Ice Princess (Little Alpha Book 2)

Chapter 76

My eyes were closed as I laid in the grass, listening to Zoey play with the other children in the park. I didn't bother to move when I felt the boys coming back or when Ezekiel sat beside me. "Damn his conviction is admirable. Wouldn't even hear of just leaving and coming back when she was old enough."

I chuckled. "Sounds familiar, you let him come I see."

He sighed. "He would just watch from the trees or some shit."

"Again, familiar."

He grunted. "Whatever..."

I felt him tense as small growls began to emerge. "Violet..."

"Ignore them."

He sprang up. "They're shifting!"

Still, I felt no danger. "It happens from time to time. Let them play, Ezekiel."

Xavier moved closer. "This is normal, just kids at play."

"How the fuck... no one shifts until they are like 13 or 14."

Xavier chuckled. "Maybe in other packs."

I reached over and pulled at Ezekiel's pant leg. "Sit, they are fine. I shifted the first time when I was three or four according to mom."

"Same... we were playing. Which equates to rough housing for us and shifted."

"Just like them. Leave them be, if they get hurt, Zoey will take care of it."

He relunctantly sat down. "This isn't natural."

I gestured lazily to the air around me. "Welcome to our lives. If you haven't figured it out by now, we are not exactly normal." The playful yelps and growls stopped and I felt a weight on my chest. "Done with your play, Ladybug?"

She grunted and poked her nose in my face. "Well go and play." She whined. "Uh... I would just ignore him."

She huffed and nuzzled my face more. "They were getting rough..."

I opened an eye and gazed at Derek. "They're kids, leave them be." He frowned, but said nothing further and she trotted off. Playfully snarling as she rejoined her friends. "You can't stop her from being a kid, Derek, there is a fine line between what is safe and what is not. Here, with her pack, she is safe. Have no doubts about that."

He threw a worried look over his shoulder. "They shouldn't even be able to shift yet."

I sighed. "And the elments aren't supposed to stir at the very mention of Our Goddess, welcome to the land of mythical events. Sit, watch, don't interfere."

I groaned in protest as Ezekiel shifted me to lay my head in his lap. "You shouldn't make those sounds." I huffed and began to drift into that state between awake and asleep again.

Nothing felt off in the area, everyone milling about as they normally would. The barrier felt secure. I allowed myself this moment of peace until Derek immediately sprang up when one of the kids yelped in pain. "Sit down, Derek. It's a flesh wound and it's not Zoey. She'll take care of it."

He rigidly sat, watching carefully and relaxed as they went back to playing. "How do you know?"

I gave up my half nap and pulled one of Ezekiel's hand in front of me to play with his fingers instead. "I can feel them all, if one is hurt, I know. If someone is being harmed, chased, or attacked, I feel it. That is the connection I have with them."

He looked over at me in wonder. "All of them?"

I nodded. "Every single one and now you. I'd keep that in mind of you try anything shady. I will know as soon as you do something out of character or with the intention of harm."