Didn’t look.” He took a long sip of the frosty beer, appreciating the import with a glance at the label.

“Did Maizy say how she got there or who took her?” I asked.

He shook his head. “All the little one said was that her mother left the house with a man and then they came back for her. They argued in the car and then the man pulled over, walked her to a sign, and forced her mother back in the car before they drove off.”

I covered my face. “Oh my God.”

“What kind of sick animal would do a thing like that?” Austin growled, pushing away from the bar.

Prince shrugged. “Sounds domestic to me. No signs of a struggle in the house and she didn’t mention seeing a weapon.”

“Did she say what he looked like?” I pressed.

He traced his finger over his left eyebrow. “Charlie Brown.”

All the blood rushed from my head and I became dizzy, blinking a few times.

“Lexi?” Austin rose from his stool and touched my arm.

I looked up and drew in a deep breath. “What if it was my dad? He’s bald. Maizy doesn’t remember him, and Mom stuffed all his photos in an old shoebox. She wouldn’t have recognized him.”

“Why would your father leave his little girl on the side of the road?”

“I don’t know!” I said louder than I should have. “He left all of us, and I still can’t explain that. Apparently, there are a lot of things about that man I’ll never understand. Who else would be kidnapping my mother, Austin? She works a part-time job and stays home with Maizy almost all the time. She doesn’t have a computer, so it’s not like she’s hooking up with strangers online. This just isn’t happening.”

Austin leaned forward on his elbows, staring at his hands pensively. “I picked up your father’s scent in the house but I didn’t make the connection. I was so focused on the unfamiliar scent that I tuned out all the ones I recognized. Damn.”

“People are asking why you’re protecting humans,” Prince inquired in a private voice.

“They’re part of my pack,” Austin countered. “I grew up with them and anyone who fucks with them… fucks with me,” he said in stone-cold words.

Prince looked at me and dragged his eyes back to Austin, nodding slowly. “I respect that, but she’s not human.”

“How do you know?” I asked. This whole Shifter thing didn’t make sense. First they couldn’t tell, now they could. What was I to believe?

“Because I’m an alpha, and I can smell a bitch about to go into heat.”

His words weren’t meant to be rude, and when I noticed Austin walking around the bar to confront him, I hopped off the stool and wedged between them.

“Don’t, Austin. Let it go. He saved Maizy and we owe him.”

Fire blazed in his eyes as he stared at Prince, who rose from his chair.

“Didn’t mean to step on your territory, friend. If she’s yours, I’m not staking claim.”

“It’s not that,” I said, turning around. “I have a thing about being called a bitch and he’s just sticking up for me.”

His lips twitched. “In that case, my apologies.”

I was a little too embarrassed to ask what he meant about going into heat. That scared the crap out of me and I panicked my way right into Austin’s bedroom where Maizy was fast asleep.

Denver sat in a corner chair with his legs stretched out, playing a handheld videogame in the dark.