~~

Shawn

~~

The next few days passed in a blur of battles and nerves. When we got to the Aerie Convento we were all forced to prove ourselves, and our powers, to the Warlocks. But what was unsettling the most, was that we could all finally smell the Warlocks. They all had a citrusy undertone to their scents. This was new, but at least helpful.

Once we had managed to prove ourselves to the Warlocks and finally get invited inside, we were all almost immediately attacked by some sort of hideous creatures sent by Edmond, that crazy bastard. His monsters had fought hard, and there were a lot of them. We were nearly overwhelmed, but thankfully we managed to destroy them with no casualties. Well, I won't say none, Trinity, our beautiful young Luna lost the baby she was carrying. That was going to be a blow not just to her and her family, not just to Reece and his family either, it was a loss that was going to be felt by the entire pack. This child, this lost little one, was meant to grow up and take over the pack, to lead us all, and now they were lost to us all.

All the talk of babies and marriage lately, it had me thinking about all that I was giving up by being mated to Dietrich. I wouldn't change it, that's for sure. But I would never have a child that is mine, a child to carry on my part of the bloodline. I would never have a wedding, or a marriage for that matter. Dietrich and I would only ever be together until I passed on.

And then there were the things that Dietrich would be giving up on as well. He had been with so many people, men and women, was he really willing to give it all up to be with me? He said he was. He said he was willing to do anything for me, but did that also mean he was willing to leave his empire, his castle, in Germany and move to Colorado just for me?

I didn't know why I was still doubting him, he had been trying to prove all of this to me so much lately. Perhaps it was just the fragility of life that had been so prominently displayed for us all to see recently. Life was not permanent and any of us could die at any moment with these fights we were going to face.

After the fight at the Aerie Convento we all went to a Resort Hotel to recoup and clean up. But for some reason, Dietrich and I were put into the same room. I know it was because everyone already assumed we were sleeping together. What would they say if they knew that Dietrich and I hadn't done more than make out a few times. Intense as those kisses were it wasn't anything compared to sleeping with each other.

When we walked into the large, comfortable looking suite, I gulped in fear. I looked around the bright mix of modern and rustic and thought about how nice it would be if I didn't have my heart thudding uncontrollably in my throat.

"Sei nicht nervös, don't be nervous, my love." Dietrich came over to me and draped his arms over my shoulders, having to stand on his toes to perform the action. "I won't bite." He chuckled. "There are two bedrooms."

"D-Dietrich." I turned in his arms to look at him. "I want to get used to you more. I might not be ready yet, but we can share a bed with nothing happening, right?" I didn't know where the question came from, why I was asking it, or what I had hoped he would say.

"Bestimmt, my love, definitely. We can most definitely share a bed and have nothing happen if that is what you want." I nodded my head at his words even before I spoke.

"It is, that is what I want."

"Then that is what we will do." He kissed my nose then and smiled. His actions and his words both made me smile.

And that is how we ended up sleeping in the same bed for the first time. Though, I do wish I had known that Dietrich would only be sleeping in his boxers during that entire time. I had worn a t-shirt and lounge pants so that I was covered, even though usually I would forgo the shirt, or even have done what Dietrich did. But I wasn't confident enough for that yet.

I don't even know why, my body was nice, if I do say so myself. It was well toned and lightly tanned, definitely the body of a man who did physical combat training almost every day.

But still, it was a stressful night, especially after you added in the fact that Dietrich was a cuddler and I felt his entire body pressed up against my back for the entire night. I probably didn't get as much sleep that night as I should have, nervous as I was when I realized I could feel his bulge pressed right at my ass. I think it's a bit difficult to sleep while you're simultaneously trying to calm your nerves and not get an erection at the same time.

Still, we managed to get some sleep and start on the road to the location of the missing kids and the next fight.

All hell broke loose when we got into that basement, which seemed to have gone at least a hundred feet under the ground. There were people down there waiting for us, and even though we seemed to have the upper hand at first there were just so many of those beasts.

Trinity managed to find the kids and secure them, leaving guard to protect them in the room while the rest went back to the main hall to assist the others. Trinity's new Warlock Queen powers were coming in handy as she was taking out those beasts pretty easily. And she even seemed to be able to shift into other animals as well, giving her even more power.

After a while, three new, very strong Warlocks arrived. They came out of seemingly nowhere and were ready for a fight.

