Chapter 8
The Pack
Bindi had woke up todaytoday to a
typical wolf’s mate. Sure, he was an alphas son, but not the one
that so much was expected of. She wasn’t alpha mate material, not
for the pack alpha anyway. There was no choice and when the young
wolf, Finley, took her to the barn that was dubbed the packhouse,
she was horrified. No one, not even cows, should be inbe here. The
roof leaked and the floor was just as it had been when she lived
here. They’d not covered the original floor which was dry
manure.
There were more leaks in the roof now
and the walls were in danger of falling down in places. It seemed
worse when she realized infants and toddlers were in here directly
on the floor because they had no beds. Al hadn’t gotten any better,
he was even worse.
“Who is in charge here?”
“I’m Rosey and I’m in
charge.”
“Gather the children and their
families and take them to the house. Set them up in the living room
and see that they get a drink and a snack. While they wait, we need
to get them clean and in better clothes. Do you think anything to
wear is available here?”
“Everything is available at the big
house, but the lady might want some of her clothes that was left
behind in the hurry to leave.”
“Any idea what she might want? Could
you call her to see?” Bindi asked.
“I don’t have her number but someone
at the house might.”
“Okay, could you please see to this?”
Rosey nodded.
Bindi went by to update Duroc and
headed to the house. This was a complete nightmare. At least fifty
people lived out there and ten of them were children. All children
and mothers had to be out of there tonight. If only she could get
them all out. She had bad dreams about her past here, but things
were worse. Bindi was in the bedroom evaluating the clothes left
behind in the guest bedroom at the back of the house. These were
women’s clothes of various sizes. A pattern was emerging, and she
had a good idea what and who this room was for. Some of the clothes
were inappropriate for the average woman.
One set of outfits looked like a small
teenager or even a preteen girl had worn them. She decided not to
worry about where things had come from and concentrate on where
they could be used. Throwing everything useful on the bed, she went
to the next room. There was men’s and women’s clothing in here. A
mated couple probably stayed here and must have left their clothes
behind.
An issue was there was nothing for
babies or small children anywhere. Marissa came ininto the room.
“There you are. Did you need any help?”
“I need nothing but help. He
mistreated those people severely and they have nothing. I can’t
find much for them.”
“That’s not so bad. Get everyone’s
sizes and we’ll take a couple of them and go shopping. Since we
don’t know how much money we’ll have available, we’ll get the
furniture second hand if we can find it.” Marissa
directed.
Shopping sounded like fun. “Hey Rosey.
Is there someone you can leave in charge to help everyone that can
wear the clothes on the bed. They need to give it to them, and then
have them clean up? If there is, put them in charge and get
everyone’s sizes and what they need for the babies. Once you have
that. Get another lady to go with us and two guards and we’ll go
shopping.”
“Me too?” Rosey asked.
“Of course. Let’s hurry. We’ve got a
lot to do before the stores close.”
Rosey got the lists and there wasn’t
much on it. “This is all?”
“They know not to expect
much.”
“It’ll take some time, but things will
get better.” Bindi assured.
The trip to town was five miles but it
was a world apart. There were stores and places to eat. Everything
the average person needed could be found here. They went into the
secondhand store first. Two cribs were all they had but there were
two playpens too. Marissa found two bunk bed sets and negotiated
with the owner like a champ. Only one full size, one king, and one
twin bed were there, and she bought them all.
“Rosey, do we have a truck to pick
these up with?”
“Yes, but they have free delivery for
large loads.”
“This is a large load.” Bindi
observed. “Let’s get these two highchairs too.”
Next, they went to a general store
where they got work clothes and then loaded up on baby items. The
ladies had been using cloth diapers made out of rags. She was all
about saving money, but without a washwashing machine that was
rough on the babies’ bottoms. Bindi even picked a few toys for the
babies and other kids. This was an amazing change for them
all.
On the way home, they stopped at the
pizza place in town and bought a bunch of food. “Most of us have
never had pizza before.”
“You’ll love it.” Marissa
gushed.
When they got back, everyone loved the
pizza. They ate in shifts since there was not enough room for
everyone to eat at once. This was a situationsituation in which she
really needed Ariel’s advice. It wasn’t like the white wolf hadn’t
told her to call if she needed anything. Right? In the morning,
that’s what she would do.
In her mind, she was making a dozen
plans, but she needed to deal with the immediate needs first. One
meal at a time and one room at a time. There were five rooms and
two of them were suites.
