Chapter 11 #2
Cole cleared his throat. He knew what he was seeing, and it was more than a concerned mother. “You and your children are welcome to stay here for a while.”
That earned him a wary look. “You don’t know me. Why would you do such a thing?”
He spread his fingers. “For the same reason that we’ve been caring for these little ones.
As I imagine you can already tell, we’re a wolf pack.
We like to take care of our own, but sometimes that extends to others outside of our circle who are in need.
We’re pretty generous people, and it looks to me like you might need a bit of help. ”
Eve’s lips tightened, and she leaned harder against the wall.
Anger flooded through Cole, but he wasn’t angry at Eve.
He was angry that any woman had to feel this way, that once she’d been mistreated or hurt, she couldn’t look at any other man without believing he’d do the same.
It didn’t matter that Cole was an authority figure who should be trusted.
He was grateful that Linda was there with him.
“There’s a women’s shelter in town,” Linda said softly, “but I’m not sure how they’d react to five baby dragons.”
Eve swallowed, her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to decide whether or not she could trust them. “What do you want from me?” she asked, her voice tight and worried.
“We just want to know what’s going on so that we can help you in the best way possible,” Cole explained.
“If you’re in some kind of trouble, we’d like to know so we can have a guard on watch.
If it’s legal trouble, well, I’ve got connections to some good attorneys that can do a lot if someone is cooperating. ”
“It’s nothing like that,” Eve said quickly.
Trinity came back with a tray. She’d loaded it with a ham and cheese sandwich, a pickle, a bag of chips, and a bowl of fruit salad.
A bottle of water and a glass of juice sat next to it, and she set it on the mattress next to Eve with a smile.
“Just let me know if you need anything else. We always keep plenty around here.”
Eve stared at the food, and she dove into it before Trinity had left the room. She tore into the sandwich as though she hadn’t eaten in days, gulping down the water between bites.
Cole exchanged a look with Linda. The situation was strange, but Eve needed their help.
He wondered how a dragon clan typically operated and why Eve didn’t have her own people to turn to.
Cole and the other Alphas who’d come before him had often sheltered and cared for anyone in their pack who’d fallen on hard times.
That was something everyone should have, but he guessed Eve didn’t.
She leaned against the wall and caught her breath when she finished the sandwich. “Thank you,” she sighed.
“As Trinity said, there’s plenty more,” Linda offered. “We can also offer you a shower and clean clothes. The couch folds out into a bed so you can stay right here with your children.”
She began to cry again, and Linda offered her a box of tissues from the side table. “It’s my mate,” Eve gasped between tears. “Joel. He’s always been a very dominant sort of man. I used to see him as strong and protective, but he’s changed.”
Cole frowned. Dragon shifters were probably fated to their mates just as the rest of them were. How did Nia see him? Was she disappointed that she hadn’t been bound to someone better suited to her? Someone who could relate to her more? Someone younger?
“His militaristic side began to come out in full force as soon as I told him the babies were coming. For weeks, he wouldn’t stop talking about how he would train them to be warriors.
” Eve opened the bag of chips, eating more slowly now.
She lifted a chip to her mouth and then used her other hand to stroke one of the babies’ cheeks.
“He’s talked about drills and training, about how he’s going to push them until they break so that he can mold them into the fighters that he wants them to be.
His own little infantry, he’d called them.
It’s terrible.” Eve cleaned her face with one of the tissues, but the tears just flooded again.
“A child should get the chance to just be a child, to grow and play. That’s why I left Joel.
I wanted to find someplace safe for my children, but it’s not easy on my own.
When the eggs came, I couldn’t carry them around with me while I looked for a job and a home.
I know how it must look, but I wasn’t abandoning them. I wasn’t!”
The fear and desperation in her voice broke Cole’s heart.
She was trying her hardest to be a good mother, and it didn’t seem like enough.
“It’s all right,” he told her. “It did look that way at first, but I’m not going to be charging you with anything.
Everything is going to be all right, and no one is going to take your children from you. ”
She swallowed, her eyes wide and pitiful. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He didn’t want to push her too hard. She was obviously mentally and physically exhausted, but Cole needed more information. “Where is your mate?”
“There’s a settlement of dragons in the mountains,” she told him. “It’s a small group, but he’s probably with them.”
“And they don’t support you in this situation?” Linda asked.
Eve’s shoulders sagged. “I’m the one who left, and there’s no telling what he told them. I probably look like the bad guy.”
“You’re definitely not,” Linda asserted. She tucked her pink fuzzy robe a little more tightly around her. “Does Joel know where you are?”
“No, I don’t think so. At least not yet.” Eve set the tray of food aside. “It’ll only be a matter of time before he finds me, though. I don’t think he’s going to just give up on finding these babies.”
Cole clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to dig deep and solve this whole thing overnight.
Eve wasn’t up to it. Waiting until Nia’s dragon friends arrived was also a good idea.
“I’ll set up a watch. You can stay here, and I’ll make sure you have everything you need.
There should be an array of toiletries and towels in the bathroom, and you’re welcome to all of it. ”
“I’ll go find some clean clothes for you,” Linda offered, rising.
The two of them left the room and went down the hall. “What do you think?” Cole asked.
Linda balled her fists. “I think I’d like to find that asshole dragon and punch him right in his scaly throat.”
“Well, maybe you’ll get the chance,” Cole said with a laugh. “Eve needs rest and a chance to truly understand that she’s safe here. Then we’ll need to talk to her some more tomorrow and get the rest of the details. I want to know everything I can so we don’t head into this blindly.”
“I agree.” Linda moved into the storage room, where there were always some spare clothes. “I hate this for her, though. The poor girl.”
He put his hand on her arm. “Thank you for your help, and I’ll probably need more of it. I think having a woman around made all the difference for her. She wasn’t going to trust me simply because I told her she could.”
“Of course.” Linda put her hand over his and smiled, but her smile faded quickly. “You know the rest of the pack is going to want some information about our houseguest.”
“I know. Let’s get some rest, and then we can deal with that tomorrow.
” After getting a watch set up for the night, Cole went back to bed.
He lay against the pillow and realized that he might as well have put himself on guard duty for all the sleep he was going to get.
Could they trust Eve within the packhouse?
How dangerous was this mate of hers? How were they going to deal with him?
They were all important questions, but the one that weighed on his mind the most was the pack meeting Linda had just warned him about.
She was right. They had a shifter in their midst who could be inviting trouble to the packhouse.
They’d want to know what Cole planned to do about it and be assured that they would all remain safe.
Unfortunately, he didn’t think Eve would be the only question on their minds.