As she walked through the front door to Bob's dinner, Sang saw that the place was really bustling today, the tables full of people eating and enjoying good food, chattering among themselves.

The scent of perfumes, colonies and the smells of food were thick in the air, making Sang's nose to twitch from time to time.

Luke and Nathan were serving the tables, and when the mischievous boy saw her he sent a conspiratorial wink her way along with a swoon-worthy smile.

It had been a few weeks since she'd been working there and she'd gotten used to the packed, noisy and heavily scented place.

Crossing through the restaurant to the kitchen doors she smiled at the servers who caught her eye on the way.

Entering a side door, localized right before the one leading to the kitchen, with the label "locker room's", she quickly put on her white uniform and pastry chef hat, and locked her bag in one of the lockers.

As she entered the kitchen she was met with organized chaos. Uncle was at his usual place, in the middle of the storm, shouting orders like a drill sergeant.

North was at the salad counter, cutting vegetables at a mad speed while Gabriel flipped the meat on the industrial-sized grill.

She walked over to the last empty counter in the kitchen, her' counter, the one she used to bake pies, cakes, cookies, little, delicate pastries and much more.

Sang really loved this job, creating tiny morsels of food that looked cute and tasted wonderfully, making people smile and hum in delight when eating them.

She got to work, mixing the ingredients to the filling of the pies they would serve today. She was so distracted doing her job that she didn't notice someone had approached her until a shadow fell over her counter, disrupting her concentration.

Looking up from her pie she met ice-blue eyes framed by dark lashes staring at her in fascination. The boy standing before her had tanned skin that made his eyes stand out and dark hair that hung in loose curls framing his square jaw.

He was really handsome, maybe the same height as Luke, but differently from Luke's this guy eyes were ice-cold.

She didn't like the way he was staring at her and her hand trembled, dropping the fouet on the counter-top with a clanking noise.

The sounds in the kitchen suddenly stopped, the place becoming eerily silent as all eyes turned to her. She just knew this wasn't going to go over well with the boys.

......

Trouble had arrived right on time to start her shift as pastry chef to the dinner and he had observed her progress through the chaos that was the kitchen until she reached her tiny counter and started doing her magic.

The popping sounds and smell of lightly burned meat warned me to pay attention to my own work instead of watching the tiny bundle of trouble wiping up a storm in her side of the kitchen.

Sang always had a peaceful smile on her face while she cooked, and the way she moved in the kitchen was pure magic, as were her creations.

Gabriel loved watching her cook, it was poetry in motion, living and breathing art. He was happy in staying on his side of the kitchen working while she was there with him, even if there were several counters and industrial-sized stoves between them.

That is, until Logan appeared.

Logan wasn't a bad guy, he was academy. And that was what scared Gabriel.

His team was often asked to do modeling jobs as they were all handsome and stylish. Luke even worked with them a few times but he was the only one from his family who had the looks for it.

Gabriel knew that no one on his family was ugly, and he made sure they all always looked their best, but aside from Luke he didn't think that any of them could be considered as handsome or good looking as the guys from Logan's team.

The motherfucker was also rich, talented with a guitar and didn't have a problematic family at home to bring him trouble.

Fuck, this was already the second time today that someone from the academy had come for Sang. This was going to fucking annoy him.

I had abandoned my spot by the grill and moved over to Sang's side before I could think about what I was doing.

The bastard was breaking protocol by approaching her like this without his team permission. I had known it would happen eventually, as most teams wouldn't be able to hold in their curiosity, but still, I wasn't prepared for the fucker to fall on her like this.

He didn't want handsome guys trying to tempt his Trouble away from him and his family, god damn it!

Looking at him from head to toe I started to feel that old insecurity creeping in on me. I tried to remind myself that Sang thought of me as handsome, just the way I looked, but the insecurity kept creeping up on me, making me feel like the old dog from the wrong side of the tracks next to these two beautiful people.

Until I felt a warm body leaning against my side. Without my noticing, Sang had moved away from her counter and closer to me, leaning against my body with a disturbed look in her face, seeking comfort.

I wrapped my arm around her waist tightly, offering whatever she might need from me while I felt my tense muscles relaxing with her proximity. She preferred me to Logan, that was clear to see in her face.

The bastard, however, was still watching her intently, like a wolf watching it's next prey.

Like hell, I wasn't going to allow this to continue. "What the fuck do you want here, Logan?" I asked him delicately. Not.

His eyes snapped to mine in annoyance, the rich boy didn't like swearing. Too bad.

"I came to greet your team's bird. It is the polite thing to do." He told me with emphasis on the word "polite".

I was about to blast him with more swearing when North stepped up besides Sang and beat me to it.

