CHAPTER 26: Damage control...

Ricco
"What do you mean you left her out there, Ajax?" I can hear the rage in my own voice.
"We didn't have a choice. She was so mad about Kai, she threatened to kill us all if we didn't get him to the infirmary. Honestly, though, I think at that point, even if we would have insisted on staying she would have forced us to go. I've known Celeste for a long time, Mr. Torelli, and I have never seen her even close to how enraged she was out there."
"Oh my god. That's it. Kai. Randol." I look off into the distance, waiting to see Celeste come into view. Veil still up, as she asked. Now I know why she lost it out there. It must be Randol. That must have been her choice. When she saw him get injured, she probably lost it. At least, she still made sure the other guys were out of the area before she did anything drastic. Well, I mean, she might have threatened to kill them, but she didn't so that's something, at least.
Suddenly, I see two large bears carrying humans on their backs, and one naked man floating through the air, dangling like a rag doll. Well, I guess she held it together better than I thought she would, but we will have to talk about the dangling naked man at some point. I open a hole in the veil and head out to meet her, before closing it back up. "Celeste! Thank god, I was so worried."
"Stop!" I hear her yell to the bears, and they do. "Humans, dismount and line up. When you get into those lines, I want you to remove all weapons, listening devices, and tracking devices from your person and make a pile in front of you. Move!" This is kind of scary. "Bears, shift then line up with the humans." Everyone moves with precision and follows her orders exactly. She stands in front of them, still dangling the naked man, and addresses them one more time. "This man is going to take you to your holding cells until I am ready for you. You will do nothing except breathe unless he tells you to. Understood?" They all nod acknowledgment. "Daddy, will you take them to the holding cells for me? I have to get to Randol."
"Of course. What about the naked dangling guy here?"
"Oh right." She finally lets him fall to the ground. Hard. "He's the one who attacked Kai, so I may have remodeled the front end of a truck with him."
"I see. What about the veil?"
"Now we just need to keep the listening and tracking devices veiled until they can be destroyed. These are the last of Donnelly's men. Have Ty and Devan reassess the security system and check the perimeter for holes. You can drop the veil over the house once that is done and those devices are destroyed."
"Okay. I'll get the others to help me out. Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"Not a scratch on me."
"You know that's not what I mean."
"I know, Daddy, and I will be as soon as I can get Randol stitched up."
"All right, go on then. Come find me as soon as you're out of surgery."
"Will do. Oh, and put all the naked guys in their own cell. They are all bears."
"Well, great." With that, she runs off, presumably to the infirmary. "All right, follow me." I open a hole again, and get everyone through before closing it. I get them all downstairs and separated accordingly in their cells, including one unconscious naked guy I have to float down.
Once that was taken care of, I have some of the members help me start destroying the devices that could transmit anything at all. While we are doing that, Ty and Devan run the perimeter to make sure there are no holes in need of repair. From where we are sitting, working on our current task, I can hear beeping and clanking coming from the infirmary. I look to the side and see Thomas sitting outside it. Waiting. "Guys, keep going for me, would you? I'm going to check on Thomas."
"Let us know if there is anything we can do for him."
"Thanks, Yamaguchi. I'll let you know."
I walk over and sit beside Thomas. "Hey. How you holding up?"
"Well, Ricco, I've been better."
"I know. Celeste is a great surgeon, though. She is going to do everything she can."
I see tears well up in his eyes as he asks, "What if it's not enough, though? His wounds are so bad."
"He's a shifter, so he heals faster than most on his own, but I think Celeste has some extra incentive here. She would probably find a way to reach into the great beyond and pull him back if she had to."
"What do you mean extra incentive?"
"I can't be sure yet, but I think she is Randol's mate."
"What? Randol never said anything to me about knowing who his mate was, why would you think that?"
