Sam
Meshaq nodded. “Ollie will be happy to see you.”
“Still down at the clinic. You made it back fast. I’m waiting for Alpha Jerrick to finish with the cubs before I update him.”
Meshaq nodded again as he stared out over the expanse of Vaughn’s yard. “How much do you know about us? I’m not certain what Vaughn has been able to explain.”
“I’ve spoken to my goddess about this,” Meshaq continued. “She’s troubled as well. Something is wrong, and we were both unaware. For me, that is unlikely, but there is a glimmer of possibility things can be hidden from me with enough magic. But hidden from her?”
“Why are you telling me this?” Sam asked.
Meshaq turned to Sam, his eyes blazing with flames.
“You need to understand what you’re getting into and decide if you really want to stay.
As hard as it will be, the cubs will have the support of their pack.
But for magic to be manipulated to keep a goddess in the dark?
There is power there, Sam. Malicious power.
And it will not be safe for you, or the cubs, until I find out what is going on. ”
Sam sighed, and then glanced over at the clinic doors which had opened to reveal Vaughn, the kids, and Nana Jerrick exiting. The thought of leaving them made his stomach twist into a painful knot. “I think they need me, and as long as they do, I’ll be here.”
Meshaq grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Good.”
The kids ran his way when they saw him sitting on the porch. Sam was swarmed by them moments later, everyone pressing against him while Ollie practically strangled him in a hug.
“Okay! Let me breathe!” Sam laughed and pulled Ollie back. “I told you I’d be back soon.”
Ollie beamed and pressed his forehead into Sam’s. “We got to go to the clinic and old Dr. Jerrick made us breathe and then he listened to our heart and Alpha hit my knee real careful with this thing and my leg just jumped up! I didn’t even move it! Alpha, do Sam’s flexes!”
Vaughn grinned and tousled Ollie’s hair. “I left the equipment down at the clinic, but we’ll check Sam’s reflexes another time, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And everyone’s healthy?” Sam asked.
Vaughn nodded, although Sam could tell there was more he wanted to say.
“Who’s ready for a snack?” Nana asked.
“Me!” Ollie jumped up and bounced over to her.
“Then let’s go. We can’t have a hungry cub around here, now can we? You might eat the furniture.”
After she led the kids into the house, Sam turned to Vaughn. “You want me to hang out here with you guys or go inside?”
“I’m fine with you staying as long as Meshaq is,” Vaughn said.
“You can stay. First, Alpha Jerrick, how are they doing?”
Vaughn blew out a breath and ran his hands over his hair.
“They’re okay. All a little underweight, Ben especially.
From what I can gather, they were mostly fed microwaveable stuff, and not enough of it at that.
From what we’ve put together, Ben took less so the other kids could have more.
We can fix that, though. Regular meals with some extra protein all around. ”
“And any other abuse than what is visible on Ben?”
Vaughn tensed at the question, and then breathed deeply once again. “It seems Mrs. Foote had quite the temper but slaps and withholding meals was the worst of it.”
Meshaq growled and even Sam wanted to find the woman and make sure she paid for what she’d done. He rarely lost control of his temper, but he’d actually wanted to hurt her the night before.
“She better hope I don’t find her,” Meshaq said.
“No luck tracking her?” Vaughn asked.
“No. Which is very concerning. As is the strength of the wards that were surrounding the house. I think we should have our own wards added. I can have them keyed into both of us, so I’ll know if something breaks through and can come immediately.”
“I’d appreciate that. We don’t have any magic users in the pack.”
“Well, Henry,” Sam said. “But he’s too young, I’m sure.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Meshaq said. “However, I wonder if Henry could have broken them all out of that house if he’d been able to use his magic.”
“We’ll have to ask him,” Vaughn said. “We have questions about their families, too. How long they’ve been there. Ben says he’s been there for ‘a long time’ and said that Henry was still ‘really little’ when he got there. So I’m curious as to where they came from.”
“I asked around,” Meshaq said. “A few folks remember a bear family having disappeared about ten years back. Foxes stick to themselves, so I’m having a harder time finding anything there.
It’s the wolves and Henry I’m wondering about.
You’d have heard of that many wolf cubs going missing, wouldn’t you? ”
“I thought the same,” Vaughn said. “There are so few cubs that even one going missing would sound the alarm. Every wolf able would make their way to assist the pack. For us to find three we didn’t even know existed?”
“Something is really weird,” Sam said. “Did you figure out how they knew to ask for you by name?”
