2 months later

"Just try and stop me" she growled low, pulling once on the black object.

"Kyrrian" Kaddian growled, pulling on the knife at his end.

"I'm better with knives and you're keeping the swords" she responded, her voice low.

"Hey now, hey now" Lauren Hale said as she walked by with a rather heavy looking box. "Kaddian you have all of the family weapons in your study, Kyrrian can have these, can't she?"

Kaddian stared at the knife, then Lauren, then Kyrrian, and let go with a sigh. He then quickly took the box Lauren was carrying. She shrugged and picked up another box and he frowned, but after a brief look from her, they took their boxes to the car.

"You always side with her" he mumbled as they made their way back instead.

"You're only picking fights with her because you don't know how to handle your feelings about her leaving" Lauren said with a laugh, wrapping her arms around one of his.

He said nothing, which she knew meant that she was right. She reached over and gently rubbed his back, attempting to soothe him. He leaned down, placing his hand on her cheek to bring her close. He kissed the top of her head and lingered there, long enough to smell her hair.

Lauren had grown accustomed to his odd... Tendencies... The last two months. He had warned her, after finding out about the impending departure of his sister, that he may do strange things like this that would help bring him comfort. At first, she had been confused about what he meant. Then he begin doing things like running the back of her hand against his cheek and burying his face in the crook of her neck randomly throughout the day.

Kaddian looked down at his mate. She was currently wearing a plaid button down and jeans with boots that had a nerve inducing heel on them. Her hair was down but braided in the front so that it didn't get in her eyes a while they worked. Kaddian had not been happy to hear that she wanted to help Kyrrian move out of the house, but had allowed her anyway... Until she had almost fallen down the stairs carrying a box of Kyrrian's coats. From that moment on, Kaddian had banned her from moving anything downstairs and had followed her each and every trip she had made. Lauren was getting used to constant fretting, he thought. He had had to explain that he had always felt this way in her presence, but that he had contained it because he didn't want to unnerve her. Now that his infatuation was known to her, he could be as protective as he wanted to be.

She was right, he was nervous and sad about his sister leaving him, but he was also excited and proud. He had grown very fond of Scottlin Reik in the time he had spent in with the Sleuth. He easily viewed him as a brother. They had shared many a beer under the starry night, and Scottlin had been all respect as he asked for his permission to marry Kyrrian. Kaddian told him he would gladly give him his consent, but he wasn't the one that Scottlin really needed the approval from.

Of course, Kyrrian had said yes, as Kaddian expected. Their relationship moved quickly for a human couple, he could tell based on the horrified expression on Lauren's face when he had told her of their engagement, but for a mated pair, it was entirely appropriate. A week ago, Kyrrian had married Scottlin at the edge of a cliff in the forest, something about a first shared moment between the two of them, and were now in the process of moving Kyrrian out.

He remembered the fear and concern on Kyrrian's face as she talked to him one night, telling him that she had made a decision and that she was not sure how he would take it. She immediately launched into a speech about how Scottlin was also an Alpha and how he had duties and a sleuth to care for and that she wanted to support him and that this meant leaving the sleuth to go east. She then informed him that she had already talked to Porter and that he had agreed to become Kaddian's new beta. Kaddian had raised an eyebrow as she rambled, but let her continue before he chucked her under the chin and replied, "I will be fine, go" and kissed her in the middle of her forehead.

"Are you sure?" She had asked, still worried.

He had smiled and nodded then turning to look through the doorway at Lauren Hale who sat on the couch with a wine cooler and headphones in, focusing on work.

Now, he quietly watched Lauren head up the steps of the front porch, grateful that she had continued to stay by his side, despite his quirks. Their relationship was odd, someplace between a human relationship and a shifter one. It felt wrong to say that they were dating or boyfriend/girlfriend, as it was something deeper than that, but he knew that if he moved too quickly she would panic and grow weary. So he settled for... Middle pace.

She had almost made it to the top step when she tripped slightly on the edge and stumbled. She caught herself, but her stumble had rocked him from his reverie. He bounded up the stairs and wrapped an arm around her waist.

She looked up at him and smiled, not really realizing how important she was to him. She patted his stomach then pulled away from his grasp as she headed toward another box labeled "knives". He growled low and headed after her intently.
_____________________________________________________________________________

"It's very nice here" Kyrrian whispered as she lounged in Scottlin's arms. They were in a massive porch swing that slowly glided in a nice breeze.

Scottlin nodded, pulling Kyrrian closer to his side. "It used to not be, but it is now, and will be forever more".

They had landed a week ago, and today all of Kyrrian's things had been delivered from their cross country trek. Scottlin had been incredibly grateful to Kaddian for having everything expressed to his Georgian home, but he knew that was because of his love for his sister more than anything.

Scottlin enjoyed the havoc his new mate brought to his life. She had been here seven days and she was already making major, and admittedly necessary, changes to his sleuth procedures and methods. Scottlin had worried about Kyrrian fitting in and feeling welcome, but he should have known better, because the fiery woman had immediately found her place in the pack. It also helped that she was not the only member from the Northwestern sleuth that had made the journey to the other side of the country. Rory Daggart was still Scottlin's beta, and his return to Georgia had also brought Lizbet Penner. Yet another unusual relationship, there was obvious budding romance between the two, however Penner insisted that she came to the new sleuth because she had never known anything different than her home and craved adventure. Yet she had conveniently chosen adventure that involved Rory...

When Scottlin had asked his beta what the situation was between the two of them was, the enamored blond had responded "I have no idea" with a smile capable of rivaling even Scottlin's own.

Scottlin shook his head now, smiling at the memory.

"What?" Kyrrian asked.

"I'm just thinking" he responded.

"About?"

"Life"

"That's a deep subject" she responded, tracing the planes of his face with a finger.

"Yes, but a happy one" he responded, nipping her finger playfully.

"You're right, life is happy" she responded, giving him a kiss.