Chapter 200

With a slight frown of worry, the Queen leaned over to lightly kiss her mate again. "My husband sitting alone in the dark worries me. Are you sure it's not something I've done?"

He squeezed her hand for a moment. "You treat me like a king. I'll discuss things with you later. But right now, I just need to be alone with Little One for a while. Okay?"

The Queen sighed as she stood looking at her husband. "All right, but I'm not going to let you forget this. I want to know what's bothering you, and I know that something is."

"I just need to solve a problem, Baby. I'll discuss it with you when the time comes." Swatting her on the ass as she turned to walk away, he added, "Keep that motor warmed up for me."

She stopped for a second to say, "I'll leave you to your problem, but..." she continued as she walked toward the door, "the motor is warmed up and ready. You just need to come take it for a drive."

She did accomplish one thing, he thought after his mate had left. She darn sure improved my mood. Problem is, I had much rather go with her than do what I'm going to do – well, try to do.

He started with the key since it seemed to be the smallest, but after concentrating for long moments, nothing happened. Sitting for a while, thinking, as he stared vacantly out the window, his attention eventually returned to the key on the table in front of him. A wrinkled brow progressed into an intense frown that eventually turned into a trembling body as he mentally strained, but still nothing happened.

Massaging his forehead, For crying out loud, he thought to himself. I kept the Escalade on the road during those high-speed turns, crumpling up the sides, but now I can't even move a small key. This is bullshit.

Again, he stopped to stare out the window into the darkness, sweat beading his brow and a headache starting. What the fuck did I do? Did that trip down the mountain destroy whatever I had in my brain that allowed me to do this? I can't even make the damn key wiggle. The Ship told me to exercise and use the ability to develop it. Ha, some exercise this is.

I need help, he sent to Little One.

{{{ Prime, I am unable to assist you to move the key. I can only assist in controlling the power of the dimensions that your mind taps into, and that only peripherally. }}} he interpreted from the jumble of thoughts the little alien sent, but he wasn't sure of his interpretation.

{{{ Perhaps, you could accomplish what you desire if you remembered how you felt as you entered the first curve. }}}

I've been trying to do that, he grumped. All I've accomplished is a little sweat and the beginning of what's probably going to be one hell of a headache.

{{{ Possibly, your luck might change if you tried to make the pen spin. }}}

Luck? he thought to himself. Maybe I interpreted her wrong. She probably meant something to do with possibilities, but he concentrated and did his best to visualize the pen spinning round and round – nothing.

At least it could fucking wiggle a little bit, he grumped again to her. It doesn't move in the slightest. Hell, I could blow on it and accomplish more.

{{{ You must manipulate the power of the dimensions to do this. }}} Little one offered.

I thought it was you that manipulated the power. I thought you boosted what I sent out.

{{{ In a way, I did. I opened the door to that power and channeled it to you. You used it to boost what you sent out from your brain. I guided you a little. But I used my own energy to allow the dimensional forces to come to you. Maintaining that ... gateway quickly used up my energy, and while I hold the gateway open for you, I can't use the energy myself. }}}

Jeff got up and got a soft drink, returning to sit and sip the drink while staring at the items on the table. I don't have a clue what she's saying. Then with a sigh. Okay what the heck did I do? I've done my best to try to relive that trip in my mind. I can almost feel the sway of the Escalade as I hit that first curve too fast. I can see the snow piled along the side of the road by the snowplow, hear the terror in Diana's voice. Why in the fuck can't I spin that fucking pen laying on the table a few feet from me?

Frustrated, he put the drink on the end of the table and glared at the offending pen. It was an ordinary, inexpensive, click ballpoint that Helen bought by the gross for her class and the rest of the family. Spin, damn you. But still the pen didn't move, nor did any of the other objects.

Shit, this is a bunch of crap. I pushed so hard on the sides of the SUV that I dented it, but I kept it from going off the road. Now I can't move a key or spin a damn ballpoint pen. This is beginning to piss me off.

His temper started to build, though he attempted to rein it in, but the more he thought about the pen not moving, the angrier he became. Spin, you son-of-a-bitch, he seethed. Spin!

There was a loud "wham" combined with a "crack" of splintering wood, followed a millisecond later by the sounds of ricochets as the pen disappeared from the table, slammed into the top of the window frame at an angle, hit a glancing blow to the mantel over the fireplace, then a double ricochet off a corner to eventually bounce off the hallway doorframe and drop to the carpet, a small, smoking bubble of melting plastic.

"Shit!" the Prime exclaimed, chunks of the window molding raining down as he knocked his chair over backward in his haste to rush to the smoking remains of the pen before it could melt into the fibers of the carpet. He flipped it onto the hearth and stood staring at the resulting blob, absently rubbing the stinging fingertips where he had touched the hot plastic.

