The sun had just started to come up in the early morning hours of February 9th. It was Mardi Gras.
It had been a crazy and stressful week and a half for Kell. There were plenty of daimons and demons around to keep him busy at night. But, mostly it was the stress of Roxie that kept him agitated.
He knew that she was safe at Sanctuary. And for as much as Kell hated the bear for taking her away, he actually did like the kid. He seemed to genuinely care for her. He was patient and protective. And Roxie didn't even try to hide the smile that was on her face when she looked at him. It was uncomfortable as hell for Kell. But, that is what he really wanted for her. He wanted her to come to terms with her bear half, to be safe and happy.
From a more, formerly human side, he was uncomfortable with everything happening so fast. However, he knew that in the world of Were-animals, they were on a deadline. And the waiting for a decision was killing him.
It wasn't that he wanted her to run off and finish the mating too fast. But, it was facing day after day with the fear that things would fall apart and he would be picking up the pieces of his little monsters heart.
Thank the gods that there were enough targets to fight this time of year. It helped him work off some of his frustrations.
He was just climbing into bed when he got a text message from Roxie.
"Made my decision. We finished the ritual and bonded. And I still want to be a squire. I hope you can be happy for us. I will always be your little monster. I love you."
Kell smiled as he let his tears fall. He was going to miss seeing her every day, watching her grow up, hearing her laugh. How do fathers let go? His own children in his human life had died at the hands of the Romans, so he had never experienced this part of fatherhood before.
It was why he always made his squires live separate from him if they had families. He didn't want the reminders of his own children and what he had missed out on.
But, when Tom had come home with Sandra, Kell couldn't make them live on their own. Something strange had happened when they both mated. Not only where they mated, but she was pregnant right away. And during her entire pregnancy, Sandra's Sentinel markings showed. She could not hide them. Kell never understood it. But, for a woman to walk around Texas with half of her face tattooed, well, it was not the safest option for them. Plus, add in the fact that she was trying to hide from the Were community because of her crazy family. Those marks really drew too much attention. So, Sandra stayed in the house the whole pregnancy.
Tom was a busy man for nine months, trying to help his wife and a Dark-Hunter at the same time. That was why Kell let them stay in his house. Tom had enough on his plate than to deal with two people in different locations. Plus, if anyone did come around to start something, his house was the safest in the county.
Once Roxanne was born, Sandra was able to hide the markings once again. But, it was too late. Roxie had already stolen his heart. So, he never asked them to leave after that. Then, after Tom and Sandra died, he couldn't let her go. The Squire's Council wanted to set her up with a squire family. But, Kell knew that Roxie was half bear. He couldn't risk her being raised by people who didn't know and wouldn't understand. Let alone by people she didn't know. She had already lost so much, he couldn't take away her home and the only other family that she had.
He had tried to offer her connections to the Were community. He had even called and talk to Nicolette Peltier at one point. But, something had happened the night her parents died. Roxie woke up screaming as he got off of the phone with the police, in absolute hysterics, yelling about her parents being attacked by bears. The poor girl had a vision of the horrific events during her dreams, before anyone could tell her about it. For years, she could not even watch a movie or a cartoon that had a bear in it. She was so traumatized.
Kell wiped his eyes. He was so proud of her for facing her trauma, for accepting who she really is, and for making her choices. He couldn't have asked for more. Even if it meant that he had to let her go.
Roxie started to scream as she woke up. Colt was right there to hug her close. He wrapped his arms around her and held her face to his chest while one hand rubbed her back. She had been waking almost every day with the nightmares. Just once or twice through the day. And she would calm quickly once she knew he was there.
Colt kissed her forehead as she fell back to sleep. He knew that it was still hard for her to be around so many bears. But, he was proud of her for still being there, trying to work through it.
He still couldn't believe that she agreed to finish the mating ritual. That she agreed to mate with a bear. With him.