Vaughn shook his head. “I didn’t ask.”
“Another question for our young mage,” Meshaq said. “If he is a seer, that might explain how he knew who to ask for and where to find you.”
Sam couldn’t help but scowl in confusion as one more layer of this world was revealed. “Wait, now there’s not only magic but seers too? And why did that word cause Vaughn’s eyes to about pop out of his head?”
Vaughn had definitely paled and Sam definitely didn’t like it.
“Seers are extremely rare, more rare even than our cubs. They are protected carefully,” Meshaq explained.
“Well, Henry will be protected carefully regardless,” Vaughn said. “But we will require additional resources if he is a seer.”
“Understood,” Meshaq said. “I’ll make sure you have what you need.”
“Well, I don’t understand,” Sam said. “So seers are rare. Why are you so freaked out, Vaughn?”
Meshaq’s expression grew grim. “Because seers are often hunted down and killed, Sam. No matter what we try to do to protect them.”
Vaughn sat down on the step next to Sam and let out a weird growly rumbling sound. Sam wasn’t sure how exactly to interpret it, but he went with needing comfort. He laid his hand carefully on Vaughn’s arm. When Vaughn turned to him, his eyes were glowing blue.
“He’s going to be okay. We’re going to do whatever we have to do to keep them all safe, right? Whatever it takes.”
“Whatever it takes,” Vaughn repeated.
“Whatever it takes,” Meshaq confirmed. “I’ll keep looking into things on my end, but I have a friend who owes me a favor. I’ll get them over here to set up the wards. It’ll probably be tomorrow. They don’t like to travel by portal if they can help it. Messes up their mojo.”
“Okay.”
“And, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to leave one of my pack members here for a while. At least until things settle and we make sure the wards are powerful enough to hold.”
Vaughn nodded again, but Sam could see that as they peeled back each layer of this, he was becoming more and more distressed.
Meshaq sensed the same and squeezed Vaughn’s shoulder before standing.
“I have faith in you, Alpha. As does my goddess. She doesn’t see any immediate threat coming your way and she has her attention focused on us right now.
We should thank her for that blessing and focus our attention instead on helping these cubs bond with their new alpha. ”
“I can do that,” Vaughn said quietly, although his voice had a hint of steel. “Please thank the goddess for her blessing.”
Meshaq smiled softly as a flaming portal began to open a few steps away. “I will. Until tomorrow, Alpha Jerrick.”
He stepped into the flames, and they vanished behind him. Sam leaned over against Vaughn. “That dude is intense.”
“Yeah, he is.”
Vaughn rested his hand on Sam’s knee, but moved it away a mere second later.
Sam reached for it, put it back, and then added his hand on top of it for good measure. “So… this is weird.”
“I know.” Vaughn squeezed his knee gently and lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Sam. About that night at the bar. I… I let the wolf in me have control because I wanted you so badly. The consequences, though. When I realized what I’d done… I had to force myself to walk away.”
“You hurt me, Vaughn. I don’t ever want to feel the way I did when you walked away that night again.”
“I will do everything in my power to never hurt you again, Sam.”
Sam believed him, as crazy as it sounded.
Now that he understood what Vaughn had done that night, knew that the attraction between them had been as intense as he’d thought, it somehow made it a little easier to swallow Vaughn’s rejection.
He couldn’t have brought Sam into his world then. Now, Sam knew his secrets.
“I can’t believe you’re a freaking werewolf. My life is so weird.”
Vaughn laughed and bumped their shoulders together gently. “Maybe a little.”
“I feel like one of my students. Maybe I should pass you a note? Oh, or maybe I can pass it to Brooks or Travis to pass to you? That’s the way it goes, right?” Sam chuckled and stared out at the yard, his mind wandering to all of the changes the past day had brought.
Who’d have thought he’d be sitting on Vaughn Jerrick’s porch, or that Vaughn would be some sort of superhero werewolf alpha, or that suddenly, Sam would meet six kids who would turn his world upside down.
He’d always loved kids but hadn’t ever planned on having any of his own. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d considered becoming a foster parent, but after his dad’s accident, he didn’t think it was great timing. Some days his dad was okay. In pain, but able to function.
Other days he couldn’t get out of bed. The joys and mysteries of back injuries. Pinched nerves and ruptured discs couldn’t be reasoned with, and depending on the day, neither could William Baker.
“And what would your note say, Sam?”
Sam wrinkled up his nose and huffed. “I’m going to plead the fifth on that one. I claim sleepiness and life changing revelations as my excuse.”