“Rosey, do we have two families with
more than one child?”
“We do. Mary and Georgia have two and
three kids.” Rosey explained.
“Don’t they have mates?”
“They weren’t allowed to have
mates.”
“Do they have males in their lives
that act as fathers to the kids?” Bindi asked.
“Georgia does.”
“Where does he live?”
“In the old pack house.”
“He can room with her, but they all
need to clean up and get new clothing first. We’ll need someone in
charge of the laundry. There’ll be a lot of it.”
“Georgia does the laundry for the
alpha’s house.” Rosey observed.
“That’s great. She’ll know where
everything is.”
“If she hadn’t, someone would have
helped you.”
“I’m sure you would have. After we
eat, let’s start to get people settled for the night.”
It wasn’t long before they got started
and settled Georgia in a suite with a crib. Her other older
children would have a sleeping bag. It wasn’t ideal. But it was a
great deal better than before. Mary got the next suite with the
same set up.
“We need to look at the attic now.”
Bindi directed.
Rosey led her up there and there were
several beds, dressers, an antique crib and other helpful items.
“How did you know?”
“I’ve seen several atticsattics, and
most people store items in them like furniture until they decide
what to do with them. We need two guys to move some things, but
these bunk beds stay up here, and two dressers do as well. The
single guys can stay up here for now. Eventually I hope people will
have houses or at least apartments.”
“You mean that?” Rosey asked looking
hopeful.
“As long as the money holds out. We’ll
also develop some businesses so people can make money of their
own.”
“Aren’t you afraid they won’t need you
anymore?”
“I’ve seen some well runwell-run
packs. Someone is always needed to run things. It’s like a mayor, I
guess is to humans. If our people are independent and happy, that’s
a good thing.” Bindi explained.
“Does alpha feel the same
way?”
“He does. It’ll be okay. It will just
take some time to recover from what Al did here.” Bindi noticed
these people were nervous and kept expecting something bad to take
all the good away.
The attic ended up with two bunkbeds
and the restrest, if there were more guys staying up here were
stuck with sleeping bags. Those rooms on the two bottom floors got
beds and some of the women had to share beds. They didn’t seem to
mind but Bindi wanted to improve the situation as quickly as
possible.
People were stuck on the couch and a
few even on the floor in sleeping bags but they seemed happy to be
allowed there. It was sad in a way that they were so pleased about
anything thrown at them. But she was aware these were considered
the bottom of the totem pole. Those in a better position would be
harder to deal with. They might even feel threatened that these
people were being raised to the level of what Bindi considered
decency.
Some pizza was saved for Duroc and
those with him. Marissa had stood back and not done much. “I almost
forgot you were here. You got some pizza and a drink,
right?”
“Watching you come into your own was a
good experience. Yes, I was fed and taken care of.” Marissa
answered.
“Who is she?” Rosey asked. It was no
surprise she was curious.
“Have you heard of a warden named
Damon?”
“Yes, he’s a McDougal, isn’t
he?”
“He is and Marissa is his mate.” Bindi
replied.
“But isn’t she, you know, a
witch?”
“Yes, she is. Don’t worry. She only
uses her powers for good.”
Rosey looked at her. “I don’t think
I’ve ever seen a witch. You look normal.”
“Thank you. I’d like to think I am.”
Marissa answered.
“Aren’t you a white wolf
too?”
“I am.”
“Do you know Ariel?” Rosey
asked.
“I do, but so does Bindi.”
Now Rosey looked at her with her eyes
wide open. “You really do?”
“Yes, she’s a great lady and she let
me stay at her house a few weeks when I was training.”
“What were you training
for?”
“Did you know one of the guys here
with us was Tyne? I was training with him and his mate for a job.”
Bindi explained.
“But don’t they train people to
fight?”
“Yes, and to work with security
systems.”
Rosey seemed to have run out of
questions, and she seemed to be thinking things over. Their guests
went home with Duroc’s dad who had room to keep them, and they
would be back in the morning. When her mate came home, she went
with hithem into their bedroom. Bindi pulled out fresh sheets and a
comforter and got the bed ready for them. She’d brought her bag
with her and had plenty of clothes with her including a nightgown.
She rarely even wore it anymore since Duroc liked her
naked.
She went to take a shower, but Duroc
joined her. “I need you more than ever.”
“Was it bad?”