BK 3 - Chapter 15 - Planning
Thatcher and Janel returned to the house shortly after Michael and the others. Everyone gathered in the living room to find out what had been discovered.
Michael started by showing the pictures at their first stop. Melanie confirmed that the couple was Eli and Harper. He then shared the photos from the second stop and repeated what they had overheard. Trey's arms instinctively went around Cat when he heard Karlee and Vincent's plan.
"There is no way they're getting their hands on Cat or Melanie," Saxon said with his arm around his mate protectively. He knew she was more than capable of protecting herself, but that didn't mean she always had to.
"I agree. Neither of them is to be left alone." Cat looked at Trey through narrowed eyes.
"Don't go all caveman on us. Melanie and I love the sentiment, but we're no damsels in distress." Everyone chuckled at Cat putting Trey in his place. He was the largest out of all of them, and she was the smallest. That never stopped her from putting her foot down when he tried to treat her like a piece of glass. He held his hands up in surrender.
"I know you both don't need us, but will you please make sure you're not alone? There's no reason to take a chance if you don't need to." Cat looked at her daughter, who nodded.
"That's more like it. Why didn't you just say that to begin with?" She kissed Trey's cheek and relaxed against him as he shook his head. They'd been together for over twenty years, but sometimes he still saw her as the young woman who was scared to be touched. Cat was always quick to remind him that she wasn't like that anymore.
"Thatcher and Janel, what did you find?" Trey asked, trying to change the subject. The vampire couple looked at each other sadly.
"We were able to get into the auction house, and it broke our hearts. They had shifters of all ages, from newborns to elders, in cages with starting bid prices attached to the front. There was one vampire. She looked to be about a year old." Janel said. Lisa's eyes got wide, and she nodded excitedly.
"That's Jade. We got to see her sometimes when they would bring her to the lab where we were. Can we save her too?" She asked, looking around at all the adults in the room. Janel reached for Lisa, and she ran across the room into her arms.
"We're going to try. We want to save them all." She answered, kissing the top of her head. After seeing where the little cubs were kept, she wanted to keep them close. Thatcher was feeling the same way as he scooped up Alex.
"Did you find out anything else?" Melanie asked, leaning against Saxon.
"The auction starts tomorrow at noon, and they said to come early to get good seats. Do you think we should go?" Thatcher asked.
"Oh, we'll be there." Before Trey could finish what he was going to say, Kitty's phone rang. Everyone looked at her to see if it was Wesley.
"Hello, Wesley." She answered.
"Kitty, I got your text. What's going on?" He asked.
"I'm going to put you on speaker so we can explain." Kitty put her phone on the table in the middle of the room, and they told Wesley what was happening.
"Wow, you all have been busy. If I had known you could get this much information so quickly, I would have put you in charge of this assignment." He sounded impressed.
"I thought you were investigating human trafficking. Where do shifters fit into that?" Kitty asked.
"I do investigate human trafficking. When we caught the head of one of the largest human trafficking rings in the world, he tried to make a deal by telling us about shifters. INTERPOL isn't stupid; they're well aware of the supernatural world. They've used vampires, shifters, and even witches to help them. When we discovered that shifters were being trafficked, there was no one to investigate, so we jumped on it. Brandon is telling you the truth. We came across him when we were investigating Karlee and Vincent. He and Ava were interested in helping, so we used his connection with Karlee to get them to reconnect."
Melanie was relieved. Hopefully, having them on the inside would work in their favor. However, she didn't trust Karlee and Vincent. They'd kill them if they found out the couple was undercover.
"What do you think we should do, Wesley? We plan to show up at the auction tomorrow to rescue the shifters and the little vampire." Aiden said into the phone. There was silence for a few seconds.
"If it was anyone else, I would tell you absolutely not. However, you are probably the only people who can do this without getting anyone hurt. Can I make a suggestion?" Wesley asked.
"Of course," Trey answered.
"When you go there tomorrow, only have Janel and Thatcher go inside. They've already seen them. The rest of you wait outside and get the shifters from the people as they bring them out. I'll arrange to have a team there to arrest the buyers while you help the captives. Let Brandon know your plan so he can try and keep Karlee and Vincent away from there. With them wanting to get their hands on Cat and Melanie, I suggest they stay away. It would be too tempting if they were to see the two of you. I can almost feel both of you glaring at me through the phone." Everyone laughed when Melanie and Cat both turned a little red. They were indeed glaring at the phone, getting ready to argue.
