He was a big bully.
And she hated his guts.
From the way, he stood, up to the way he spoke. There was an arrogant air about him that irked something inside her. Her temper began to boil when Kayla flinched when he started shouting calling someone named Ven.
When they saw him hitting his head on the wall, Kayla began to giggle.
"Mama Angel, he crazy," Kayla told her, the little girl was amused by the big man's actions. The man he called Ven looked inside, her hackles rose. This man was dangerous, if the big man looked arrogant, he had danger written all over him.
The arrogant one growled like an animal, and Ven laughed, after a few minutes several men appeared in the doorway. All of them looked dangerous, yet somehow, a part of her trusted the arrogant man.
The heck?! She asked herself.
Ven was talking to him, they were too far away from her to hear their words. Kayla was silent and her trembling stopped. Four of them started walking around the container. She could see some of the women stopped crying and began to cling to the men. She was expecting the big man would do the same…but he was headed straight for her.
When he was a foot away from her, she let out an audible gasp. His eyes were two-toned, one blue while the other was golden yellow, just like Kayla's. It was impossible to fully see his features, but from the way he was looking at her, she would bet that he was smirking behind the black bandana covering the lower half of his face.
"Mama…" Kayla cried, she then wrapped her little arms on her legs. The man in front of them growled. It caused Kayla to sob on her leg.
THAT'S IT!
Without thinking, she threw the only thing in her hand, the sack that covered her face earlier. It hit him on his face, and she heard an expletive escape his mouth.
"Hey, asshole! Stop growling like a bear, you're scaring Kayla. I don't know what the fuck you want, but I suggest you tell me before I skin you alive."
She was expecting him to slap her or something, but his next move baffled her.
He closed his eyes, took off his bandana, and haunched in front of her. It brought him to Kayla's eye level. They looked at each other, one was big and imposing, while the other was small and vulnerable.
She was about to reprimand the man again, but he extended his hand towards Kayla. She could see that the little girl was confused with his actions, he was after all a bad guy. Her eyes widened in shock when Kayla reached out and touched his outstretched hand.
Something must have happened, a silent form of communication, because the Kayla started saying, "You came! You came!" Over and over again.
The man replied, "Of course I will. I promised your papa I will always be there for you, no matter what." His deep soothing voice made her skin shiver in pleasure.
She wasn't sure what was happening to her. The man irritated her, and yet…
"My mama…Pyr…my mama…"
Pyr? Fire in Latin?
The man called Pyr looked at her, his yellow eye glowed, as if he was trying to examine who she was.
Well good luck with that. With her memory gone, she can't even tell this Pyr her favorite color. Wait…does she even have a favorite color?
"Mama Angel?" Kayla calling her 'Angel' brought her back. She looked at the child and smiled at her. "We need to take my mama and leave. Pyr is here. Papa said I have to trust him."
She was such a sweet child. But totally unaware of the things in the world. "Are you sure we could trust this man? I mean he was growling like an animal a while ago." The man in question, let out another growl.
Rather than being frightened, Kayla giggled. "No, Mama Angel, he is dragon that's why he like that." The little girl replied.
Dragon? Did Kayla say he is a dragon? She thought. He looked at the man in question. Other than the bicolor eyes, nothing seems to be usual.
However, her earlier assumptions that Ven was dangerous, might be wrong. The way this man oozed power, he might be the most dangerous of all of them.
"Prez?" One of his men called his attention, he was kneeling besides Kayla's mom. Sadness was evident from his voice when he continued, "her mother is the only casualty in this mission." He looked at Kayla and said, "we're sorry little one, we came too late to save your mom. We…"
Her heart broke seeing how Kayla was once again openly crying. She wanted to hug the little girl, but with her wrist bound it was an impossible feat. She heard a soft click, then the rope around her wrist just dropped on the ground, she could only catch a glimpse of Pyr's hand as the knife he used was returned to his pockets.
She slowly walked to Kayla, who was crying on her mom's chest. The pain Kayla was emitting was so loud, it caused her to fall on her knees, and touched Kayla mom's stomach. No amount of words can heal this little girl's heart. Only time would do that.
Something was beating against her hand. A flutter, like a small movement. Slowly, she let her hand rub the span of her stomach. There, another flutter.
Realization dawned into her.
"PYR!" She called, and the man was bedside in an instant. "Baby," was all she said.
She withdrew her hand and watched as the man examined the dead woman's body. She heard him curse, then he looked at her. Worry was written in his bicolored eyes. "What's your name?"
"I…I don't know…" she whispered, the worry in Pyr's eyes formed into shock, then anger. Was he angry because she doesn't have a name? Or was he angry because of what happened to her? She got her answers when the man started shouting again.
"Mocha! Call the nearest hospital, we have a code blue. Biscuits! Bring that ambulance here! We have an unborn child!" He looked at her once more. "Can you carry Kayla? We need to get you and her mom to the hospital. I have asked Biscuits to have the ambulance…"
She started shaking her head when she heard the word ambulance. "No, no ambulance. Please. I…I…"
There was a flash of memory that surfaced in her mind. Men were laughing, then the next instant, they were surrounding her, she could hear a distant cry in the background, and he could hear some of the men were grunting.
"Hey, miss? Are you okay? Miss?"
She felt a hand on her shoulder, without any thought, she perfectly made a Kotegaeshi throw. The man lay motionless on the cold metal floor, he blinked several times and glanced at her.
Pyr was in front of her, while Ven was holding Kayla in his arms. The little girl was clapping her hands in delight, and the other man, Biscuits, who had a scar on his left eye, was doing his best not to laugh.
"So, Mocha, how's the view from there?" Asked Ven, the man called Mocha, whose eyes had the same shade grunted.
