Chapter 14
Isaac
I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised that Kyle had picked up on my uncharacteristic behavior. He was the Alpha after all, and he probably knew me better than just about anyone, not that I let people in to know me at all.
I’d been working with Kyle for years and he was well aware of my fondness for being left alone.
He also knew I didn’t like people in my personal space, especially inside my house, and that included him.
Yet Vanessa was here and I didn’t mind at all.
I couldn’t let myself stop and think about what that could mean.
“Do you want to see the boys or not?” I finally barked.
I was done with chit-chatting. I had things to do and didn’t want to waste my whole day on this. I was anxious to get Kyle and his guys away from here. Though, I wouldn’t mind if Vanessa stuck around.
There was no denying my curiosity where she was concerned.
Kyle looked around as if he had suddenly remembered why he was here.
“Where are the boys?” he asked.
Vanessa sighed and side-eyed me. “They’re in the basement.”
I shrugged. “They’re safe and contained.”
She groaned.
Was it wrong that irritating her made me happy?
Happy?
That wasn’t something I thought I’d ever feel again, but it was true. I liked having her around, and I wanted to know more about her.
My mate.
I shook my head and bit back a grin.
I had a mate. It was the craziest damn thing ever.
At some point she was going to have to learn that she was mated to a ghost because I didn’t technically exist, or that’s what I kept telling myself. Lately there seemed to be a lot of new people coming into my life and that bothered me a lot.
It was hard to stay invisible when people knew you existed.
I opened the basement door and let down the stairs.
Kyle eyed me suspiciously.
I was certain they both wanted to know why I had them set up that way. I wasn’t going to share that story unless they asked.
Shortly after I built the place, I’d had a racoon get into the basement through a broken window.
I tried to get it out, but the damn thing was mean and kept hissing at me.
I even resorted to letting my wolf out to handle it, and that stupid racoon had sliced the top of my snout. I still had a tiny scar from it.
The beast of Satan would sneak up at night and raid my kitchen, tear up my furniture, and wake me up with the most terrifying noises. After weeks of no sleep, I’d declared war on the bastard.
In the end, I’d redesigned the stairs and left the thing down there to starve. With the walls being solid concrete it had nowhere to climb without the stairs. It had proven to be an effective trap. The smell had been awful, but I didn’t attempt to go back down until I knew he was good and dead.
In spite of what my mate seemed to think, I had no plans to harm these children though—maybe scare them a bit. That was all.
“Do I even want to know why the stairs are built like this?”
“Nah.”
Kyle sighed, but didn’t ask anything further.
“The boys are fine and they’re safe. Trust me. They stole enough of my food to survive for days down there. If you want to just leave them down there, I could fatten them up and have a nice snack later.”
I cut my eyes towards Vanessa to see her reaction.
The combination of shock and fury did not disappoint.
I barked out a laugh. The noise sounded foreign to my ears. When was the last time I’d truly laughed?
“Why do I feel like there’s more to that statement?” Kyle inquired.
“She told me not to eat them. Apparently, my little mate here thinks I’m some sort of feral beast.”
Vanessa blushed and squirmed uncomfortably next to me. I had a feeling she was used to being in charge. It was something in her stance and the way she spoke. So it brought me pleasure to know I was making her a bit uncomfortable.
She didn’t even have a comeback ready for me.
“Isn’t that what you try to convince everyone of?” Kyle asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
Why bother to argue his accusations when we all knew he wasn’t wrong.
“Boys, please come out. Kyle is here to speak with you,” Vanessa said in a calm, soothing voice.
“Oh no,” one of them said.
“It’s okay. He’s only here to help,” she assured them. “You can come out.”
We’d all reached the bottom step by then. Slowly the three boys stepped out from around the wall they’d erected.
“Help? He let them separate us.”
I expected him to chime in, but instead, Vanessa continued talking to them instead.
“That’s not entirely fair to put that all on him, now is it, Noah?”
“He’s the one in charge that gives the orders.”
“After multiple homes trying to keep you three together, you caused enough grief to force his hand. You want to be independent and take care of your brothers, then you have to own up to the fact that the three of you caused enough chaos to be kicked out of more than one home. No one would agree to take all three of you together after that last incident.”
