My Warrior (Bewitched and Bewildered #12) - Alanea Alder Page 0,33

were thrown open, and male laughter could be heard from the walkway. Rising from the center of the large building, a towering holly tree created a dark green canopy overhead. She pointed to the evergreen. "Why a holly?"

Ari held open a simple iron gate. "We didn't always have one. But when Darian became a unit warrior, he donated a cutting from his family's tree so that us poor warriors would have someone looking over us. In return, we try to keep things as lively as possible for the Alina guardian."

Brie remembered what she learned about how Darian's entire family was murdered. "I think any guardian would like it here." She pointed to where the amber glow from the lights inside seemed to beckon them forward.

"We do our best." He opened the door, and the male voices were even louder.

"Ari! Welcome home! Done being important at the Lionhart estate?" a warrior teased as he walked down the stairs toward them.

"Ari's back?" another voice called out.

Soon, the foyer was filled with warriors. More than one reached out to ruffle Ari's hair in a brotherly fashion. Ari smiled at them all.

"Guys, I have someone important I want you to meet. This is my mate, Brie Wilson. Brie, these men are my fellow unit brothers." He puffed out his chest. "Isn't she wonderful?"

"Too good for a baby boy like you!"

“I’ll run your things up,” another volunteered. She handed off her small bag, as did Ari.

"A thousand blessings on your mating!"

"Welcome!" All around them the men called out their greetings.

"I thought you were attending the palace dinner?" the dark-haired warrior asked.

Ari gave them a shit-eating grin. "We were, but then my mate decided we should retire early."

The men groaned, and a set of hands gently pulled her from Ari. "You know what that means?"

She felt a moment of panic before she realized she was being steered toward the kitchen. "Late night snack party!"

"No! We're going to bed early!" Ari argued.

The men ignored him and sat her down at the long island in the middle of the expansive kitchen. The men worked together like a well-oiled machine, pulling out snacks and components to make munchies. She smiled at Ari's chagrin, but knew he wasn't too upset by the way he kept sneaking chips and salsa.

"There he is!" a familiar voice said accusingly.

Ari winced. "Sorry guys, but my mate wanted to leave. What was I supposed to do?"

Kincaid walked in and placed his hands on his hips. "Take us with you for gods sake! My delicate nerves can't handle all the royalty!"

"Yeah, because us all leaving wouldn't have looked weird after my mate gave me a come-hither look."

Kincaid glared at him. "Don't care."

"Besides, you know she likes us more," Gage said, breezing past Kincaid to kiss her cheek. He looked over to the counters. "Snack party!"

Kincaid looked a bit mollified. "Snack party?"

Priest sat down next to her. "Has the idiot even made introductions yet?"

She shook her head. "I may request everyone wear name tags the next few days. Between the warriors and the palace, my brain hurts."

Ari sat down on the stool on her other side. "I'm sure the guys won't mind doing that for you."

"Oh! I actually have name tags, hold on!" A blond warrior ran out of the kitchen.

"Leave it to Balder to have name tags," Ari smiled as he shook his head.

The dark-haired warrior placed a bowl of chips in front of her. "In the meantime, I'll start. I'm Bastien Géroux. My uncle is Simon Géroux, Founding Family head in Noctem Falls. I serve in the Phi unit along with Nerius Li'Meiner, fae. Kael Lyon, lion shifter. Jace Frazier, wolf shifter, and Ian Angelica, witch."

Priest nudged her. "We call him Angel."

Bastien leveled a look at Priest. "You really want to go there, Meredith?"

Priest scowled. "I hate that you guys know my name."

Bastien and most of the men belly laughed. "Know? We were at your naming ceremony, eaglet."

Priest sighed. "Yeah, yeah, we know. We're the kids around here."

The blond that had run from the room raced back in holding up a small plastic package. "I have these from when we volunteered at the children's hospital." He began passing stacks of sticker tags and pens to the warriors who sighed and wrote their names before slapping them on their chests. When she saw the first one, she laughed, now she knew why they were sighing. All the name tags had adorable baby animals on them.

"No! Give me the lion one!" one of the warriors protested. Laughing,