"Can we go?" Lisa asked with all seriousness. Cat and Melanie exchanged a look and then looked at Trey.
"Lisa and Alex, I have an extremely important job for you tomorrow." The cubs ran over to Trey excitedly.
"What do we get to do?" Alex asked shyly.
"You have to stay here and keep your mommy and grandma safe. There are bad people that want to take them away, and we can't let that happen. So do you think you're up for the challenge?" Trey looked between the two of them, who nodded eagerly.
"We can do it. We won't let anyone get them." Lisa said with conviction. She walked over and climbed on Melanie's lap while Alex climbed onto Cat's. It was clear they were taking their jobs seriously.
"Now that's settled, please be careful, everyone. We don't need any of you captured while trying to rescue others." Wesley was nervous about putting them in danger, but he knew if anyone could do it, then it would be his family.
"Thank you, Wesley; we'll call you if anything comes up," Kitty said before hanging up. No one said anything for a few minutes.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry. The kitchen here is stocked. Let's go see what we can cook for dinner." Cat said, standing up.
"Can we help?" Lisa asked.
"Of course," The cubs went to the kitchen with Cat and Kitty while Melanie watched. She loved that her mom was bonding with them.
"So, how upset are you about staying behind tomorrow?" Saxon asked, taking Melanie's hand.
"Probably about as upset as you're going to be. You need to stay here tomorrow, too," Thatcher said to his son. Saxon looked at him, ready to argue, but Trey stepped in.
"They know who you are, Saxon. You can't be seen there, or it will give us away. Besides, we need someone here with Cat, Melanie, and the cubs. I meant what I said; I don't want them to be left alone." Melanie glared at her dad. She was tired of people thinking she and her mom couldn't protect themselves, but Trey just stared at her unwavering. Saxon squeezed her hand, making her calm down instantly.
"I'll stay here." Melanie felt relieved he would be with her but didn't like leaving the others short-handed. The good news was there were sixteen people going tomorrow. Hopefully, that would be enough to do what they needed. Lisa came running into the room, looking around.
"Grandma Cat and Aunt Kitty are making spaghetti and meatballs. I've never had balls of meat." Melanie laughed with everyone else at her excitement. Lisa and Alex were the light they all needed to get through this.
After dinner, everyone was exhausted and went to their rooms. Elicia and Emily volunteered to bathe the cubs and get them to bed. Melanie and Saxon were both a little nervous when they got to their room. They'd only had a few minutes alone all day, and now the quiet was almost overwhelming.
"I'm going to get a shower," Melanie said, going to the closet to get her clothes. Before she could get far, Saxon grabbed her hand.
"Are you sure you're okay sharing a room with me? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He said softly, brushing the hair out of her face. Melanie felt her body relax from his touch.
"I'm sure Sax. You're my mate. We technically have two children now and will need to find a house when we get home. I was scared that maybe we were moving too fast after I resisted you for so long." She answered, looking into his gorgeous face.
"I've been waiting for our life together for a long time Lanie. Everything may be happening all at once and not in the way we would have expected, but that's okay. We're going to make it work because we have each other. I love you. I know you're not there yet, but I've loved you for as long as I can remember." Saxon ran his fingers through her hair, loving the silky feel of it.
"Thank you for being so understanding. I'm going to go get that shower. I won't be long." Melanie leaned up and kissed his cheek, but he wanted more. Saxon held her to him and brought his mouth to hers. He kissed her slowly and softly, making her knees weak. When he pulled away, she felt a little dazed.
"Get your shower. I've been wanting you in my bed for a long time." He whispered before kissing her forehead. Melanie felt her face getting hot. She knew he wasn't expecting anything to happen tonight, but when he kissed her, it made her want to throw him on the bed and not for sleeping.
She took a quick shower, and Saxon was already in bed waiting for her when she came out. When he saw the surprise on her face, he smirked.
"I took a shower in one of the other bathrooms." Melanie tried to think of a reason to delay getting in bed, but couldn't. She walked over, trying to hide her nervousness. She wasn't uneasy about sleeping with him; she was nervous that she'd want to do more than that.
"I promise I won't bite unless you want me to," Saxon said slyly, making her even more flustered. She slid into the bed and laid stiffly on her back, afraid to get too close. Saxon chuckled and put his arm around her pulling her against him. He rolled Mealnie onto her side so he could spoon her and hold her tight. She slowly relaxed into his hold as Chika purred softly.
"Goodnight, Lanie."
"Goodnight, Sax."
