by Olivia Arran
My eyes darted past him to the group of children that were huddled against the far wall. A sea of wide eyes looked back, all watching the scene playing out in front of them. Scanning the group I searched desperately for Josh.
There! He was sat at the edge of the group, his little face drawn up in a fierce expression, glaring at the large black wolf that prowled back and forth in front of the line.
He hadn’t seen me yet.
Acting on instinct, I lurched forward. I had to reach him, make him see that everything was going to be all right now.
A large arm blocked my path.
“Remember your promise? The children are fine, it’ll all be over in a minute or so.”
I swallowed hard, stomping down my impatience. He was right. Just another minute, if this guy hurried up and stopped messing around.
“Quit playing with him, sweetheart,” a woman’s voice drawled from the corner of the room, as if reading my mind.
Glancing over I was startled to see a tall, curvy blonde perched up on the windowsill, her legs swinging back and forth as she watched the fight.
If you could call it that. It looked more like a game of cat and mouse to me.
The woman snapped a piece of gum, cotton candy-pink like her nails, and jumped down off the ledge. Sauntering over to us she eyed me carefully. “Glad you could make it, Oliver,” she said, continuing to look at me, a question in her eyes.
“What’s Jason doing?” Oliver was obviously ignoring the unasked question, so I stuck my hand out.
“I’m Ana. I live here.” I rolled my eyes in Oliver’s direction and the woman laughed, shaking my hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Macey, and that large hunk of a Scandinavian is my mate, Jason. The wolf is Cole.” She looked at Oliver, then at the arm he still held in front of me, her eyes widening a fraction. “You’re a human,” she eventually said, and it was definitely a statement, not a question.
I blinked at her, confused for a second. “And you’re not?”
She shook her head, her long blonde ponytail swishing from side to side. “No, wolf.” She was trying not to stare but I could feel her gaze on my neck. “Who—?”
My hand flew to the mark, suddenly self-conscious. “Bert.”
Macey winced, her hand brushing my arm. “Sorry.”
I didn’t think I could take anymore small talk, every cell in my body was screaming at me to get to Josh. At least she had confirmed that the blond man was Jason, and not Jacob. “My son is over there. Is there any chance your mate could…” Do what? What was I asking? It was obvious what they were going to do, but did I really want that? Could I condone it?
“Sweetheart!” the female-wolf called out, squeezing my arm. “Finish it. We’ve got things to do.”
I opened my mouth to object. I hadn’t asked them to do this, but it was too late. In a matter of seconds Jason had the knife off the other man and had tossed it onto the floor where it skidded to a stop against the wall.
But instead of scrambling for it, Bert’s guard slumped, his legs buckling beneath him as he slid to the floor. I soon saw why, as crimson red blood seeped out from between the fingers he had clasped around his throat, his mouth gaping in a strangled gargle for air.
“You don’t need to watch that.”
Oliver’s voice snapped me out of the trance I had fallen into, and I let him pull me around, away from the scene.
I hadn’t seen him move! I screamed inside my head, unable to wrap my mind around what had just happened. You couldn’t defend against something you couldn’t see coming!
I backed away from him, from all of them. They weren’t human—I had to remember that. I couldn’t forget. Mustn’t forget. My head whipped from side to side, my hands waving them away. Don’t come close! I pleaded silently. They were all watching me, the way a predator watches a frightened animal, dispassionately assessing what its next move was going to be. Bert had watched me like that, a cruel smile playing on his lips. Tutting at me when I tried to run, when I tried to fight. Then reminding me just why I shouldn’t bother, why I could never win…
I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at him. His eyes were the worst. They tugged at me, lulling me into trusting him and making me forget he wasn’t human. That he was an animal.
He took a step forward and it was like a force I couldn’t resist. Our eyes locked.
Unspoken pleas, confusion, denial—it was all there, swimming in the piercing blue, pulling at me. Overwhelming me.
I couldn’t...I had to...
A small shape darted toward me, weaving between the adults with single-minded determination. “Mom!”
The smothering weight lifted as my son threw himself into my arms, his small, chunky frame shaking as I smothered him in kisses. Smoothing back his dark hair, I drank in the sight of him, his image blurred and watery.
