Chapter 6
Jack and Bonnie heard someone coming down the stairs and listened for a second before they looked at each other. “Niko,” they both said.
“How you know it’s me?” he asked, breezing by them on his way to the kitchen.
“Rhythm of your footsteps,” Bonnie said.
“Damn. You got us all nailed down like that?”
“I do. I can tell who’s getting home, and who’s leaving. Who’s cooking, who’s going out for a midnight swim.”
“And here I think I’m being all elusive and sh… stuff,” he said, catching himself as he glanced quickly at the kids at the table before he said what he’d planned on. He backed up to focus on the table again and counted kids. “One, two, three… no, that doesn’t seem right. There should only be two. Who are you?” Niko asked, grinning as he addressed Griffin.
“I’m Griffin. Everybody calls me Griff.”
“Well, then I’ll call you Griffin, so you’ll know when it’s me,” Niko said.
Griffin shrugged. “Okay. Hey, do you know that as long as you don’t hit Bella, Izzie won’t hit you?”
“I do. You learned that already, huh?” Niko asked.
“Yep.” Griffin watched as Niko grabbed a cup, filled it with coffee, then walked over to the leftover food and rolled up five pieces of bacon and some scrambled eggs in a pancake and took a bite. “Who are you?”
“I’m Niko. I live upstairs.”
“Like a maid or something?” Griffin asked.
Niko stopped smiling. He finished chewing and glared at the child. “I am not a maid.”
“Then why do you live in the big house if you’re not Alpha?”
“Because the Alpha is my best friend and I’ve lived here for years to help keep him and his family safe.”
“Are you good at that?” Griffin asked sincerely.
“I am,” Niko said.
“Can you help keep my mom safe now? She’s worried.”
Bonnie’s hand came up to gently cover her throat in surprise that the little boy would ask such a thing, and from the look on Jack’s face, Griffin’s words touched him, too.
“We’re going to keep everybody safe,” Jack said.
Griffin nodded.
Niko walked over and squatted down beside Griffin’s chair. “You know what, my little man? I will. I promise that I will keep you and your momma safe as long as you are on this mountain. Alright?”
“What if we stay here always?”
“Then you’ll be safe always,” Niko said.
“Even if the bad guys come here, too?”
“They’re not coming here,” Jack said.
Griffin looked at Jack, and while he appeared to understand what Jack had said, he didn’t seem ready to believe it. He looked at Niko again.
“No matter who comes, no matter when, or where, I’ll protect your mom and you. And so will Alpha Jack, and all our friends. You got here in the middle of the night, so you didn’t see them all, but there are a lot of people who live on this mountain. You’re safe here.”