What had just happened? She threw a man twice her body weight on the ground like he was piece of paper. Her heart began to beat fast again. Her breath becoming shorter and shorter, causing her to hyperventilate. She started clenching and unclenching her plams inorder to center herself. Her vision became darker and darker, she knew she was going faint, but something pulled her back.
It was Pyr.
A finger was underneath her chin, softly forcing her to look at his face. She blinked several time, clearing the black residue of darkness that was creeping up to her. She could only hear the tail end of his conversation with Kayla.
"... Angel huh? Maybe I should be calling her Viper. The way she threw Mocha…"
He looked back at her. "Welcome back, Angel," the way she said the name given to her made her soul resonate in a way she couldn't explain. But it vanished when she looked into his eyes. A mixture of pride and mischief, why those two emotions, she has no idea.
A shiver of excitement raced thru her body when she heard his next words. Memory or not, this man, this male, had made an impression that she cannot really erased.
"Looks like you will be riding with me."
"Calling a code blue saved the baby's life."
If Kayla's mom was not a shifter, it would not be possible for the baby to survive too. Still, no one expected that she would be pregnant.
'Angel' and Kayla were busy eating in the hospital cafeteria while waiting for the results. Mila, Kayla's mom, was due to give birth this month, and that at least was a blessing.
They had yet to know the cause and time of death. There were no visible fractures, so they needed more analysis of Mila's body. The baby, however, was a different story.
Pyr rubbed the back of his head. He had promised Henry that he would look after his family. A promise he will be keeping, but dammit, bureaucracy was something he cannot fight.
He looked at his mate. The name Kayla gave was good, she did have angel-like qualities…as long as people don't rile her. She had already wrist-tossed three of his crew, and he was fine with it.
She was beautiful? No, that is not the right word.
She was interesting. From her innate knowledge of how to throw someone like they were a piece of paper, up to the way she cared for Kayla like she was her own.
She was not the kind of woman that would cause people to have a second look. However, he would take a second look, a third, and a fourth…
She has this natural skin color that highlights her black-brown hair. Her round face housed her almond-shaped eyes and pert little nose. It also looked like it had been broken before. Sensual pale pink lips were busy savoring the cake the head cook had provided for her and Kayla.
"Is everything okay?"
Ven let out a tired sigh before he sat beside Pyr. He also set a half tray of lasagna and a pitcher of ice tea. He took two bites of the food before he could reply.
"All the women are safe. Skye was right, some of the boys on the other container were related to the women we rescued. I let Vo and Crackers handle them. They are on the way to the compound as we speak, or eat rather." He filled his glass and took a long drink. "Kayla looked like Mila when she was a kid. To think Henry stayed by her side until she was at the right age to claim her."
"She was his mate," Pyr replied. Now that both of them were gone, and it was his duty to make sure their kids would be protected as well.
"The baby?"
"Is being extracted. They had to chase me out of the OR. The patch was making some of the people there nervous." There was a sarcastic grin on his face when the head nurse scolded some of the said people.
"All of you are a bunch of hypocrites! You let your eyes do the judging, maygad!" The head nurse looked at him with an apologetic look on her face. "Thank you, Mr. Draconian. You, SAVE LIVES OF COUNTLESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN, from harm."
Pyr recounted what happened, and the other man laughed. Trust Nurse Rei to be blunt with the people in the waiting room. She was one of the few humans they could trust in this hospital. Other than the president of course.
Both looked at the occupants at the next table. The woman had her back against the wall, while Kayla somehow ended up on her lap. Anyone who would see them would think they were such a sweet pair.
Pyr threw a crumpled tissue at them. Angel was able to catch it even with her eyes closed. She opened one of her eyes and glared at him. Jin preened at her. Do you think she could see you? He asked his beast. It pouted and released a puff of smoke.
"The doctor said she has a dissociative fugue. A kind of amnesia that is rare," Pyr wanted to bang his head on the table again but refrained himself.
Ven was silent. He couldn't blame his Vice President. The way the woman moved screamed she was a mole. Yet, the flash of fear in her eyes when the doctor told them her condition cannot be faked.
Whoever she was, 'Angel', was their mate.
"Mr. Draconian?" One of the OR nurses called him. He stood up and began taking off his patch. Since no one was in the cafeteria other than the four of them, the air was a lot cooler. Angel was only wearing a hospital gown provided by the doctor. The way she leaned back against the wall was to lessen the cold air she was feeling.
Pyr knew she could feel his approach, he could also feel Ven scrutinizing his actions. Slowly, he sat beside them.
He looked at Kayla first. The little girl was able to change clothes. The hospital has some good quality children's clothes. They were still hospital clothes, but they were clean, and she was safe.
"Here," he said. She raised one eyebrow as if asking, "Here what?" He also raised one eyebrow in response. "The wall or the warmth?" He asked. She gave a defeated sigh and tried to sit up straight, but couldn't. Frustrated, she could only slump against the wall.
Pyr touched the back of her neck and began to help her peel her back from the wall. When there was enough room, he slipped his patch behind her. His patch was large, and it hung around her. She slowly maneuvered Kayla so she could properly wear it.
Man and best smiled inwardly when she gave a happy sigh. As a shifter, they could generate more body heat, so his patch was still warm even if it just covered her exposed back. "Try to take a nap. I will be talking to Mila's doctor and checking on the baby. Ven is here, both of you will be safe."
She nodded and closed her eyes. Exhaustion was written all over her body. Pyr could see a part of her wanted to protest his concern, then again, she had no memory of who she was. Furthermore, Kayla had bonded to her.
He kissed Kayla on her forehead before walking away from them. He didn't look at Ven, knowing the significance of his actions.
You see, for a patch to be worn by another, especially the opposite sex, could only mean one thing…
His Old Lady.
And Pyr Draconian had finally found his.