"I think I'm okay for now. As long as Penny is happy, that's all I care about. Is my car still parked out front?" she asked standing.

He nodded. "I think they left it there for you to get to the clinic."

"Perfect. What time is lunch? I'd like to eat with Penny?"

"Noon. I used the internet and looked up child friendly foods. We will be having different types of sandwiches. Hopefully I can discern her likes and dislikes based on her choices" he said, frowning.

"I know Penny will love it. Thank you again, Ryuu."

"My pleasure. Don't forget your coat."

"I won't," she promised and went to the closet in the main hall. She grabbed her coat and left to go to the clinic.

*****

"Thanks Oron, there's no way I could have gotten these set up, even if I had a forklift. What do they feed you guys anyway? You're all huge," Rheia said before she sat down in one of the patient chairs they'd just carried.

Oron smiled. "We've always been the largest of all the paranormals, no one knows why. I'm glad I could help. Doc always takes good care of us. We do heal, but he helps us heal faster and with less pain."

"I'm not sure how much I'll be able to assist but I'll help any way I can. I think I have some catching up to do when it comes to shifter's accelerated healing."

"We're glad to have you. We were all hoping Colton would find his mate soon, the nightmares he was having changed him," Oron said, leaning against the examination table.

"Changed? What do you mean?" Rheia asked concerned.

"You've only seen him as he is now, and that's how he usually is, joking and carefree. He's the kinda guy that would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it and then walk around flexing, acting like you did him a favor." Rheia smiled and shook her head at the image. That definitely sounded like the Colton she had come to know.

Oron smiled and then got quiet. "The past couple weeks though, when he was dreaming of you, he was withdrawn, quiet, depressed. I don't think we all realized how much we rely on him to keep us upbeat and to balance out Aiden's grumpy nature. Drills have been exceedingly dry and almost painful without Colton's usual antics to liven things up."

Rheia suddenly wanted to talk with Colton; it was as if she had to know he was okay. She didn't realize she was clutching her chest until Oron bent down in front of her a panicked look of concern on his face.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I just figured that as a human, it might be hard to accept a mate since they don't exist in your world. I wanted to let you know that you lucked out, Colton is one of the good ones, you know?"

Even with him bending down, she had to look up at him. "Thank you. I think I'm starting to see how lucky I am, but don't tell him that. It would probably take weeks to deflate him."

Oron stood and laughed loudly. "You are getting to know him."

"Yeah, I am."

"Take good care of our boy and if you need any more help just let the commander know," Oron offered.

"Thanks, I will."

He waved goodbye and the door shut behind him.

Rheia looked at the clock there was still another hour until lunchtime. She stood and went to find Adam.

She found him cussing at a stack of papers at his desk.

"I know administrative work when I see it." Rheia walked in and sat in the chair across from him.

Adam growled. "Since the businessmen put up the money for the renovations they want weekly reports. What am I supposed to tell them? Sorry, no one nearly died today. I almost want to put Aiden in traction just so I have something to give them."

"How many warriors do you have?" she asked.

Adam sat back. "We have thirty at each level. Thirty full-fledged unit warriors, trainees and cadets, so ninety altogether."

"That's not including mates, right?"

"No, just the men. Why?"

"Well you have me here now," she started.

"You mean you'll do the reports for me?" he asked hopefully.

"No. But what I can do is give the guys their yearly physicals. If each unit had two men report per week for a yearly physical, in addition to the wellness checkups for the pregnant women and their babies, that's a pretty full report right there," she explained.

"But paranormals don't get physicals."

"They do now." She smiled widely.

Adam leaned back in his chair grinning from ear to ear. "I like the way you think. I'll call Aiden, we can start tomorrow."

"What are we going to do until then?"

"You and Oron got all of the rooms set up already?" He looked down at his watch and then up at her.

"Yeah, that guy was like a one man moving team. It should have been physically impossible for him to lift some of those machines." She frowned, remembering how easily he maneuvered the X-ray machine.

Adam smiled. "You missed his belt."

"His belt?"

Adam nodded. "I saw a charm hanging from his belt, probably done by Quinn, Gamma's witch. I bet that enabled him to lift higher weights than normal. That way only one person missed drills. From what I caught from the conversation with Aiden this morning, they're having to completely revamp all of their training schedules."

Rheia winced. "That may have been my fault," she explained the conversation they had at breakfast.