Chapter 28

Konner hung up the phone and tossed it onto his desk. Usually, things came together quickly, except the one time he needed them to.

“Having trouble?”

Konner looked to see Calum leaning in the doorway. “Hitting a lot of walls right now.”

“With?”

Konner motioned to the folders stacked on his desk. “We have eight building sites, including Deacon and Blair’s, and the contractors are whining about the weather.”

“Maybe you should recruit some of Lois White’s clan or one of the others that like the snow and cooler temperatures.”

Konner looked at the folders, then back to him. “They don’t need to specialize, just able to build.” He waved a hand around. “All of the supervisors will work through any weather. Normally this is when things slow down, so the crew makes plans with mates and families—” The cup was empty. He didn’t remember drinking it.

“Okay, well there are several at Blairs that will jump in and help, I know that, so send a small crew there.” He grinned. “They have any equipment needed right down the road.”

Konner set the empty cup down and picked up the book with the list of men in it. “Blair won’t mind if we enlist their help?”

Calum sat down. "He’ll probably thank you for giving everyone something to do.”

Konner glanced at him to see the amused look on his face.

“His clan went from ten to twenty-seven in a matter of a few weeks, the sooner they’re all busy and have their own place to stay, the happier all will be.”

He envied that Blair had found many members of the clan. Although the sudden chaos would drive anyone crazy, he imagined. “Okay, I’ll talk to Auburn and see how many he thinks we’ll need at Deacon’s.” He looked at the empty cup again, really wanting more tea. “Instead of separate units, we’re going to do a one-level duplex type of build for the time being.”

Calum nodded. “How many can it house?”

“Comfortably? Probably six to ten. I guess it depends on whether there are children or adults.”

“Did you get any more details about those two needing to get out?”

Konner shook his head. “I’m waiting for a call about the finer details.”

“Who helps you on the other end? Are they part of the Alliance?”

Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest. How much did he trust this man? Calum Dante was reputed for doing whatever was required, but he wasn’t sure if any of that was outside of what the Alliance would or wouldn’t allow. “They’re not part of any faction.”

“But they’re shifters?”

He nodded again.

“So why not bring them into the Alliance?” Calum sat down and looked up at him. “I assume they can take care of themselves.”

“They can, they’ve helped me numerous times, but not out of honor, if you know what I mean.”

“So they’re mercenaries.” Calum shrugged. “More often than not, they’re only taking money for help so they can look after their own. You should talk to them, feel around a little and see, they might want to trade money for security.”

“I’ll do that.” In all the years he’d been working with them, he’d never thought they may want something different. “They’re pretty rough around the edges.”

Calum chuckled. “That just gives them character.”

Konner went over to the window and then stopped, Olanna, Nolyn, and Shaelan were going down to the lake. All three of them were wrapped in blankets. “Calum?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is your mate going for a swim while it’s snowing? We have an indoor pool house.”

Calum got up and came and stood beside him. “She’s testing a theory.”

“What theory?”

Calum sighed. “She wants to see if the women’s levels change when they’re in the water.”

“Levels?”

Calum shrugged. “Blood tests, I don’t remember what she went on about, but if they change then the water birth will definitely be the route to go.”

Konner watched Olanna and Nolyn drop their blankets and run into the lake. They probably only brought blankets to make Shaelan feel better. “She can test something like that?”

Calum leaned on the window and kept his gaze locked on his mate as she slowly walked out into the water. The way she stepped; he knew it was too cold for her. “Apparently.” He sighed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make sure my mate jumps into a hot shower as soon as she’s done this.”

Konner watched Olanna go out to the deeper part and then turn to come back. “She could have sat on the dock over by the fishery.”

“Could have, but that would be half measure and my woman doesn’t do half measure.” Calum shook his head and turned to the door.

Konner watched Shaelan go out waist deep, he could see she was shivering from here. Women were tenacious creatures. Nolyn swam up to Shaelan floated on her back and held her arm up out of the water. Shaking his head, he turned around and grabbed his cup, he needed a cup of tea—and should probably check on Terah while he was there.

He checked her room, the entertainment room, and as a last resort the common house, praying the whole time she wasn’t trying to bake again.

When he'd exhausted all possible rooms, he went to the front of the house to look out the window, thinking maybe she was down at the lake where Shaelan was doing her tests. The younger children would be doing their studies right now and the two boys should be over at the fishery doing chores, so he wasn’t sure where else to look.

