Vaughn
Reality had sunk in quickly, though, especially when he’d heard his pack members calling for him from the front of the bar.
He couldn’t get mixed up with a human. His responsibility was to find a shifter mate, as rare as that was becoming in their world these days.
It wasn’t to fuck a hot guy in the back of his truck like he was still a horny teenager.
It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, but he’d walked away from Sam that night and not looked back. He wouldn’t be able to bring Sam into their world, not without jumping through a lot of hoops that might not even work anyway.
What he hadn’t expected was the surge of…
rightness… he felt the moment he had seen Sam holding Ollie in his arms. In order to become pack, whether human or shifter, there was a process.
An alpha had to completely accept the petitioner and hold them in his highest trust to allow them into their pack.
He knew.
Sam was supposed to be part of his pack. Sam was supposed to be his. It made no sense, but Vaughn knew it to the very core of his being. He may not have realized the last time they were together, may not have understood then what his loss of control truly signaled, but he knew now.
He glanced up, sending a quick blessing to the goddess for her assistance.
Someone’s hand had to have helped Ollie find a safe place, and Vaughn would forever be grateful for her guidance.
She’d obviously led Ollie to the safest place, to a place where Vaughn also needed to go.
She wanted him to make things right, for both Sam, Ollie, and the other cubs.
He turned his attention to Sam, who was pacing around the room, scowling and mumbling at the shabbiness and lack of anything that denoted children actually existed here.
If Sam had claws and fangs, they’d be out right now. The thought comforted Vaughn in a way he didn’t quite understand. An alpha’s mate, Vaughn’s mate, would be just that fierce and strong. Sam was everything he’d ever dreamed of.
“We need to get out of here,” Vaughn said.
His pack members grumbled their agreement.
Sam glanced at him quickly and nodded. Then he walked over to the huddled mass of children surrounding Vaughn and wrapped a comforting arm around Ben.
The angry scowl faded from his face as he looked down at them.
He smiled confidently to the children, letting them know without words that everything was going to be just fine.
“Okay, munchkins, we have a bit of work to do. I know you’re all tired, but real quick, why don’t we all go get anything that belongs to us that we really, really want to keep and bring it down here.
No one will be by themselves, so don’t worry, okay?
Your alpha and his pack aren’t going anywhere without you. ”
Ben nodded and leaned his head down onto the top of Sam’s head. It was the sweetest gesture of trust Vaughn had ever seen a shifter cub give a non-pack member and it reinforced his notion of belonging with Sam.
“No, we won’t,” Vaughn promised.
Sam then turned his attention to Vaughn. “We’re going to need a place to take them. This house is giving me the creeps, and I really want them out of here. We need vehicles because they shouldn’t have to walk back to my place in this weather, and they clearly need to eat. Do you have—”
“Travis,” Vaughn interrupted, “divide everyone up. We need to get the vehicles from Sam’s and get them here.
We’ll take the kids to my place. I’m calling my dad so he can meet us there and help me look them over.
Will you call Rachel and see if she can get some food to the house?
Sandwich stuff is fine, but lots of meat and fruit.
Especially fruit.” Vaughn glanced at Ben, realizing that for a bear, the kid was seriously underweight for his height.
It made him fight back yet another growl.
“Ben, can you help us? Make sure everyone has everything? We don’t know what to look for, and if we can never come back here that’d be great, right? ”
Ben nodded his agreement. “There isn’t much,” he whispered.
“That’s okay. You have a pack now. We’ll get you anything you need.”
Ben sniffed, and his eyes turned glassy with tears before he turned and walked back up the stairs. The younger kids followed and several of his pack members trailed behind to help. None of them wanted to be in this house a second longer than necessary.
Once the kids were upstairs, Sam turned to him with haunted eyes. “I’m sorry I… I just need them out of here. I don’t mean to overstep or… We’ve got to get them out of here, Vaughn.”
“We will. It’s okay, Sam. They’re going to be okay.”
“We need to see if there’s any paperwork or anything,” Sam said. “Will they even have birth certificates? What if they were taken?”
Sam looked horrified at the thought but it was one Vaughn had already had. Shifters were very careful of their young, especially since there were so few of them. For this many cubs to be without a pack, Vaughn had serious concerns about how it had happened.
