Rayne felt all eyes on her and there was nothing friendly in any of them. She knew if she moved even a fraction of an inch the adults would descend on her instantly. She could have shadowed herself but the room wasn’t big enough to hide in. They would know her start position and with so many of them they would quickly be able to triangulate her position even if they couldn’t see her.
Liam started to cry loudly and the other children did too. He wriggled against Nors, his crying becoming louder as his father held him easily to prevent him getting away.
“No!” he sobbed. “Don’t hurt, Rayne.”
Lily ran to her father and threw herself into his arms. His fangs were out and he was in that very angry place where he sometimes forgot who he was. She hugged his neck tightly. “Please, Daddy. Don’t let them hurt her,” she begged.
Andrei stared at his daughter his arms automatically coming around her as she pleaded with him with tear filled eyes. His instinctive need to protect soothed a little, giving him time to notice the rest of the children’s distress. They were all crying hard, he knew it was because they could sense the rage running through all the adults in the room. A rage that was directed towards the interloper in their midst.
Ashleigh suddenly cried out as Liam vanished in Nors’ grasp. Her mate hadn’t released the child but he was suddenly completely invisible to everyone.
“Enough,” Rafe said quietly, his Command tone settling on everyone in the room with the exception of Rayne as she wasn’t a pack member. The sound of the children crying still filled the room but the adults had begun to settle down, lessening the tension a bit.
Nors was holding his son gently but firmly. It was disconcerting to be able to feel him but not see him. Ashleigh was staring wide eyed at the spot she knew her son was, concern on her face.
Rafe was unsure of what to do. He sensed no aggression from the woman at his side and yet she had sat there admitting to abilities that no Were should have. That, on top of the staggering revelations of the children, had his thoughts in turmoil.
The children obviously sensed something in Rayne that they could relate to otherwise they wouldn’t be so upset. And Liam was suddenly invisible. That sent a shudder right through him after Lily admitting she could do it too. If all of them could, then how the hell did they protect them when they couldn’t see them?
“Liam, please make yourself visible again,” he said firmly. The boy was so young he wasn’t sure how much his Command tone would work on him. Children needed to mature a little before the full weight of their Alpha’s Command took root within them. The boy remained invisible and that kept the tension level up in the room.
He didn’t know what to do to force the child to obey him. He didn’t want to do anything that would have a negative impact on Liam’s confidence but the longer he stayed invisible to the naked eye the more fraught the situation became. He turned his head to look at Rayne and saw she was watching Nors intently.
“Can you convince him?” he asked reluctantly.
Rayne took a deep breath and turned to look at the Alpha. She could hear the reluctance in his tone but his need to protect his pack was more important than his pride at the moment. He was a good Alpha, even if maybe he didn’t feel like it at the moment.
She turned back to Liam, smiling gently as her eyes met his. Unlike the others she could see him perfectly well because she was so much more powerful than he was at shadowing.
“Liam, you’re too young to be shadowing, little one,” she said in a soft voice. “How would you feel if you couldn’t see your mummy and daddy?”
His big brown eyes locked with hers and he stopped struggling against his father. “Scared,” he whispered inside her head.
She continued to smile gently at him, keeping her voice soft. “How do you think your parents are feeling right now?” She could feel him reaching out with his senses; his little face puckering as he felt the fear rippling through not only his parents but also the other adults in the room.
He was suddenly visible again, his little arms reaching out for Ashleigh as she gave a startled cry and pulled her son into her arms.
“I’m sorry, mummy,” he cried burying his face in the side of her neck and clinging on for dear life.
“Shhhh it’s okay, baby,” Ashleigh soothed stroking his head gently, her eyes fixed on Nors as he stared at their son with a look of terror in his gaze.
The silence in the room was deafening, broken by Rayne. “We didn’t finish the game,” she said quietly, ignoring the adults completely. Rafe shifted slightly beside her but he kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen.
“Don’t want to play any more,” Lily hiccupped, still holding her father tightly.
Kallum stood up and walked over to his sister, stroking her head gently. “It’s important, Lily,” he said solemnly. It was so unusual for him to take the more dominant role that Loretta could only gape at him in surprise. Usually he followed Lily around.
“What special thing is it okay to do?” Rayne asked softly.
“Talk to each other,” Cassia sniffed, smiling at her sister as she did so. They talked to each other all the time in their thoughts.
“Shift into wolves only if we’re safe at home,” Dara smiled back, her pleasure evident that this was something only she and her sister could do so far.
Kallum looked at Rayne. “But we shouldn’t mask our scents until we’re grown up,” he said quietly. He looked at his sister and then at Liam. “And we shouldn’t make ourselves invisible because then we’ll get lost and nobody will be able to find us.” He added in the new ability to the game.
“That’s right,” Rayne smiled. “You wouldn’t want to get lost now, would you?”
Five heads shook in the negative and Rayne fell silent again, waiting to see how the parents would react.
Rafe’s anxiety ratcheted down a notch but he was still tense. Nothing the wildcat had done or said appeared harmful to the children but she was still an unknown. The fact the kids appeared to listen to her was something in her favour. They were all calming down in her presence and they obviously felt a connection with her.
“I need your solemn word that no one will make themselves invisible,” he said firmly but gently to the children. His eyes connected to Kallum’s. “Like a Beta would give his promise to his Alpha.”
The little boy puffed up with pride a wide grin on his face. “We promise,” he said instantly, meeting the other children’s eyes with an intense stare. “Don’t we?”
One by one, the other children promised and there was a discernable lessening of the tension in the room.
Rafe had to accept their word. There was nothing else he could do about it. He actually felt a bit helpless with the whole situation and he didn’t like it one bit. “We’re going to talk in the other room,” he told them. “I hope I can trust you to play quietly in here while we do.”
“Don’t be angry with Rayne,” Liam begged. “She’s our friend.”
Rafe’s lips tightened slightly but he nodded his head, acknowledging the boy’s words as the adults rose and made their way out of the room.