Chapter 47

Dinner was going well when Bill got a call from Anders.

"Yes sir."

"Yes, Of course. We'll be there tomorrow. What time?"

"Okay."

"No. We have guests for dinner."

"That's correct, sir."

"Okay. Goodnight sir."

Misty looked over at Henry and Randi. Henry knew about and understood the shifter world. However, they didn't know if Randi knew anything, or even how she would react when she was introduced to them.

"Who was that, Bill?" Henry asked.

"Anders. He wants Misty and I to come to the manor tomorrow. With Charlotte getting married to Jaxson, he wants to discuss security." Bill replied.

"That doesn't explain why they want Misty there." Henry said.

"Henry, do we really need to have this discussion right now?" Bill said.

"I suppose not. But, I really should go with you. I need to see how Charlotte is healing."

Bill could have happily choked the other man. Misty who was watching, tried her best to stifle her giggles.

"Is something funny, Misty?" Randi asked.

"Nothing really. It's just that Bill is trying his best to not say something in front of you."

"Oh, well, if it's a secret, that's fine. I don't mind." Randi said, taking a sip of her after dinner coffee.

Misty full on belly laughed at that and Randi looked at her with an odd look on her face.

"You have no idea the kind of town you are in, do you, Randi?" Misty said.

Randi tilted her head to one side and took a deep sniff through with her nose. When she did, her eyes widened like saucers. "Bear...." she whispered.

"Indeed I am, young lady." Bill said, looking pensive. "How is it you can smell him on me?"

Randi stretched her hand out for all to see and they watched as it became a large cat paw covered in black fur. She flexed it and thick claws extending, looking capable of tearing a man in half.

"Why didn't I smell you?" Bill asked feeling slightly put out he hadn't noticed her scent.

"That's easy, sir. Whenever I go somewhere new, I wear scent suppressor. There have been times that I was very thankful for it too." she stated, simply.

"Scent suppressor. I didn't even know that such a thing was available." Misty replied.

"Anders, Jaxson and Rio are going to want to know about that. As will every shifter out there. Of course, after the Alpha and Beta ceremonies, it won't matter much." Bill said, still feeling disgruntled.

Misty and Henry laughed at the look on his face.

"Cheer up, Bill. I could have been worse. She could have gone into the Alpha house with me tomorrow and never said a word. That would have really been a nasty surprise." Then, turning to look at Randi, Henry asked, "Why didn't I know about this until tonight?"

"Because our secret is so special and people are so mean." She said.

"Bill and Misty are family. It wouldn't have been a secret long. Plus, the chaos that you would have caused... Bill is the Gamma. His job is to protect the clan. But, his primary job is to protect the Alpha couple. If you had not told him, or rather shown him, tonight and you walked into that house, anything could have happened." Henry frowned, thinking of something, "If you are going to marry me, then why didn't you show me?"

Randi got mad then. "And when was I supposed to show you, Henry? When? The last time I saw you, was the night I was sick and slept in your bed with you. You left before I could even get awake. That was ten years ago!" Then just for good measure, she shouted at him, "Asshole!!"

Misty was laughing, enjoying watching her brother have to deal with the consequences of his actions over the years.

"It's not funny Misty. It's not like I understood. I knew some shifters in the military, then I met Jaxson and Rio. My history with shifters are small, to say the least...." Henry stopped talking when he realized something. Turning back to Randi, he asked her a serious question.

" How old are you when you recognize your mate?" She quietened swiftly when he asked.

"I knew almost immediately." Misty gasped, so did Henry.

"But Randi, you were just a child. I thought shifters had to be in their late teens before they know who their mates are."

"That's true for a lot of shifters, Misty. But, evidently we cats are different. At least my family line is. My mom said she recognized Dad at 5 years old. Bit of a shock for him. But his mom and grandmother told him something similar."

"Amarandi, why did you never tell me." Henry said in a pained voice.