“Search the woman’s room and see if you can find anything. Brooks will go with you.”
Sam nodded and hurried from the room, with Brooks right behind him. Alone in the room for a moment, Vaughn rolled his shoulders to release some of his pent-up tension and picked up his phone to call his dad. He answered on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?” Stuart asked.
“I need you to meet me at my place. We found some cubs, and we need to look them over. A magic user was involved, Dad. It’s…not good. They seem okay, but I want to double check to be sure.”
His dad’s breath caught in his chest. “Multiple cubs?”
“And different breeds. I know we have a bear and a fox. Three wolves. I think one of them is a magic user, but I can’t separate the scent of his magic from the magic at the house. We’re getting their stuff together now. Rachel is bringing food. I’m calling Meshaq next. This is bigger than us.”
“Definitely call the hellhounds. Multiple cubs,” Stuart repeated, clearly as stunned as Vaughn felt. “Mom and I will be there when you get home. Anyone injured?”
“Some bruising, from what I can tell. Probably a bit of malnourishment.”
His dad growled again, the former alpha ready to tear into anyone who mistreated a cub. Vaughn understood his feelings well. He was hanging on by a thread, and it took every ounce of his control to not follow after the poor excuse for a human being who’d done this and rip her to shreds.
He couldn’t, though. These cubs had been without an alpha for Goddess knew how long, and it would be horrible for them to be without him right now.
He knew better than most what trauma could do to a young cub, his role as a doctor for their kind having shown it to him more times than he cared to remember.
“See you in a few. You have plenty of backup, yes?”
“Half the pack came. We’re good.”
“Good job, son.”
They ended the call, and Vaughn opened his contacts again.
His thumb hesitated over the name in question.
There weren’t many men who intimidated Vaughn.
He was sure in his alpha power and knew he was one of the strongest of his kind.
But next to Meshaq, he might as well be a cub as helpless as Ollie.
He dialed the alpha of the hellhound’s number, though, because no matter what happened next, no one would hurt these kids again. And if he had to bring out the big guns to guarantee it, he would.
“Alpha Jerrick,” Meshaq said into the phone. Vaughn could hear the noise of the other alpha’s bar in the background, music playing and glasses clinking. He’d always found it amusing that the strongest, scariest shifter of their kind chose to run a bar frequented by humans.
“Alpha Meshaq, I could use some assistance.”
“Hold on a sec,” Meshaq said. The noise dimmed and Vaughn could tell that the other alpha had stepped outside. “What’s going on?”
“I found some cubs who were being held captive by a magic user. She was abusing them, Meshaq. I’ve got three wolf cubs, a bear, a fox, and what I believe is a young magic user.
The kids called her Mrs. Foote, and she left without a fight, but I’m worried.
There’s only so much I can do against magic users. ”
“How bad are they hurt?”
The other alpha’s voice had bottomed out in anger, and Vaughn nearly trembled in fear.
No one wanted a pissed off hellhound after them, but he drew comfort from the fact that he’d be able to keep the cubs safer with the hellhounds involved.
“I don’t know for sure. Nothing serious that I can see, but I’m taking them to my place now. Dad and I will look them over.”
“Is there a ward around where you are now?”
Vaughn growled. “Shit. I don’t think so. The littlest cub escaped and made his way to me. There are bars on the windows and—”
Meshaq’s enraged growl silenced him. “I’ll be there momentarily. Do not take the kids out of the house until I arrive.”
The line went dead, and Vaughn let out a rumble of approval.
He had no doubt the kids would be safe, and he downright pitied the magic users involved.
There was a reason the hellhounds were the most feared of their kind.
They were the guardians and the boogeyman all rolled into one fierce creature backed directly by the power of their goddess.
They kept order among all the clans and took anyone who broke the rules straight to hell.
Vaughn had to swallow a gulp when he realized he’d broken one of the rules by revealing himself to Sam and so had Ollie. He’d have to talk to Meshaq about it. Luckily, he knew he was reasonable, and under the circumstances, it couldn’t have been helped.
The kids began trudging down the stairs, holding small bundles of clothes. His pack members had a few things in their arms as well, but nowhere near what this many kids should have.