"Are you limping?" Marko gave me a funny look.
"No."
"I… I think you are," Dwayne cocked his head to the side.
"I'm not."
Jeremy arched an eyebrow, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"Babe," Paul threw an arm around my shoulders. "That limp is not fine."
"Shut up!" I snapped as I grabbed Paul's hand to push him away; my grip was stronger than I intended and I could hear several of the bones in his hand crack. "Shit. That was uncalled for. I'm sorry."
"Damn, woman!" Paul bared his teeth with a hiss. He cradled his hand and turned to David. "What'd you do to her, man?"
David was clearly amused, "It was just some macho man pride… thing."
"You broke my fucking leg because I claimed a moment of dominance," I corrected with a sharp look.
"Same thing," David said before pressing a kiss to my cheek and venturing off with Marko and Jeremy.
"Temperamental child," I muttered.
Dwayne laughed as he scooped me into his arms, "You know how he gets when he's hungry. You two are the exact same – damn soul mates." He shot a look to Paul. "Let's grab some dinner and you'll both be fine."
"My hero," I teased with fondness. "You know, I might have been better off if my destiny had let me to you and not David."
"Yeah," Paul grumbled. "I might be better off if that had happened."
"Sorry, man. It's not always David's fault that happens. And I wouldn't stop her from kicking your ass."
xoxoxoxo
Half an hour later, the three of us were well fed and Paul and I were healed.
Being immortal and indestructible were two different things, especially when the damage was caused by someone whose strength matched our own.
Thankfully the ailments never lasted long.
We walked along the crowded boardwalk and smiled inwardly as the other occupants unconsciously parted for us. It was just something about our energy – some flocked, some fled.
And when one did flee, another flocked.
"Hey!" Trinity lifted her hand in a wave as we – Dwayne at my side with his arm thrown around my shoulders and Paul to his other side – rounded the corner so that the open front of her family's shop was in sight.
"Mm," Paul made the sound with a smirk on his lips.
"You're cruising for another broken hand," Dwayne said with a deep laugh.
I side eyed the boys as I smiled and nodded my head in recognition of Trinity's wave, "He should be more concerned about something else being broken."
"Come on, babe," Paul chuckled as he moved around to my side. "You said that we couldn't play with your little pet because she was just a kid."
I stopped about two yards from the shop and grabbed his arm, "What's your point?"
Paul grinned, "Today she's not a kid anymore." He turned and ran the last few feet to the store. "Happy birthday, flower child!"
Dwayne looked from where Paul was spinning Trinity in a hug down to me, "How did he know it was her birthday?"
Trinity had mentioned her date of birth months before. Marko and Paul had both been around when she did, but I was sure that I was the only one that would remember.
I should have known better.
Paul had clearly been marking days off of his calendar.
"Because he's a fucking asshole, that's how," I growled.
"I know you'll hate to hear it, but she's fair game if she's 18," Dwayne clicked his tongue. "You should have picked a different reason to why he couldn't touch her."
"He's only interested because I like her…" I shook my head. "Bastard."
"What did you expect?" Dwayne scoffed. "That's how we operate."
"Yes, well… He's not fucking killing her."
"And how do you plan on stopping him?"
I didn't answer as I pushed away from him and moved into the shop to embrace Trinity, who had finally been released from Paul's arms, "Happy birthday, Triny."
"Thanks," The human smiled. "I can't believe you remembered."
"I can't believe you doubted I would," I smiled. "Why are you working? Your parents should have given you the night off."
Trinity shrugged her shoulders, "They said I could close up early, but I didn't make any plans…"
I placed a finger to her lips, "Shh. Go get your bag." With a wink, I loudly addressed the patrons of the store. "Everybody out! We're closed!"
xoxoxoxo
"You actually live in a cave," Trinity used Dwayne's arm for support as we – minus Paul; he left to find David and the others once he grew wise to my unspoken plan to thwart him – descended the uneven, rocky steps into the cave. "I just thought you were, like, being cryptic."
"Well, now you know better," I chuckled as I grabbed a burning torch from the wall and threw it into a large trash bin – it was filled with old papers, so it went up in flames instantly to better illuminate the cave.
I knew that Trinity wouldn't have been able to see nearly as well without the help.
"So, what do you think?" Dwayne asked as the human finally let go of him.
Trinity turned in a single spin and smiled, "It's wicked."
Dwayne and I shared a smile as I lit a joint and balanced on the edge of the fountain, "You have no idea." He stepped in front of me and parted his lips so that I could shotgun a stream of smoke into his mouth. "Why don't you… go grab the birthday girl a drink?"
"Oh, I… I'm not really a big drinker," Trinity shook her head.
"This isn't any normal drink," Dwayne said before walking away.
"It'll give you the biggest high you've ever had," I promised.
This wasn't the gift I intended on giving the human. But thanks to Paul's blood lust, I didn't have another choice… short of killing him, which I would never do. We were all assholes. I couldn't blame him for targeting her.
Hell, had he fancied someone so fiercely, I might have fucked with him just the same.
As Dwayne said… it was how we operated.
"What is it?" Trinity questioned as she accepted the half smoked joint. "Absinthe or something?"
"…Or something," I said before jumping down.
Dwayne came back with the jeweled glass bottle that has stood the test of time, "David is going to be pissed if you do this without him."
"Paul knew what I planned on doing," I defended. "I'm sure that he has told David. Therefore, David has had plenty of time to come if he wanted to be a part of it."
"I do want to be a part of it!" David entered the cave. "Sorry we're late, traffic was bad."
"And our new friend was about as fast on his bike that Michael was on his," Marko laughed from behind him while Jeremy was draped casually against his side.
"New friend?" Dwayne and I asked simultaneously as Paul pulled Trinity away, much to her happiness.
"You wanted to make the family bigger without even talking to me about it," David hissed unkindly into my ear. "We might as well keep the balance. We don't need too many women outnumbering us."
"Mhm…" I rolled my eyes. "And who is this friend? Did you just pick someone up off the street?"
"We've seen him around… He seems like a fighter. I think he'll know how to have fun."
Dwayne passed the bottle over to David, "Well where the hell is he?"
The sound of boots clicking against the stone came seconds later as a new figure appeared at the bottom of the stairwell.
...Wolf.