{{{ By my calculations, the object exceeded what you refer to as Mach 5, by a considerable margin. I do not think it was designed to withstand the air resistance it encountered, let alone the g-forces of that magnitude }}} Little One offered, a smugness in her mental voice.

Since when did my Healer start using sarcasm? he vaguely wondered. Then to Little One, No shit, Sherlock. Got any idea how I can tone this down a bit? No wonder I dented the sides of the Escalade. How do your people learn to do this?

{{{ All the knowledge I have is from my database. Remember, I was created by the Ship inside that mountain. }}}

And...

{{{ Some Primes – and as I have said, there are only a few of them – can manipulate matter with their minds. But from what I can determine, the ability varies. There is certainly nothing in my database about a Prime pushing anything to five times the speed of sound, particularly in such a short distance. So, how did you do it? }}}

I don't friggin' know.

{{{ You still have the bottle cap and the key. You could try again. }}}

Yeah, and I barely missed taking out the window with that attempt, he thought to her as he eyed the missing chunk out of the big window's frame. Diana's gonna be pissed if my next attempt blows out that window. I think I need to continue the experiment in the indoor range, or better yet, outside. And I also think I need to sleep on this first.

All of the Alpha families, with the exception of Fred and his women, were sitting around a big table in the smaller of the dining rooms when Connie, Denise, a blushing Paulette, and a bedraggled-looking Jeremy walked in.

Diana got up to take Paulette's hand. "Let's go to the Jacuzzi deck. We have breakfast waiting for the three of you there," she said, referring to Paulette, Denise and Connie.

In a quiet voice, "Okay. But first I need to do something." Quickly moving to her mother as Adriana and Van stood, the teenager hugged Adriana, fiercely. "Thank you, Mom. And you too, Dad," she continued as she turned to hug him just as hard. "The two of you have made me the happiest..."

"Woman," her mother offered with a smile.

" ... uh, woman, in the world," she said as the blush came back. Continuing, "I know this decision was hard on you, and I know that you don't want to lose your daughter. I promise that will never happen. I'll make you proud of me, just watch and see."

"We already are," Van got out with a choked voice.

Adriana grabbed her daughter's hand. "All right, time to go check out the Jacuzzi and hear about your wedding night."

But Paulette was suddenly blushing furiously again. "What?" she gasped out. "No way can I talk about that in front of my mother. But I guess I do need to soak some," she finished with a strangled giggle.

"Oh, come on," Connie said as she grabbed Paulette's other hand. "You heard Denise and me tell about our wedding night, and your mother was there with you. Then you heard your mom and Lillian talk about theirs. Besides, this is your time. Everyone wants to hear about it, even your mother."

"I don't think..." Paulette was saying as she was hustled out the door by the women, Adriana grinning from ear to ear as her daughter sputtered about talking in front of her.

A blushing Jeremy sat down in the vacant chair near Jeff as Susan brought food for the new groom. "Still have any of the pussy cream left?" Jeff asked after Susan left to be with the other women.

"Uh, yeah, and I guess I do need to use some this morning." Then staring hard at Jeff, "How in the heck do you take care of fourteen women?"

Jeff took a sip of his every-present coffee. "I guess you, your dad and I need to have a chat. There are some things that I've found out that an Alpha can do that I haven't had a chance to brief you on just yet."

After Jeff's chat with Van and Jeremy, Dave pushed a serving cart laden with coffee, soft drinks and breakfast rolls into the living room. The men moved chairs into positions near the big window, grabbed what they wanted from the cart, then sat to talk as they waited for the women. Dave leaned back, took a bite of his breakfast roll and glanced toward the outside. Suddenly, his eyes focused on the chunk of molding torn out above the window. "What the heck?" he mumbled past the mouthful of roll as he came to his feet.

His eyes tracked downward to see what was left of the missing piece of window molding on the carpet beneath the window. With a practiced eye, he scanned the rest of the window frame near him, then glanced about the near area of the room. When he didn't detect anything, he expanded his search. "There," he said as he saw marks on the walls by a corner, then a mark on the mantle. Finally, his eyes stopped at a blob of black plastic on the hearth. A questioning look on his face, he turned to Jeff.

"Yeah, it was me. A little experiment that got a bit out of ... uh, hand, you could say."

"What's the thing on the hearth? Is that what did it?"

"A pen," the Prime said, lifting a duplicate partway out of his shirt pocket.

Dave spun to look at the chunk missing from the window frame. "A pen did that? No friggin' way."

"It had a hard life," Jeff tried to joke. "And besides, I suspect it was the ball of air the pen was pushing that did most of the damage."

"Air?" Dave said, a question in his voice as he frowned at Jeff.

Jeff chuckled and motioned for the Alpha to have a seat. "Sit. I'll tell you – all of you – what happened, and before I begin, I know you're going to have a heyday teasing me about it, but just remember that payback can be a bitch," he finished, trying unsuccessfully to glare at his Alphas.