"Thank you!" he exclaimed.
He took a sip and then moaned. Warrick's gaze flew to his mate. She smiled at him, and h
e swallowed hard.
"One month," she announced.
"What?" he asked, never taking his eyes from Avery.
"His birthday is one month away. He was born late for shifter."
Avery sighed, blissfully happy, oblivious to his mate's discomfort. He was still dancing in his chair.
"Where did you find this?" he asked, opening his eyes.
"Declan has an espresso machine."
"I love your mate," Avery admitted, taking another sip. Warrick growled low at the declaration.
"On that note, bye darling, have fun."
"Oh, I will." Avery took another sip and then shuddered.
Chuckling to herself, Kari met up with Rex just past the transport tunnel on the way to the Council room. At the door, she saw Meryn standing with her hands on her hips, face turned up to the man at the door. Kari looked over at Rex who was now scowling. Rex and Kari walked up behind Meryn. Rex wrapped protective arm around Meryn's shoulders.
"What seems to be a problem here?" he asked.
The man looked up, eyed Rex quickly. "No one is to be admitted, especially shifters."
"On whose authority?" Rex demanded.
"The Founding Families have determined these will be closed-door proceedings."
The guard never even looked up as he was speaking to Rex.
"Son, do you know who I am?" he asked.
The guard scoffed. "I am a vampire and probably older than you, shifter. Watch who you call son."
Kari heard a distinctive sound and then looked at Rex. He was grinding his teeth, his jaw muscles clenched. Declan shared the same habit when he was aggravated.
Meryn pointed at him. "Aiden does that a lot too."
Kari looked at her. "With you, I am not surprised."
"You have two seconds to move before I move you," Rex threatened.
The guard finally looked up and met his eyes. "I would like to see you try."
Without another word, Rex stepped away from Meryn, grabbed the guard by the collar with one arm, and threw him across the room. When the guard's body hit the stone wall, an echoing boom reverberated through the hall. The stone around his body cracked, leaving a huge crater. The guard fell to the floor, groaning.
"Holy shit, that was awesome!" Meryn exclaimed.
She turned to Rex. "Hey flex your arm," she asked.
Grinning, her mate's brother lifted his bicep and flexed. Meryn jumped up and began dangling from his arm. When the door opened, Aiden, Adriel, Gavriel, and Declan stood there looking confused and shocked.
"What happened?" Adriel demanded.