“Alpha Jack and Reigna Bonnie. They gave permission for several of us to go.”
“When?” Niko demanded.
“Earlier this evening. The kids were tired and whiny and there wasn’t room for all of us here. She’s fine, I’m sure. She’s a resourceful female and knows how to take care of herself.”
“The fuck you say!” Niko yelled, then stomped off in the direction of Jack and Bonnie’s bedroom. He stopped only when he was right up against the bedroom door and began knocking — non-stop. And as his knocks grew faster, they grew louder until he was practically banging on the door.
The door was yanked open and Jack stood there, sleepy-eyed, and snarling.
“You sent Maeve and Griffin away?!” Niko demanded.
“Yes,” Jack snarled.
“What the hell were you thinking, sending them out on their own?!” Niko shouted.
“I was thinking that they might be more comfortable in a nice warm bed with plenty of room to relax and make themselves at home,” Jack yelled.
Niko’s angry expression morphed into surprise. “Maybe I should have started with ‘where did you send them?’.”
“You think?” Jack asked. “Or maybe you could have waited until we all wake up, sometime in another couple of hours?” Jack snapped.
“Hit him, Daddy,” Izzie said as she yawned and turned over, throwing an arm over Bonnie who was sitting up in bed glaring at Niko.
“We have had a miserable night. The kids are sleeping with us because we gave their rooms and yours, to the Variant so they could get some rest. It’s like sleeping with two cats fighting in a burlap sack! We just managed to fall asleep a few hours ago, and you come in here at dawn demanding to know where a female and child are, and they aren’t even yours?”
“I didn’t know the sleeping arrangements, and I didn’t know where they were and I was concerned!” Niko exclaimed. “Wait, you put somebody in my room?”
“I did. And if you piss me off any further, I’ll turn your room into a fucking walk-in closet for the girls!”
“Oh, come on, that’s not nice. I’m just worried about Maeve and Griffin.”
“Who aren’t even yours!”
“You don’t know that!” Niko said.
“You claim her?” Jack demanded.
“No.”
“You tell her you’re going to claim her?” Jack asked.
“No.”
“You planning on telling her you’re going to claim her?” Jack pressed.
“No, I am not claiming anybody!” Niko answered angrily.
“Then she’s not yours. She’s free to go wherever she wants, see whoever she wants, sleep with whoever she wants, get mated and have babies with whoever she wants, and right now she’s exploring being wherever she chose to be! Griffin is free to call whoever she may choose as hers ‘Daddy’, and there’s not a fucking thing you can say about it!” Jack slammed his bedroom door closed.
Niko winced at the force of the slammed door. “But, where is she?” he yelled through the closed door.
“Niko, go the fuck away!” Jack yelled.
“Daddy, you said a bad word. And you did not hit Niko like I asked,” Izzie said.
“Go to sleep, Izzie. Now!” Jack said.
“Yes, sir. But you didn’t. Just saying.”