"What was I supposed to do, Henry? Beg you to come home and be my mate and marry me? No. I have some pride. After telling you at nine years old that I would marry you when I grew up, what else was I going to do?" Henry watched as tears leaked from her eyes and streaked a silvery trail down her cheeks. "I quit asking about you about a year after that night. I got tired of seeing the looks of pity on your mom and dad's faces. I got tired of being unmercifully teased in town and college because of it." Taking a deep breath, she tried to get ahold of herself. "It was awful and embarrassing and it was not something that I want to live through again."

Standing so suddenly her chair tipped over and fell to the floor, clattering. Misty got up and walked over to her. "Come on. Let's get your face washed and get you sorted out a little bit while the men talk." She said with a pointed look to her mate.

Bill and Henry watched the women leave the room and head to the half bath down the hall from the dining room. Once the women were at out earshot, well Misty, anyway, Bill whistled.

"Boy howdy, son. When you mess up, you do a bang up job of it. You really had your head up your ass for a long time now, haven't you?" Getting up from the table, Bill walked over to the small bar and poured them both a measure of whiskey and handed Henry his.

"When those two walk back in here, it might be a good idea for you to take that young lady back to your house and you two have a good long conversation."

"I think that is an excellent idea, Bill. Of course, I only have myself to blame, don't I?"

"Well yeah, you do. But, it's fixable. You and your lady need to figure it out."

Neither one had time to say anything because both ladies joined them. They were laughing and Randi's eyes were no longer red and overflowing with tears.

Standing up and walking over to her, he picked up one of her hands and kissed it. Leaning in, he whispered, "Ready to go?"

Eyes wide, she nodded. Henry waved to both Bill and Misty and bid them goodnight.

After they left, Bill and Misty started to clean up and put away the leftovers.

"What time do we need to be at the Alpha House?" Misty asked as they were loading the dishwasher.

"Anders asked if we could be there by noon."

"Do we have anything to do before we go?" Misty asked.

"No. Nothing that won't wait anyway. How's your stomach in the morning?" Bill asked. He was standing behind her and gently rubbing her lower abdomen. Smiling, she asked him, "You enjoy doing that, don't you?"

"Hmm, I really do." Bending down, he kissed her cheek and then kissed her mate mark. "Besides, our little princess enjoys having daddy pet her."

"Princess, huh? What makes you think this baby is going to be a girl?"

"Father's intuition. This is a girl. Mark my words. There's just a vibe I get from the baby." Kissing her cheek again, he said, "Let's go to bed."

Sure enough, Misty yawned. She tired easily. She needed to talk to Henry about taking something for extra energy. She also planned on talking to Miney about carrying a shifter baby. She knew from being a doctor that carrying a baby took a toll on Bill and Misty your body. 'Carrying a shifter had to be harder.

Bill and Misty entered the Alpha house two minutes before noon. Miney and Anders met them. As they walked past them, Anders's eyes widened.

"Wow, new additions already?"

Bill grinned and Misty smiled, and both replied at the same time, "Yep."

"Well played, old man. Well played." Anders said grinning.

'Who you calling old, you fossil?" Bill said, smiling.

About that time Graeham, Agnes, Rio and Amber came down the stairs. Seeing Misty, Amber rushed over and hugged her former co-worker.

"Bill honey, don't forget about Henry and Randi."

"Who's that?" Anders asks.

"Randi just might be Henry's mate." Bill said, waiting for the inevitable.

"Henry's not a shifter." And there it was.

"No, but Randi is," Bill replied.

"Who is Randi?" Anders was starting to sound frustrated.

Misty could see Bill dancing around the subject, not really wanting to tell the retired Alpha couple. "Anders, Miney, Randi is the girl that has loved Henry since she was a child. We just found out last night that she's a shifter. Some kind of black cat, I think."

Anders stopped and stared. "Did you say black cat?"

"Yeah, if the fur on her paw was any indication. Why? Is that wrong or something?" Misty realized that Anders and Misty both had identical expressions on their faces.

"Panthers are incredibly rare. At the last known count, there were less than one hundred of them in the entire world. If she's a breeding female, she will have to be protected." Anders said in a tone filled with wonder.

"She wears scent suppressors." Bill informed him.

"What a clever girl." Just then the couple being discussed entered the house.

Looking at the small group in the foyer, Randi looked over at Misty and said, "You told them, didn't you?"