Colton sniffed. "You just ruined my morning."

Rheia gave him a sly smile. "I'll make it up to you later."

He immediately brightened and dropped Sascha's ankle and grabbed the Gamma unit member by the back of his jacket. "Come on, old man, time to train."

Darian leaned in close. "And you were upset about a tiny tremor. This is everyday life at the Alpha estate."

Amelia smiled. "I love it!"

Ryuu walked past them with the car keys. "Ladies, whenever you're ready." He bowed.

"Hey, Penny, Felix is staying with you today. Keep him warm," Meryn called. Amelia watched as the tiny sprite flew over to Penny and sat on her shoulder.

" 'Kay!" Penny said snuggling the sprite close.

Meryn turned to Amelia and Beth. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Darian kissed her gently and accompanied her to the door.

She had a new baby sister-cousin and was closer to claiming her mate. Things were definitely looking up.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Amelia sat with Meryn in the back of the car, and Beth sat up front with Ryuu. Amelia pulled out her phone. "What's your name on Facebook? I'll send a friend request."

Meryn scrunched up her face. "I'm not on Facebook."

"What?" Amelia and Beth asked at the same time.

Meryn shrugged. "Besides y'all, I don't have any friends, and I live with y'all, so I never saw the point."

"But you're a computer genius, you've used Facebook in tracking down potential shifter couples," Beth said sounding shocked.

"I used Aiden's Facebook profile," Meryn explained.

Amelia turned to her. "You're not on social media at all?"

"Nope, never needed it. I email Adair and text Aiden and my minions, that's about it."

Amelia frowned. "Minions?"

Beth spoke up. "She means Noah and Jaxon."

"Where were they anyway? They weren't at breakfast." Amelia asked.

"They are working on their first solo project, building the database for Beth to use to keep track of census information. In fact, I should check on them." Meryn pulled out her phone. Her small fingers moved quickly as she sent her text. Seconds later, she began to giggle.

Beth turned in her seat with a suspicious look. "What?"

Meryn just grinned. When her phone buzzed again she looked down and started to crack up.

Amelia looked at Beth who shrugged.

"Spill it, Meryn," Beth ordered.

"I'm sexting Aiden." She continued to type.

Amelia frowned. "Why is that so funny?"

Beth groaned and sat back in her seat. "Leave Keelan alone. You know he's having a rough morning."

"Huh?" Amelia looked between Meryn and Beth.

Beth turned back to face her. "Aiden never reads his text messages. He always has Keelan do it because Aiden's fingers are too big to type."

Amelia turned to Meryn. "And you know this?"

Meryn grinned. "Yup. I always know it's Keelan because he downloaded an emoticon pack that has bears. He never says 'I love you' back, he just sends a bear and a heart. He's fun to play with."

"You're bad!" Amelia said laughing.

Meryn shrugged. "There's nothing else to do."

"You could be studying the history books I bought you," Beth reminded her.

Meryn looked up. "I finished those already, in fact I sent Noah to Mystic Tomes to buy more. I found something very interesting referenced in one of the articles. The potential for fun is limitless. Paranormal history is fascinating. I have decided to delete all memory of US history to make room for the paranormal volumes."

"What do you mean delete?" Beth asked.

Meryn tapped her temple. "In my brain. I got rid of all the useless information, like US history, statistics, and trigonometry."

"Meryn, US history is important," Beth countered.

Meryn shook her head. "No, it's not. It's all lies anyway. I've asked Gavriel to verify some of the stories I've read in the paranormal history books and he said they're right. I'll believe someone who was actually there rather than the stuff I learned as a kid."

Amelia turned to her. "Like what?" She was fascinated. She had learned paranormal history the same as every paranormal child, but Meryn had been raised human. She could have been told anything.

"For example, did you know that, in human history books, they fail to mention that George Washington made a deal with locals to fight against the British? And by locals, I mean unit warriors? Gavriel freaking knew Paul Revere!" Meryn ranted.

Beth looked surprised. "He did?"

Meryn nodded. "And Darian took time off from being in the Alpha Unit to be a pirate! How fucking cool is that?"

Amelia smiled. Maybe she could talk Darian into wearing a ruffled shirt and leather boots later.

Meryn's stomach growled. "I hope Marius has food."

"Are you sure you're not eating for five?" Beth teased.

Meryn stuck her tongue out her. "At least I'm not having a jackalope."

Beth bristled. "I will not have a jackalope. I thought we decided he or she would be a bunny with fangs?"

Amelia couldn't hold her giggles. "What about Rheia?" she asked.

Meryn grinned. "Wolfman."

Beth snorted then laughed. "I am so telling her you said that. What about Meryn's future baby?"