He was just about to turn around and go get his shoes when he saw her coming out of the trees that ran to the side docks around the lake. She was wrapped in a towel. He checked the shore again and saw that Olanna and Nolyn weren’t there now. Relief filled him; he’d been concerned she’d been in the lake when they were. Swimming in a pool with children was nothing like being in the lake with others. Breathing another sigh of relief, he was just about to turn to go back to the kitchen when Lucus and Paxton came out of the trees, towels wrapped around them. They were laughing and called out something to Terah. She stopped and smiled at them, pointing to the lake, Pax shook his head at whatever she’d said.

She’d been in the lake with two males. His mind started flying with all the ways that could have gone very wrong. He squeezed them shut, he knew she’d understood when he’d explained it. His gaze narrowed in on the boys wondering if Paxton had coerced her into going for a swim with them. Grinding his teeth, he spun on his heel and went back to the kitchen. Putting the kettle on to boil, he stood there leaning on the island tapping his hands on it. Paxton wasn’t that naïve, to ignore the warning that he knew Malachi had given all of them.

They came in the door, one after the other, still laughing and talking. Konner stood there, motionless, waiting for them to notice him. Lucus spotted him first and stopped so suddenly that Paxton, who was looking at Terah at that moment, walked right into him. His eyes went wide when he saw why Lucus had stopped. Paxton on auto defend mode, opened his arms, raising his hands. “She joined us; we didn’t know.”

Lucus bobbed his head quickly. “She startled Pax so bad, I thought he might die on me.”

Konner stood there, not even able to find the words to speak to them.

“I saw them leave and followed them,” Terah said, walking around the pool, toward the kitchen. “Do not be mad at them.”

Konner dragged his gaze from her to the two boys, still standing where they’d stopped. “Go get dressed.” He tried to keep the bark out of his words but failed.

Both teens jolted and made fast work of getting down the hall to their rooms.

Terah stood on the other side of the island now. “They were safe. I would not hurt them.” Her hair was dripping onto the towel, soaking it.

“You couldn’t know…”

Terah shook her head, a hard expression on her face, “I am strong, Konner, not weak as you think.” She practically spat the words at him. “I know they are boys; I would not hurt them.”

He gripped the counter tight and inhaled slowly, buying time to try to find the words to explain it to her.

“I am fine. They are fine.” Her words were clipped. “You can take two more off the list.” She turned and walked quickly toward her room.

Dropping his head, he closed his eyes. That was a big failure on his part.

“You shouldn’t be mad at her.”

Turning, he looked to see Lucus standing there, wearing a navy bathrobe.

“She was careful. She stalked us halfway across the lake, checking for herself how she felt about being in the water with another water clan.” Jamming his hands in his pockets. “We didn’t even know she was there until she popped up out of the water and did this epic twirl.” He waved his hands in a circle above his head. “Like some kind of freaking mermaid or something.” He gave Konner a serious look, "She practically glows when she’s in the water, Konner, I’ve never seen that. Why does she do that?”

Konner wiped his hand over his face, feeling like a slug for reacting the way he had. “I’m not sure, but there’s a lot of things about her that are different.”

“But she’s like us, right?”

Konner nodded. “Her line was the combination of Alpha lines from other clans, they hoped to strengthen the clan.”

Lucus snorted. “Well, they succeeded. She’s crazy fast, like swam circles around us and that, that twirl thing, I don’t even know how she does it.” He scowled, “I can get like four feet if I really build up the momentum. It’s like she grows wings and soars.”

Konner smirked at his dramatic expressions, but he couldn’t argue with them. “I saw her do in the pool house, with Kole on her back.”

“For real? She can do that carrying someone?” He frowned, “Kole isn’t that big, but still. Just don’t be mad at her. She even warned us if she did anything funny to get out of the water.” He shook his head. “Not that it would have mattered with how fast she is. I’m going to grab a shower.” He backed up two steps and then turned and walked back down the hall.

The kettle whistling caught his attention. Going over, he took it off the burner and then set it down. Two more off the list. That left Reeves and himself. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and then blew it out. He had no idea how he felt about things if Reeves turned out to be her mate. None at all. Shaking his head, he turned and started for the office. His want of a relaxing cup of tea was gone.

He needed to get his head into work and keep it there.