Moonchild

Sixty

"You cannot be serious! You are not leaving the reservation, Aurie! Absolutely not!" The way Lukas is struggling to restrain his growling while he holds me I know I need to tree carefully, Cricket having texted Ben for me, the angel currently on his way with his brother and a few of the others in charge of the safety of all of us D.A. students who have already started making waves in the world around us... Even after we graduate, for the first year or so the angelic council still keeps tabs on us and makes sure that our security teams are up to snuff... Protecting their investment into our futures and the peacefulness that had been fought so hard for when it comes to the intermingling of all of our species.

"I'm just saying it might be smart to start thinking about maybe sending me back to school...It would be easier on you all than trying to figure out how to protect me. They already know how." It shouldn't fall on the pack to try and figure out how to protect me when up until a few weeks ago the only resident celebrity here on the reservation was Cricket, and while it isn't like he doesn't have his own fans, they tend to give him ample breathing room thanks to a video of him crying after one of our shows in Thailand, his hair having been caught and pulled on by a fan so hard he had wanted to cut it off right then and there.

...

Lukas

...

There seems to be no right way to try and figure out how to communicate my need to have Aurie right here in my lap where I can see him and protect him, the little omega still not used to having people in his life other than the teachers that care about him, "Aurie. You. Are. Not. Leaving. My. Sight." I know that slamming my dominance into him so that he understands the gravity of the situation maybe isn't the best game plan but it finally forces him to stop and listen instead of trying to convince me that a college campus could ever be safer for him than hidden away in the heart of his pack where he belongs.

I feel awful feeling Aurie stiffen and then force his body to go slack in my arms under the weight of my wolf in the air, his neck being offered just like I can assume Cricket's is at the moment in a show of submission that makes the guilt already building inside of my heart to feel that much heavier before I let the dominance drop so we can all breathe again.

"A-Alpha Lukas... Au-Luna Aurie is right... " This time the objection comes from behind me, Cricket's voice shakey as he tries to be the very wrong voice of reason, "It's only going to get worse. When we were touring Aurie hadn't won the title of rookie of the year yet and we ended up trapped in what was it....seven different hotels... because so many of his fans and photographers had flooded the lobby that it wasn't safe for us to leave. I don't think you get it... Luna Aurie doesn't want to leave for his own safety he wants to leave for ours."

...

Aurie

...

Just as always Cricket seems to be able to speak my mind more eloquently than I myself can, his wording finally expressing to my mate what I hadn't been able how to figure out how to say in English without screaming at him... The way Lukas looks down at me for confirmation and flinching when he realizes I can't meet his eyes just yet hurting my already achy heart, "People followed you to the hotels?"

"Lukas, they would have followed us home from the boutique opening the other day too if they could have figured out what car we were actually in." The words feel small as they float from my mouth into Lukas's chest, his hand starting the familiar pattern it follows whenever he knows I'm uncomfortable as he processes the information, my mind still too intimidated to reach out to his to try and figure out where his head is at.

"It's not like the entire crowd that was there would randomly show up here! Baby, I can keep you-" Lukas tries to push his point once again, but instead of being allowed to continue a very stern knock sounds at the door in the pattern that we had worked out with our assigned guardian angel before the door gets pushed open only for him to be greeted by a chorus of growls before Lukas recognizes who it is.

"It's exactly like every single one of those fans that showed up at the market would show up here. They might not know what house he's in but you better believe that more than one of them were already outside when we got here", Ben leads the small portion of the flock that he brought with him, his brother Sam the only one who's name I remember, and that's only because his human mate- normally always by his side- has hair so incredibly red that it sticks out in my mind even now and used to sit in front of me in Charisma and Charm: Etiquette for Entertaining last year and I would see him from time to time when he had come to pick the spunky little future pop star.

...

Lukas

...

My throat goes dry, my nose straining to pick up the scent of several humans still stuck to the clothing that the angels have on, their story verified by the look that suddenly haunts Ben's eyes as he takes a step closer to Cricket in order to pull him into a one-armed lean so he can hold the pup's shoulders and offer the comfort I hadn't been able to with my focus being on Aurie's safety at the moment, "You've never been in the spotlight, so you wouldn't know. But that's why we're here... No one has to leave. We all just need to stay calm and delve into the rich culture you shifters have regarding border patrol and we'll be here every step of the way."

The words stun me, along with the steep relief that I feel coursing through Aurie, my feelings towards the angel running green for a moment, my wolf resenting the fact that Ben was able to gain the trust that Aurie still hasn't fully given to me... Something that I know I have to work for, though there has never been a time more than now that I wish he would just trust me with himself.

"I assume you have a system of some kind with your sister pack being a fae reservation. Oh! And you need to call them and let them know that there will be increased Angel traffic in the area. If we get caught in one of their nets we need to be able to call them to be set free-" It takes no time for the angel to take charge of my meeting, and even though my hackles raise at someone else being at the helm of my mate's safety... I know that bowing my head in this instance is what I need to do because it's what Aurie is comfortable with right now.