Page 27 of Albel

“I’m here, Daddy!” I sob.

The alarm stops beeping, and I rub my ears to try to get the ringing to cease.

“I’m here,” Daddy says and appears in front of the kennel. “I’m sorry, Little Pet.”

The top of the kennel disappears, and before I know what’s happening, Daddy has me in his arms, trying to calm me down.

“I’m not going anywhere, Little Pet,” Daddy whispers as he bounces me up and down, gently patting my bottom at the same time.

“Where were you?” I ask, clinging to his shirt as I cry into it.

“I was just getting something from upstairs and thought you would be okay sleeping in your kennel,” he honestly replies. “I didn’t think the power would go off and then the alarm when it went back on. Daddy didn’t mean to leave you. I rushed here as soon as the power and alarm started.”

“I was so scared,” I whimper.

His patting gets firmer and more rhythmic. “I know, Little Pet. Daddy is so sorry for leaving you all alone and for you to go through something so scary all by yourself.”

I bury my face into his chest. “I don’t want that to happen again. I don’t ever want to leave your arms.”

It may be a little overkill, but at this point, I don’t really care. I never want to leave Daddy’s arms if something bad is always going to happen.

“You won’t. I’ll never let you leave me,” he replies and starts walking.

“Where are you going?” I frantically ask.

“I’m just going to check whether anything was taken while the alarm went off. You’re okay. I’m not leaving you,” Daddy gently says. “Though, I should leave you somewhere safe while I look around, but I don’t think I can let myself put you down right now.”

“Good,” I grumble and try to relax in his embrace.

But it doesn’t work out as he walks around, checking the shop to see if anything was taken. Someone tried to break into the shop. Does that also mean the power went off because of the person?

“Shhh, you’re okay,” he coos at me. “Daddy is going to text the security company to come and check everything out. I’ve got cameras installed everywhere. We’re going to figure out what happened.”

It doesn’t make me feel good that Daddy wants to do this. Does that mean he thinks there was foul play?

“Let’s go back upstairs while we wait for them,” Daddy says as he starts walking.

I don’t dare look around to see if there is any damage. I keep holding onto Daddy’s shirt and keep my face buried in his chest.

Safe.

Daddy is going to keep me safe as long as he has me in his arms.

“They’re going to be here in a couple of minutes,” Daddy explains. “They might want to ask you a couple of questions, so don’t be alarmed if they want to talk to you. But if you really don’t want to talk to them, then you tell me, and I’ll answer all the questions.”

He’s not sitting on the couch with me in his lap. Right now would be an amazing time to have a bottle, but I know Daddy won’t want to give me one. It normally puts me to sleep with how full my stomach gets and how warm I am against him. And I’m not sure I want to sleep right now when I won’t be able to make sure that I stay with Daddy.

“Albel?” someone calls out.

“In here,” Daddy replies.

Four people walk into the room. Four very large Venkorian men, making the living room feel extremely small.

“And this must be Ella,” the first guy says. “I’m Galar. I’m a security specialist here on Venkoria. I make sure that everyone is safe.”

I hesitantly peek at him, but my eyes fall to the men behind him. They are looking around, their gazes calculating.

“You said the alarm went off downstairs in your workshop?” Galar says.