Chapter Eleven

Jack

Ryan couldn't have been more than eighteen or twenty. Behind him were six tiny bear cubs, each of them unique from the others. From their looks, they weren't a family. At least not by birth.

"Why are you here?" I asked, not wanting to scare them away. Fear poured off them, their little bodies quivering, their eyes sunken as if they hadn't eaten a decent meal in a very long time.

"We heard...we heard this was a safehouse. An omega house. And we need that—we need to be safe," he said, guarding the cubs. "I promise you, we don't mean any harm. We just need help."

"Are these kin?" I asked.

"No, and, before you ask, we're not clan either. We were all together in a place that wasn't like this one." He was being careful with his words and, for a second, I thought maybe he was being less than honest with us, but as he continued, I realized he was trying to protect the cubs, to shelter then from the harsh truths that brought them here.

I nodded in understanding.

"I'd be happy to tell you all about it, but maybe not now. The cubs have been through enough. Please, even if you can't take me, can you take them? I'm doing the best I can to lead them, but I don't know how to find enough food for them, especially the young ones. I'm pretty confident no one's following us, but the longer we stay out in the open, the likelier it is we'll end up back in the same position. I left my mate..." He was already holding two of the cubs, comforting them.

"Yeah, we'll help. Just follow us."

We shifted, and three of the cubs clung to Ryan's back.

Aziz took his skin. "Hey, little ones, you can take turns with me now, too. We won't hurt you. Maybe give Ryan a little break."

"You can ride on me, too," I added.

They all looked at Ryan and he gave them a nod, letting them know we were safe.

I was taken aback that anyone had heard of this place, and it made my belly uneasy. We hadn't been overly quiet about moving here. We bought the place, making it public record. And we had accounts set up at a few stores, but those were all human run. They thought this was a group home or a cult, depending on how deep their conspiracy-theory love ran. They wouldn't know what we were up to.

And maybe Ryan didn't either. Maybe he meant he heard there was a pack of different beasts here and that was that. One thing was for sure, we needed to find out. If people knew this was a safehouse, it would be less safe and we'd need to amp up security. Not that security was lax. The alphas made sure of that.

Aziz shifted again.

The trip was short, all three adults going as quickly and safely as we could, carrying two cubs each. I didn't want us out in the open until we knew what we were dealing with, and I sensed Aziz felt the same.

As we walked into the front gathering space, Nora was setting up some activity centers for later. "Oh my! Visitors? Or are we looking at new residents?"

Her smile was warm and welcoming.

"Residents, at least for now," Aziz said. "We're going to have to turn one of the conference rooms into temporary living quarters. I think the one on the other side of the kitchen is the largest."

It was a good idea to keep them all together, at least in the beginning. They knew and trusted Ryan. Any other placement would only add an element of stress they didn't need.

"I'll go grab a couple of people and make that happen." She set down the clipboard that was in her hand. "And then I'll find some clothes and toiletries from our supply closet and we'll get them all settled in."

One of the things the alphas had insisted on before the move here was supplies for those who needed them. They'd brought them over and put them in place even before we moved, back when we were furnishing the place. There were clothes, toys, diapers, and health and beauty products.

I was hoping we'd never have to use them, but now I was so grateful they were here.

"Excellent. Thanks, Nora."

"Not a problem." She squatted down to be at eye level with the younger ones. "I'll see you kids later. I have some really fun games and toys you can play with."

None of them said a word, but the fear that had been flowing off of them was lessening, so that was a good thing.

"Let me get you some clothes," I said to Ryan. "And then we can take the cubs to get something to eat."

Unlike Ryan, the kids were all too little to shift and, while they didn't need clothes right now, the ones they had were tattered and muddy. Either they had been on a long journey or had been hiding in the woods for quite a while. In any case, after we got them fed, I'd arrange for them to get cleaned up and into the clothing Nora was going to gather for them.

"Do you have…" a girl started to ask, but then snapped her mouth shut.

"Do we have what, sweetie?"

"Do you have cake?"

"I don't know if we have any made, but I can get you one. What kind do you like best?" I was no baker, but we had box mixes and they were tasty enough.

"Don't know. Never had any. They look good."

She had to be almost ten. If she had never had cake, that meant she was in captivity far longer than I feared.

"I will make cupcakes, then you can try a few different kinds."

"With frosting?" another child asked.

"With frosting."