The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that the Fates chose them to be mated because they planned on her rejecting him. The Fates could be absolute bitches who go out of their way to put couples together that either hate each other or would never be able to have kids. Like it is all some long game plan to eventually kill the Were's off through lack of breeding. With Roxie's trauma and nightmares, and her quest to become a Blood Rites Squire. It was almost a slam dunk that she would reject him.
But, somehow, despite it all, she actually connected to him enough to try. Neither of them understood why they were so connected. But, because of that connection and strength that she showed, Colt was deliriously happy for the first time in his life.
Colt couldn't go back to sleep. He just reveled in the feel of Roxanne in his arms as the next hour rolled by, until their alarm went off and they started to get ready for the night ahead. It was going to be one hell of a night. It was Mardi Gras. And they had an announcement to share with the family.
Well, it would all be a busy night if they could manage to leave their room. Roxie woke up extremely hungry for her bear.
Until Remi pounded on the door, grumbling that Colt had a job to do and they were slammed.
By the time the sun had set, the Peltier house knew about Colt and Roxie finally being mated. So, Colt was getting lots of congratulations and handshakes at the bar in between serving up drinks. Roxie jumped into help deliver orders for the waitresses, while letting them know that she was not scalping their tips, just trying to help. They all appreciated it.
Ash was there with Otto, Kyrian, Amanda, Talon and Sunshine. Talon was another former Dark-Hunter who got his soul back with the help of his wife Sunshine. So, like Kyrian, Talon can be out in the daylight now. And Acheron could always be in the sun, no one really knows why he is different from the other Dark-Hunter, but he is. Anyway, they had all come to the bar early to get dinner before the night time patrols while they former Dark-Hunters helped during the busy season. And, they all wanted to congratulate Roxie on making her decision.
Otto was at least happy to hear that Roxie still wanted to be a squire, even if she did not become Blood Rites.
"I thought you were trying to push me out Otto. Why do you look disappointed with my decision?" She asked.
The other squire lifted a brow. "I was never trying to push you out. I have a lot of respect for your family history. And, you have incredible skills. You would have actually been one of the best of the Blood Rites. The only hang up was all of this." He gestured around Sanctuary. "The fact that you are part bear, meant that all of this was a possibility at some point. If you had not mated now and you became Blood Rites, then you could have ended up mated five years from now. And things would have turned out much worse. I just didn't want to see you get hurt over something you could not control."
Otto took a deep breath and put his sunglasses back on as Kell was walking in the door. "Now, don't go around telling anyone about that last part. I have a reputation for being an asshole and I would like to keep it." Then he walked out the door.
Kell stopped and looked at the squire as he left. "Did I miss something?"
Roxie put her hands on her hips. "Yeah. Where's my hug?"
Kell gave her a hug that squeezed all of the air out of her lungs. "OK, big guy. I get it. I love you too." Then he kissed her forehead and sat down to eat before getting out to his patrols. Kyrian and Talon stayed just a little longer before they left. Ash offered to make sure that Amanda and Sunshine made it home safe before he also started his patrols. That just left Roxie with Kell.
"Are you really alright with this?" Roxie asked.
Kell looked at her, then stood up and walked over to the bar and extended his hand to Colt. The two men started talking, uncomfortably, but actually talking while Colt continued to work on drink orders. Roxie ran up behind Kell and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she returned to helping with food deliveries.
It did not take long before some drunk asshole tried to cop a feel on Roxie. Before either Kell or Colt could kill the man, Roxie already had him flipped onto his back on the ground. "I really don't care how much you've had to drink. No one touches the women here unless they invite you first. Got it?" She growled at the man.
He quickly nodded his head and uttered a slew of apologies. Dev grabbed the guy up and helped him out before Colt decided to take out his anger on the human. Fang came around and frowned.
"Sorry for causing a scene." Roxie mumbled and dropped her eyes.
Fang barked out a laugh. "No. The guy, he deserved it. We have no problems in keeping the customers in line on that shit, especially where our mates are concerned. I am more concerned about the table that you broke in the process."
She blushed. She had not even realized that she broke anything. So, she looked at the table. "It's a simple fix, if you have welding equipment around, I can patch it up right now."