“Don’t blame us, Ms. Vanessa,” Mason begged. “The oldest boy was always picking on Cam and me. He was mean and a bully. Noah was just trying to protect us.”
“Why didn’t you say something about that?” Kyle finally asked.
“Who’s gonna believe a bunch of bad kids?” Noah spat back.
“And what about the house before that?”
“They wouldn’t feed us enough,” Mason said. “Noah had to steal extra food. Cam was always starving.”
“Shut up, Mason,” Noah warned.
“And the one before that?”
“I liked them,” Cam chimed in.
“But they only liked you. They hated me and Noah.”
I’d already learned from Vanessa’s earlier talk with the boys that Cam was the smallest. Noah was the oldest. And Mason was the one in the middle.
I couldn’t fault Noah for trying to protect his younger brothers. What kind of a man would he become if he didn’t.
“The point is, I gave you every opportunity and you destroyed it every single time. It’s hard enough to find homes for kids your age while keeping you together. No family is perfect, but you weren’t even giving most of them a chance,” Kyle said.
“We’ll try harder,” Mason promised.
“I don’t know anyone dumb enough to take all three of you now, especially after this little stunt you’ve pulled. I’ve had the entire Pack out looking for you boys. Just today I had to devote two Westin Force teams to tracking you down.”
Mason perked up. “Westin Force found us?”
“No. I found you,” I told them.
Noah crossed his arms and glared up at me. “You’re the one who keeps destroying our houses.”
I mimicked his stance. “You’re the one who kept trespassing and stealing my stuff.”
We stared each other down.
Kyle peeked behind the wall. “Wow, this is cool. Where’d you find all this stuff?”
I raced to see what he was talking about.
“That’s my stuff. You stole my pillows and blankets from the guest room?”
“It’s not like you use it,” Noah challenged. “You didn’t even know it was missing.”
“When? How?”
“While you were feeding the animals,” Cam said.
“Shut up, Cameron,” Noah warned.
“Don’t talk to your brother like that.”
“Oh yeah, or what?”
I stepped into his personal space and glared down at him.
“Or I’ll string you up by your toes and use you as a pinata.”
I’d certainly thought about doing that on more than one occasion. I now suspected I’d take great pleasure in it. This snot nosed little brat was starting to get on my nerves.
Vanessa’s hand on my arm instantly calmed me which was a bit unnerving.
“He doesn’t mean it,” she said.
“Oh, yes I do.”
“Enough,” Kyle finally said. “You know, maybe we could leave them here for a few days while I find a family willing to give them one more try together.”
“That’s a terrible idea.”
“I tend to agree. They can’t just stay locked up down here. It’s cold and drafty and he literally traps them down here.”
Like that damn raccoon, I thought with satisfaction.
That oldest brat had a chip on his shoulder. I didn’t need that in my life.
“I’ll take them,” Vanessa said. “They can stay with me.”
“You know that won’t work. We talked about this before. You do not have the space for three rambunctious boys.”
“They can stay in my room and I’ll sleep on the couch. It’ll be fine, at least until you find a more permanent solution.”
She leaned down and picked up the youngest of the boys, cradling him in her arms. I knew instantly that she was a natural mother. I just didn’t expect to feel anything one way or another about something like that. I was definitely no father-figure.
“I’m sorry,” Kyle told her.
The oddest sensation hit me. It was almost like I could feel her overwhelming sadness.
“They’ll stay here until you make other arrangements for them,” I surprised us all by saying. “But I’m not cleaning up after them, so she has to come and handle whatever they need.”
“I was only joking about leaving them here with you. It’s a terrible idea.”
“But I can help. He has the space, right? I can come by before and after work. I’ll make sure they get to and from school, and that they’re fed properly.”
In that moment, I knew I was screwed.
The joy I saw emanating from her overwhelmed me in ways I couldn’t explain. But I knew I’d do almost anything to make her that happy, even agreeing to keep these three little pigs if that’s what she wanted.
It was now a proven fact that I was entirely smitten by my mate.
I scowled and cursed under my breath.
No one could discover this truth, especially not her. It was sure to ruin me.
Yet, even knowing this, I agreed to take the kids, and Kyle was dumb enough to let me.