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*****

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked, watching Jackie tie the laces of her right shoe.

"Safe?" She shook her head. "No. But," she moved to those on her left one, "we don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves, Riley, and it is already suspicious that our children aren't going to school; at least the adults should go to their jobs."

She straightened and grabbed a large handbag off the corner table.

"I'll be working only in the office today, no home visits." She tugged a strand of light hair behind her ear. "I've got a mountain of files to go through."
"But..." I began again. She turned around and put her hands over my shoulders.

"I'll be fine, Riley." She was looking straight into my eyes. "Tom is driving me to and taking me from work and I will be inside a building buzzing with people. The white wolf is a possible threat, but I doubt they will attack in broad daylight when I'm surrounded by coworkers. Besides," her wrinkles got deeper as she smiled at me, "anyone who attacks me or those precious to me are in for one Hell of a fight."

"She's right, son." Jackie's hands fell from my shoulders when her husband caressed her cheek. "Gray in the hair or not, my wife is still a formidable adversary."

"Yep, mom's feisty," Kennedy chimed in.

"Now, I want you boys to lock the door behind us and..."

"We know, we know: call, if we see anything suspicious," Kennedy cut his father off.

"And no matter what happens..."

"Don't go outside on our own."

"Stop interrupting your father, young man," Jackie berated; her son rolled his eyes.

"But you already said that a dozen times. Plus, we have Lisa to watch over us," he pointed out.

"Nevertheless," his mom pecked him on the forehead, "lock the door."

She then turned to me and kissed me on the cheek. My eyes rounded and I felt my face heat up. I covered the spot with my palm.

"Stay put until your father gets back." Was the last thing she insisted on before she left with Tom in tow.

Kennedy walked to the door and turned the key in the lock, giving the handle a couple of pushes down to make sure the door won't open.

"I hope they are happy now," he muttered as he threw the key in a bowl on top of the corner table. "So what do we do?"

"Shouldn't we wait for news from your brothers?" I asked as he led me into the living room.

"Yeah, but what do we do while we wait?" He jumped on the couch and took most of its space by lying on it with his legs stretched apart. "We can't just sit and stare at nothing; that's too boring. Even Lisa is doing something." He pointed at a sofa where his sister-in-law was adjusting her embroidery hoop. In her feet, there was a basket with colorful strings; on another sofa Carter was doing what he did ninety percent of his time - texting.

"Wanna play some video games?" Kennedy pulled his legs towards him to make room for me and I sat down.

"Sorry, not in a mood for that," I admitted.

"Let's at least watch a movie." The boy tried again and moved to a sitting position. "I'll pick one with hot guys for you. And the noise won't bother Lisa, right?"

"Not at all," she assured us, her eyes set on a needle with a brown thread which she skillfully pushed through and then pulled out of a white cloth.

"See, Riley? It's all good." He grinned at me and I gave in.

"Alright, pick a movie," I said, leaning back on the couch, knowing I won't be able to concentrate on whatever he chose.

*****

I jumped off my seat before he'd even walked into the room.

"Told you, it was Rhys," Kennedy grinned and stretched when his brother appeared in the doorway. "Any news, bro?"

The older sibling shook his head.

"No. But the Sentinels are here and they want to meet Riley."

Kennedy leapt off the couch as well, his bright eyes enlarging and his lips forming into a smile.

"They are here? I want to come too!"
"Only Riley." Rhys quickly tried to extinguish his enthusiasm and stepped before me. He ran his thumb against my cheek - much like how Tom had done to Jackie earlier today - then squeezed my hand. "It's going to be alright, Riley. They just want to ask you some questions."
"Are they human Sentinels or are they shifters?" Kennedy butted in again. "Or Dayers? Are they Dayers, Rhys? I want to see them."

"Let your brother do his job, son," Tom, who had returned about an hour ago, quietly admonished his youngest child.

"I won't get in the way," Kennedy tried again with such a pleading inflection that if it was up to me, I'd take him along.

"They are human Gifteds," Rhys answered his sibling's question from before, "and you still can't come."

The bright-eyed boy slumped back on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine." He sighed.

"And don't even think about sneaking out to look for us." My boyfriend ordered sternly.

The boy looked up half-guilty, half-grinning and before I realized it, I was the one lecturing him.