Fang looked at her. Both Kell and Colt answered at the same time. "She really can."
Roxie rolled her eyes. "Fang, meet Kell. He is the badass that makes all of those droolicious weapons for the Dark-Hunters. He is also the man that raised me. I have spent the past ten years working in his workshop. If it is metal, I can probably do it. If I can't, then I can call Kell to find out what to do."
Fang gave a wide grin. "Good to know you can be put to work around here. We can deal with this tomorrow." Then he picked up the table and carried it through the crowd.
Colt moved out from behind the bar. "You know, that was damn sexy." He said as he pulled her into his arms for a kiss.
"Hey man. I am still here." Kell growled.
Colt blushed and stepped back, running his hands through his hair. Roxie laughed. "But, you need to be going on patrol." She pulled Kell to the door. Giving her one last kiss on the cheek, he left.
The rest of the night, Roxie helped where she could. She watched as Colt broke up two more fights and nearly took the arm off of another guy that tried to hit on her. Damn, she liked how dominant he was around the other men. It made her absolutely sizzle with need. By the time the band was getting ready to perform, several other members of the family had made their way over to her for introductions and congratulations. Colt smiled with pride at each person that accepted her.
Colt was so impressed with Roxie. She handled herself amazingly well given all of the challenges she had been going through. And now that she did not have the aura of being seriously pissed off at everyone, they all welcomed her to the family. The pride of it, of her, was so powerful, he struggled to concentrate on the drinks he had to serve through the evening.
As he jumped up onto the stage to start playing, he asked Roxie to sit off to the side, where he could watch her. After the two earlier issues with drunken men, he didn't want her out of his sight. Fortunately for him, she did not fight him on it.
It was definitely a different feel for the night as the place was packed to the gills, people were super drunk already, and women kept flashing the band for the beads that Angel tossed out to the crowd. Roxie supposed she should be jealous, but how could she be when Colt only had his eyes on her the whole time. She lost herself in the look on his face. The intensity of his eyes, the small smile that tugged at his lips. He looked at her with love, with pride, with lust. And he was hers. Her mate. She still could not believe that.
She was happy and in love, with a bear! And he was all hers.
After a few songs, one woman tried to climb on stage and grope Colt. He had been so focused on Roxie that he didn't see it coming. But, before Roxie could jump up to interfere, Angle had his arm wrapped around the woman and was hauling her away. Colt raised a brow and laughed while he mouthed the word "sorry" toward Roxie.
Once Angel returned to the mic, without the woman, he leaned over to Colt to whisper something and then quickly said something to the other members of the band.
"Alrighty boys and girls. Since we seem to have a few in the crowd tonight that are extra excited to see our lead guitar player, Colt, we thought we should take the moment to burst everyone's bubble."
Colt jumped down to where Roxie sat and took her hand and lead her onto the stage.
"For all of the friends and family here with us tonight, we would like to introduce you all to the very new Mrs. Colten Theodorakopolis." Applause and congratulations rang out around the bar. "Now, ladies, keep a hold of your jealousy. Colt only has eyes for Roxie, and she probably would break your arm if you try to get in the middle again."
Roxie was blushing, but Colt leaned against one of the amplifiers as he pulled her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her to settle in with his guitar once again. And they all broke into playing a quieter rock ballad. Roxie closed her eyes and melted into her mate. She leaned her head back against his shoulder while he dropped his head to nuzzle into her neck as he played.
Kell stood at the door while he watched Roxie and Colt on stage. A smile tugged at his lips.
"Are you sure you are going to be alright with this?" Dev asked him.
Kell shrugged. "I have to be. I don't really have a choice. I am just glad that I didn't screw things up."
"You know, you did right by her. Now that I know about her vision, I understand why you didn't push for her to meet us sooner. Honestly, I don't know if she ever would have opened up had she not met Colt." The bear put a hand on Kell's shoulder.
Kell gave the man a smile. "Thanks bear. Just, please make sure she stays safe and happy here."