Chapter 3
Vanessa
I’d been up half the night looking for the boys and gotten very little sleep, so by daybreak when my alarm sounded, I was exhausted. There were other kids counting on me though, so I knew I didn’t have the luxury of taking the day off.
With a groan, I forced myself to roll out of bed and hit the shower. That was normally enough to wake me up, but not today.
I started a pot of coffee then went to get ready. It was definitely going to be more than a cup kind of day.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail something I rarely ever did. I didn’t even bother with makeup. I even wore comfy clothes and probably looked like a hot mess. I couldn’t care though. I needed to just survive the day.
By the time I got to the school parents were already lined up for drop off. I felt bad because I was never late.
Mary was already there welcoming our students.
She hugged me when I walked up.
“I told Kyle you probably hadn’t slept a wink.”
“I got a few hours of sleep. Just moving a little slow this morning. I’ll be fine. I’m guessing there’s been no sign of the boys yet?”
“No, I’m afraid not. But they’ll turn up. I mean really, how far can three little boys get without being spotted? They can’t hide forever.”
“Who can’t hide forever?” Lucy asked.
I knelt down and held my arms open wide as her daughter, Vada, ran right into them giving me the biggest hug. My day was already better.
“Good morning, sweet pea. Are you ready to have some fun today?”
“Yes, Ms. Vanessa.”
“These kids really do fill you with life, don’t they?” Mary asked.
“They do.”
“It’s her calling,” Lucy insisted.
I didn’t argue, because I felt exactly the same. I was meant to do this.
More than anything I would have loved to have been a mother, but with each passing year, it just didn’t seem like it was in the cards for me. Instead, I loved on the Pack kids as if they were my own. It was both an honor and a blessing to do this job and I never took it for granted.
After seeing Kyle and Kelsey together I knew I wanted that for myself. I had offers for mating over the years, but none had been my true mate. I deserved nothing less than my true mate. No mate, no children, no family of my own.
I’d made my peace with it and was just grateful for the small role I got to play in the lives of others’ children.
Vada scurried off to put her bag away and find her friends as I turned to watch her go.
“So, who’s hiding?” Lucy asked again.
“The Baylor boys,” Mary explained. “They snuck out last night and aside from a brief sighting here in town, there’s been no sign of them.”
“I thought they were being separated.”
“They were,” I told her. “I knew it was a bad idea. I found them here, but they ran out and got away before I could reach them.”
It had kept me up most of the night thinking about that. I’d let them just slip passed me. The weight of that weighed heavily on me.
“I’m not surprised they came here. They’re familiar with it, comfortable here, and they know there is food and supplies.”
My jaw dropped in shock.
“Food?”
I shared a look with Mary and then took off running for the pantry.
“Oh no,” I cried.
Lucy was right. They had come here for the food. As I took inventory, I noted there were several missing bags, blankets, and even a few toys along with nearly all of the food and snacks in the pantry.
“There’s no food for snack time or even lunch today. I’m going to have to make some calls and have lunch brought in.”
I was trying not to break down, but hot tears escaped and slid down my cheeks. I’d let the boys down and now I was letting down my kids who meant the world to me.
“Go,” Mary said.
“What?”
“Go. You go and take care of this. Get what you need.”
“I couldn’t possibly. The kids are here. It’s time to start the day.”
She reached out and gently squeezed my hand. “I’ve got this. I know their morning routine and then we’ll do some playtime or a movie or something. It’s going to be okay. But you are a mess and need to pull it together. Go get what you need to finish out the week. We’ll be fine here.”
It was hard for me to accept that this place really could run without me. Mary Westin was the best. As a former Pack Mother with five children of her own and a whole Pack of grandpups, I knew she was far more qualified than I to run this place, but I still didn’t want to believe it.
I started to make excuses, but she immediately cut me off.
“Vanessa, I’ve got this. Now go.”
Slowly I nodded, accepting my fate. “Yes ma’am.”
I hated leaving the children, but I knew she was right. I really wasn’t in any condition to work today.
I welcomed a few more of my kiddos on my way out.
It felt weird driving away from the school. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken a day off.
Once at the grocery store, I parked and hopped out of the car. There were more than a few curious glances my way.
“Vanessa, is everything okay?” Maddie Westin stopped me to ask.
“It’s fine.”
She checked the time on her phone.
“But. . .”
“I know. Mary is holding down the fort for me. We had a bit of an emergency. Sorry. I’m kind of in a hurry and need to grab some snacks and lunch for the kids.”
“But you always have extras there.”
I sighed. “The Baylor boys raided the place last night, but shh. Please don’t spread that around. They aren’t bad boys. They’ve just been dealt a crap hand in life.”
She smiled. “You always see the best in kids.”
“Never met a bad one.”
The look she gave me told me she knew better. Clearly, she’d heard the rumors of the Baylor's. I was sure everyone by now knew all about them. They were likely the talk of the Pack and it pissed me off to realize it. They were just kids.
I excused myself and quickly ran through the store to get what I needed.
After paying for my items, I ran into Lane, our local sheriff, as I was walking back to my car.
“Hey Vanessa.”
“Hi Lane. Any word on the boys?”
“Afraid not. We have trackers around town, but it’s a bit tougher in a Pack to track people like that. Plus, they keep reporting that those boys’ scents have been found everywhere. It’s like they ran circles around this place or something.”