"As far as I know, the polite thing to do is to ask the lead team for permission to be presented to their adopted members." North growled the words, his face set in a forbidding scowl.

Logan glared at him. "You are new. You don't know anything about how the things work here."

North's eyes narrowed on Logan and he took a threatening step forward. Uncle stepped in then.

"Now, let's all calm down, boys. There is no need for all that tension. We are all academy here." Uncle came closer to us and looked at North, waiting for him to back off. When he did step back and put his arm around Sang's shoulders Uncle started talking again. "Little bird."

Sang looked up at him. All this time she'd been watching Logan warily, but now she focused her attention on Uncle.

"This boy here is Logan Carmichael. He is an academy member like your boys."

Her boys. Gabriel really liked that. He loved the thought of belonging to this beautiful, amazing girl at his side and he straightened his spine, raising his chin in a proud angle.

Logan wasn't taking her from them!

......

North had thought once that he knew what he deserved in life and had made plans for a lone existence.

Hearing the words "her boys", however, made him see that he had a new dream now. She was his dream and no academy brat would steal her from him.

He scowled at the Logan dude, his arm firmly wrapped around his Sang baby. He could tell the guy made her nervous and North disliked in instantly. Sang had good instincts, if she didn't like the guy so there wasn't much to like about him.

He stepped closer to her, pressing her tiny body between his and Gabe's. She belonged to them, theirs to love, care and protect.

"Logan, this is Miss Sang. She is the Blackbourne team's bird." Uncle went ahead with the introduction and the guy's eyes fixed on Sang again, an interested look in them.

I tensed, a growl rising in my throat, ready to tell him to fuck off when Sang opened her mouth and said, "It was nice to meet you, Logan. But we need to get back to work now."

Her voice was crisp and direct, polite, but cold.

Logan gave her his best smile "I understand. Maybe you will have some time later..."

She cut him off. "I'm sorry, but all my free time has already been taken up by my family. We have plans."

He looked a bit annoyed at that and I smirked. Our girl wasn't going to give the academy one-fucking-inch.

After that the guy excused himself and went away. We got back to work as there was no time for us to talk or discuss what had happened with a busy crowd awaiting their food outside. As night fell our shift ended and we all headed over to Nathan and Sang's place.

Entering ahead of me, Sang and Gabriel settled themselves in the living room' couch, the others not having arrived yet.

We would all be here tonight, all ten of us. Luke and Nathan should arrive from the dinner shortly, Kota and Victor would be coming from a mission for the academy, Blackbourne would bring Doc from his shift at the hospital and Silas would come from his house.

I stood by the window, watching the street, deep in thought while Sang and Gabriel talked quietly in the background.

Silas had to stay at home this afternoon to watch over his brother. Theo's movements were getting more erratic and suspicious. He'd gotten into the habit of disappearing in the middle of the night and they had only noticed it because Sang had pointed out the importance of keeping the outside cameras turned on at night.

They needed to discover where he went and what he did. Leaving that guy unmonitored was far too dangerous.

At the sound of the front door opening I tensed and turned to watch who had arrived.

It was the guys. The came in all at the same time, some looking tired from a long day of work, others more rested.

Doc for example seemed to be much healthier now that he was taking time off to rest properly. Silas, on the other hand, seemed stressed. I knew that my brother was worrying over Theo's situation.

I watched in silence, from my place by the window as each one of my brothers came and checked in with Sang on their own way.

Blackbourne gave her his trademark one millimeter smile, but didn't approach her, going straight to one of the chair in the room.

Victor, Kota, Luke and Doc moved in to hug her before settling down. My brother made a point of staying as far away from Blackbourne as possible, shooting wary glances with silly smiles his way every now and then.

Blackbourne ignored him.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

Nate said a simple "Hello" before going into the kitchen to fetch something and Silas went ahead and picked her up from the couch and sat down with her on his lap, his arms firmly wrapped around her waist.

He was seeking comfort in the only way he could with a room full of his girlfriend's boyfriends.

I watched as she turned to face him and laid her tiny hand on his cheek, her eyes reflecting worry and love.

My brother looked into her eyes and relaxed, seeing the same that I did there. Silas raised his eyes to mine and we both understood that we were thinking the same thing.

No matter what happens in the future, as long as we had this little angel between us we would manage.

......

It started with heat, light and then smoke. It was a living, breathing creature that burst to life with a cackle and stretched its jaws in a roar, swallowing every living thing on its way.

The fire took what it wanted without remorse or mercy and he loved it. He loved the power of the fire, its beauty, its heat.

All fell before its power, being consumed in its ardor.

But he had made it, he was the one who created the fire and so he was the one to be feared the most. He was the most powerful, the one who was truly merciless and unremorseful.

AN: 2043 words