"Kennedy! You can't just run off on your own after a security breach. Don't you realize how dangerous it could be?"

His grin only enlarged and he leaned back, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall into his lap.

"You are so cute when you are attempting to sound all parent-like, Riley."

"That wasn't the point," I noted.

"I know, but you are." He winked.

"Come on." Rhys lightly pulled me by the hand. "They are already waiting."
"Don't go out, Kennedy," we both said at once, me with an anxious inflection, Rhys with a stern one.

"What do they want to ask me?" I followed my boyfriend to the porch and then into the direction of the training grounds. Perhaps the Sentinels wanted to interrogate me where the incident had taken place.

"They've already heard what happened from us, but they'll want you to tell them exactly where the white wolf stood."

"Why would they want that?"

The street was eerily quiet. There were no cars, no kids riding their bikes, no children playing in the yards... It was so much different from the way their neighborhood had been earlier.

"Clifford's ability is to sense emotions," Rhys began to explain. "John - he's his partner; his gift is that of supernatural strength - called him a 'residue empath'; it's not an official term, but it does the job."

We were getting nearer to the woods with each step.

"Empaths are people who can sense the emotions of others when they are near them. Clifford works a bit differently; he can sense the emotions that had been felt and are left in a certain place. That's why we are going to the training grounds," he confirmed my guess. "He wants you to show him exactly where the white wolf stood, so he can try and pick up on his emotions, which might help us guess his intentions."

"Do you think he'll be able to do that?" I asked, ducking to avoid a low branch.

"I don't know," Rhys admitted. "With all the patrols we'd sent out, there would be lots of things to pick up on even if we didn't go there every day. Could this Sentinel differentiate between us and the white wolf?" He shrugged. "They also explained that the more time passes, the harder it gets for Clifford to sense the emotions."

"We could speed up you know." I offered.
"Do you think you will manage that?"

I nodded.

"It was too dark for me this morning, but I can see better now."

"Alright then." Rhys switched to a faster pace and we continued in silence until we were almost at the clearing.

"What are they like?" I asked.

"Clifford and Johnathan? They..." He pushed a branch up and let me pass before him. "They are not the ones I've talked to before. This is the first time I work with this team."

"Do Sentinels always work in pairs?"

The sunlight was getting brighter as we neared our goal.

"Yes. It's usually one with a physical ability - in this case John, and one with a psychic one."

"In this case Clifford."

"Indeed."

We stepped into the clearing.

Instead of a bunch of children doing jumping jacks and a few adults to observe them, all the people in the training ground were in their twenties and above. Kelly and Detective Callum were not present , but Keri was here, along with Anthony, Everett and a female member of the pack whose name I didn't know; next to them stood two tall men - the African-American one taller than his comrade - who could be no other than the Sentinels.

"I expected them to be in some kind of uniform," I muttered as I took in their casual clothing.

"Theyhave those for special occasions like ceremonies, but it will attract too much attention around ordinary people. Even without a uniform, members still carry the crest of their order somewhere on them - a wristband, a pendant, maybe on an earring; it's innocent enough if you don't know of the Order, but it is a way to recognize a Sentinel if you are aware of their existence," Rhys explained as we walked towards them.

"You must be Riley." The shorter one - who also seemed a few years younger - extended his arm to me and smiled once we joined them.

I nodded and shook first his hand, than that of the other man. Regardless of the heat, the latter was wearing thick black gloves with a silver circle with an S in the middle embroidered on them; was that the crest Rhys had mentioned?

"I'm Johnathan Mitchell and this," he pointed to the African-American man, "is my partner Clifford Clarence. Has your mate explained to you what we need from you?"

"Yes." It was strange to hear the word 'mate' coming out of the mouth of a human.

"Will you show me exactly where the white wolf stood?" Clifford asked and I led him to the bushes.

"This is the first place I noticed them," I explained. "They were hiding in here. Well, more like observing me from here."

"I see."

The Sentinel kneeled before the bush and took off his right-hand glove. He ran a hand over the branches and then placed it palm down on the ground, his eyes drifting shut.

"And now we wait." Johnathan said as he positioned himself beside me.

*****

A/N: I'm sorry I didn't post this chapter yesterday, but wattpad wasn't allowing me to log in.

Anyhow, what do you think of your first glimpse of the Sentinels?

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