"Celeste has always been able to sense wolf shifters, even as a child. No others, just wolves. Her mother and I always knew that meant she was destined to be a wolf 's mate. Celeste and Randol have been getting closer, but I don't think he even said anything to her about it. I think he wanted her to pick him because of him, not because she was his mate. It didn't click with me, though, until Ajax told me what happened out at the trucks. When Kai was injured by the bear, Celeste started to float and her eyes were glowing. All of a sudden, when she looked toward the bear that did this, he said her eyes turned pure black, before she flung the giant bear very easily and mercilessly into one of the trucks. Repeatedly. Knocking it out and very nearly killing it. From what Ajax said, when she came back to the ground, her eyes changed back and it looked like she didn't even realize she had been floating. Or that her eyes were black. It was almost like she blacked out in a rage. I think she feels the mate bond too, but she doesn't know that's what it is. When she saw Kai injured, she almost lost control of her ‘other side,' as she calls it."
"Wow. I guess my future daughter - in - law is a badass. That should be helpful keeping the pack in line."
"Hahah. Yes. Helpful."
"She was amazing today, Ricco. I would be proud to have her as part of the family, if you're right."
"I feel the same way about Randol. Let's keep this between us, though, okay. I don't think she has told him yet. She had three guys trying to get her to choose them on this retreat. I don't think she has had a chance to tell any of them her decision. You saw her earlier, and I don't want that anger directed at me."
"I don't blame you. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with."
"Hang in there, okay? She won't let him go now. She's too stubborn for that."
"Thanks, Ricco. I'm going to get some coffee. Call me if she gets done before I get back."
"Of course." I watch him walk away knowing I would be much worse if I was in his shoes. He is a strong man.
I walk back over to my little group to finish smashing stuff. "How's it coming, guys?"
"We're almost done. How's Thomas doing?" Yamaguchi asks while crushing a tracker with his one shifted dragon claw.
"I never get used to you and your partial shifting. Anyway, he's doing as well as can be expected. He's terrified of losing his son. There were some pretty nasty gashes. I hope Celeste got to him in time." We all sit there saying our own silent prayers for Randol and smashing things to take out our aggression.
Ty and Devan come strolling through the door just a few minutes later. Devan looks exhausted as he starts to speak. "Mr. Torelli, we've checked the security system, and we've been around the entire property perimeter. We are secure and running normally, sir. Mr. Barton told us to come back and let him know if you are okay with dropping the veil."
"As long as you are confident that everything is good, go ahead and tell him to drop it. I am about to destroy the last communicator now." With those words, I stomped on the last one. "Done." With a nod, they both turn and head out to report back to Anthony. I am exhausted. Not physically, but emotionally, just drained. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on Celeste." With a quick wave, I'm heading toward the infirmary.
I crack the door open slightly so I don't startle her. I poke my head in and see she is in the process of sewing him up. "Hey, sweetheart. I just wanted to check on you. You've been in here for quite a while."
"It was pretty bad, Daddy. I'm just closing up the external lacerations now. Internal bleeding, lacerated organs. Those were the trouble injuries." She finishes and knots the end. She steps away and pulls her gown and gloves off, and checks his IV fluid as she continues. "He's lost a lot of blood. Lucky for him, he's a shifter, so he should produce more quickly since I was able to stop the bleeding when I did. If he had lost much more, I don't know if he would have made it." She stops and puts a hand over her mouth. "I almost lost him, Daddy."
I walk to her and wrap her shaking body in a hug. "You didn't, though. You were there for him. You saved his life. You saved a lot of lives today, Celeste."
"I guess I know that I made my decision for the right reason now. The thought of him being gone was more than I could handle."
"I figured as much. Randol is a good man. He works hard and has the biggest heart of anyone I know, outside of you."
"How did you know he was my choice?"
"That's a conversation for another time. Right now, there is a father waiting in the hall that could use some good news. If you don't get out there and let him know what's going on, he's going to lose it soon."
"Thanks for checking on me, Daddy. Keep an eye on him while I go talk to Mr. Woods, would ya?"
"Of course." She wipes her face and smiles at me before leaving the room. I sit in a chair listening to the beeping machines and watching the heart monitor. I can't believe Celeste works in a room like this all day. I would be a nervous wreck. After today, though, I know just how strong my daughter is.