“I believe it. They can be quite the handful.”
“I spoke with the older boys’ teachers this morning. They all report that Noah is extremely intelligent. Too smart for his own good, was mentioned on more than one occasion.”
I smiled. “He was always a bright child.”
“When that sort of intelligence isn’t channeled properly, it can become destructive.”
I growled. “He’s just trying to keep his brothers together.”
Lane gave me a curious look. “You’re pretty protective of them.”
“I’m protective of all my kids and I’ve had the privilege to teach all three of the Baylor boys.”
“I see. You wouldn’t happen to know where to find them, would you?”
Once more a growl erupted from me. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t have been up half the night driving around looking for them.”
Without another word, I turned on my heels and stomped off.
The audacity of him to accuse me of something like that.
If I’d stuck around a minute longer, I’d probably have ended up in one of his cells down at the jail. He shouldn’t even be here. He should be out there looking for those boys.
By the time I returned to the pre-school, I was in a worse mood than when I’d left.
Mary took one look at me and shook her head.
“Drop off the food and go home. I’ve already called in reinforcements for the day.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you are in no condition to be here. You look like you’re about to explode if someone even looks at you the wrong way.”
“I would never take my frustrations out on a kid.”
“I’m not worried about the kids.”
“Then what are you trying to say.”
“I know you’re worried, Vanessa. You’re going on caffeine and fumes right now. You need a break. In all these years have you even taken one single day for yourself?”
“Of course not. I have a job to do, one that I love and wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Mary softened and gave me a sympathetic look.
“I know that, dear. But it’s okay to take care of you for once too.”
“But . . .”
“No buts. I’ll pull rank and have Kyle order it if you don’t.”
“Mary, you wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but I would. I can manage for one day without you.”
My heart was breaking. I didn’t want to believe I was dispensable. Not here.
Then she winked at me. “Just don’t make a habit of it. We still very much need you.”
I sighed. That made me feel a little better at least. And I knew she was right. I wasn’t a hundred percent right now. But I hated to admit it.
Begrudgingly, I did as she said. I didn’t even stop in to see my babies. I just left. It felt so wrong. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to do with myself.
Back in my car, I sat there for a few minutes until Emma knocked on my door.
“What are you doing here? We’ve got this.”
“Mary called you in?”
She shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I don’t have any plans for today anyway.”
Emma was working part time for me now that the triplets she watched attended pre-school three days a week in preparation to start Kindergarten next year. She worked 2 of those days and babysat the two days they weren’t here.
“But it’s your day off.”
“I don’t mind. I don’t really have anything to do today and feel a little lost without my munchkins. I’m glad she called me. It sounds like you need a break.”
“It was just a long night, that’s all. I’m fine.”
“Well, you look like shit. I think Mary was right.”
I groaned. Leave it to Emma to give it to me straight.
“Now, get on out of here,” she insisted.
“Fine. Just take care of my littles.”
“Like they were my own.”
I nodded knowing Emma understood.
She and her mate, Painter, hadn’t conceived a little gorilla of their own. I wasn’t sure if that was because she couldn’t or they just didn’t want to. I’d only started working with Emma this year and still didn’t feel like it was my place to ask.
It still blew my mind sometimes that she was a gorilla shifter and not a wolf. It wasn’t that long ago that we were all wolves and wouldn’t have dreamed of it any other way. Now there were gorillas, bears, foxes, opossums, and a bunch of other shifter types in the Pack.
For the most part we all coexisted peacefully. Wolves still outnumbered the rest, but with Westin Force bringing new strays back with every mission, I was never certain what sort of shifter would be walking through my door next.
It really didn’t matter to me, though. I loved every single kid the same.
Sure, there had been some skirmishes and adjustments for others, but Kyle had remained firm that those seeking asylum here would be treated no differently. That was sometimes easier said than done, but I agreed with the theory of it.
Why couldn’t we all coexist? Did it really matter what type of animal we shifted into?
It wasn’t like any of us spent a great deal of time in our fur anymore.
We were mostly human and very civilized.
Sometimes I had to stop and remind myself that Emma wasn’t a wolf.
She was still Pack, or at least I thought of her that way.
Unfortunately, not everyone was as comfortable with them.
I’d had a firsthand peek at some of the shit Kyle had to deal with.
There had been threats to my center for allowing non-wolves to attend.
And I had lost a few kids over such things too.
Kyle personally addressed each and every instance, but he couldn’t exactly force people to change their minds, though he did have the power to ensure they didn’t act on it.
I often worried that with Westin being such a large Pack that eventually a division would arise that couldn’t be overcome and lead to an uprising within Westin Pack. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if it was over inter-species.
But I knew that wasn’t my battle at this time.
I did what I could to make everyone feel welcome and I never treated a child any differently because of the animal he or she may someday become.
My job was simply to love on them, make them feel safe, and prepare them to enter big school confidently when the time came.
I had the best job in the world.
I frowned, hating that I’d been kicked out of work today. I was the boss. This shouldn’t have happened, but Mary still had this air of authority around her that I just couldn’t overcome, or wasn’t brave enough to test would be more accurate.
I yawned. Admitting she was right left a bad taste in my mouth. Defiantly, I drove around town one more time on the chance that I’d catch a glimpse of the boys. But there was nothing so I went home, dragged my ass from the car to my bed, and caved in defeat. I really was exhausted.