"Guess it's time for a boss fight." Shane laughed as he turned toward the three warlocks that had just burst into the room. "Let's take care of them right away." He was still laughing, ready to fight whoever he needed to, but he didn't sense the danger he was in as it looked like the female Warlock in the group aimed her hand at him.

"Shane no!" Trinity yelled at him, trying to stop his eager advance.

"NO!" I screamed, fear and anguish washing over me as I just knew that my brother was going to be lost to me forever.

The woman blasted a shining black ball of magic at Shane, just as he was about to attack her. However, instead of hitting my stupid, arrogant brother, he was knocked out of the way at the last second by Dietrich who had shadow walked as quickly as he could and pushed him out of the ball's path. Unfortunately the ball hit Dietrich, smashing into him instead of Shane.

"Dietrich!" I was screaming again, the second time in the matter of seconds. I felt my heart twist and ache with pain as I saw Dietrich's body twist and spin awkwardly to the stone floor. My heart both stopped and started racing at triple speed. Oh Goddess, was he going to be ok? Is he still alive? What happened to him? Those questions were racing through my mind while I ran to his side and pulled him out of the way of the fight and to the back of the hall.

Once I had made sure that my mate was safe I rejoined the fight, going after that woman who had hurt Dietrich and tried to hurt my brother.

I had levitated several bits of debris from the room and was making them fly at top speed toward that Witch who had wanted to destroy my family by taking my brother or my mate from me. She was going to pay.

The Witch was dodging and using magic to deflect my attacks while trying to send more magic balls flying at me. Well two could play at that game bitch. I used my telekinesis to stop the magic balls, about a dozen of them in total, and sent them all flying back at her at a higher rate of speed. She was not prepared for that and had been taken by surprise when her attacks had been rebounded back to her.

The dozen or so magic orbs hit the woman all in the chest. The combined intensity of that magic hitting her all at once combined with the sharp piece of debris I was still sending her way, which weren't being deflected now, the combination of it proved to be fatal for her. The magic all seemed to have gone straight for her heart. Unable to handle that much of a blast, her chest exploded, the gore of which nearly made it all the way to me, but the bits of blood, flesh, and other unmentionables, all seemed to fall short by just mere inches.

As soon as the Witch's corpse fell to the floor I heard someone's voice break into the hate filled fog that had been filling my brain.

"Is it over?" Shane asked apprehensively.

"I think so." Trinity told him.

"Stay on guard." Reece ordered. "We must stay vigilant in case someone else shows up."

"Agreed." Noah added. Noah and Reece had just shifted back to their human forms.

"Noah, that's not a sight I want to see. Can someone please either get robes for us all, or go get clothes from the caravan for us." Trinity seemed embarrassed.

"As you wish my queen." I heard Gabriel's voice answer her request.

"Someone keep the kids in the room, we're not in any state for them to see us. And Gabriel, ask for Griffin and Juniper to come back with you." Trinity added.

"Yes, milady." Gabriel nodded and left the basement.

I had only heard part of that conversation as I was lost in my fog of anger and hatred during most of it. But as soon as I was back to my senses I remembered why I was angry to begin with. I ran as fast as I could then, like there were flames chasing me at my heels. I was running as fast as I could to my mate's side.

"Dietrich?" I yelled as I was running. "Dietrich?" I yelled again as I skidded to a halt at his side. As soon as I came to a stop next to him I heard Dietrich moan in pain as he put a hand to his head and went to sit up gingerly, as if in great pain.

"Shawn." Dietrich said my name softly, tenderly. His voice and eyes were both so full of love as he looked at me.

"Liebling." I nearly cried as I said that one word.

Completely devoid of rational thought or inhibitions at the moment I did the only thing I could think of doing. I threw my arms around Dietrich's neck and pressed my lips to his. I had intended the kiss to be chaste, sweet, romantic, full of love and concern, but Dietrich had other plans. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, deepening the kiss and turning it into something less innocent, far from chaste.

I don't know how far we would have gone if it wasn't for Reece clearing his throat, breaking the silence and interrupting us.

"I'm glad you seem to be ok, Dietrich. How are you feeling?" Trinity asked Dietrich, a look of worry filling her eyes.

"Ja, ja, I will be fine, thanks to the lovely medicine." He grinned and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I just blushed crimson while everyone looked at us with joy filled eyes.