He wriggled in my arms, turning to face the adults. “Stay away from my mom,” he snarled, baring his teeth and placing himself squarely in front of me.
Shielding me.
CHAPTER SIX
Oliver
The kid was crouched in front of his mother, his fists up held high, his lips curled back in a snarl as his eyes flashed from dark brown to gold, then back again.
So, this was Josh then. It was the kid I had spied through the window, the one comforting the younger girl. For six years old he was tall, his frame solid with the kind of muscle I wouldn’t normally expect to see on a child his age. Unless they were training every day, following the kind of routine found in a gym—or a military camp.
I could see his wolf raging beneath the surface, barely restrained, volatile and liable to erupt at any moment. I had to give it to the kid, he was hanging in there, barely.
I shifted my weight, drawing the kid’s gaze. “I’m not going to hurt your mom,” I said, keeping my voice low and even, maintaining eye contact.
“Then why is she so upset? What did you do to her?”
He had a point. Before he had dashed over, Ana had looked like she was losing it, her face drained of all color, her hands trembling as she waved them erratically. She had looked scared stiff—of me.
Something was obviously going on in that gorgeous head of hers, and I wasn’t about to let her put up a wall between us, not when we’d only just found each other.
But now was not the time or the place to try and figure everything out. Shit, I hadn’t worked everything out yet.
“I didn’t do anything, kid. Listen, your mom has had a hard time,” I said. And that was putting it mildly. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for her, a prisoner in that house, forcibly mated and bred like an animal. Visuals tried to force their way into my head, images of Bert hurting her, abusing her—
“Oliver?” A hand gripped my shoulder.
I shook my head, realizing with a start that the low, feral growl echoing around the room was coming from my own lips.
I shook off Macey’s hand, furious with myself. Focus! Why was it so hard? Like running through mud, flailing for steady footing while my feet slid out from under me.
It was time to take back control.
I pulled myself up, stretching up to my full height and leveled my gaze on the kid, pouring power and strength into my eyes. “Josh, your mom isn’t in any danger—not from us. We need to get you and the other kids out to the forest, and safely away from this place. Round them all up for me, I’ve got your six.” I threw the military-style command in, wanting to see his reaction.
It was like a light had been switched on, the boy straightening up and looking around the room, assessing the situation. “Steve, Cory, you two bring the babies. Everyone else line up!” His high-pitched voice carried across the room, ringing with authority.
Fuck, it was worse than I had thought. Bert had been running a military boot camp—with kids.
“Ana,” I continued, “you need to come with me. Whatever it is that got you scared, we can work it out later, and I will work it out, I
promise. Just not now.” I reached out a hand to the woman who had turned my life upside down, mentally begging her to take it, forcing myself to wait.
She blinked, her lashes spiked with tears.
Pain stabbed me square in the chest, so real it felt like a physical blow. I wanted to kiss away her tears, wipe away her confusion, and most of all, heal the hurt I could see hidden just beneath the surface. I wanted to care for her, something that was so new and foreign to me I didn’t know where to start.
Everyone else in the room ceased to exist as I eased toward her, careful not to startle her lest she try to run again. “I vow to you I will never hurt you. I couldn’t.”
Her face tilted up, her expression blank. “But why?”
I searched for a way to tell her, without revealing everything, then gave up. I might not know what I was doing, but I sure as hell knew she deserved the truth. “Because it would be like hurting my own heart.”
She sucked in a quick breath. “I don’t know if I—”
I took another step forward. “Don’t. Not here, not when you haven’t had time to think, and to heal. Hell, we haven’t even had the chance to get know each other yet.” Why am I doing this? Putting myself out there when I don’t even know…
“Oliver—”
“And you’re a mated woman,” I added quickly, not wanting to give her the chance to finish. “Something we will rectify the second we are out of here.” I couldn’t help it, the words trickled out on a growl.
She tried to hide it, but I saw the flinch.
“The women need you,” I added, willing to say anything to get through to her.
Eventually she nodded, her jaw set in determination. Calling Josh over to her side, she grasped his small hand as if it were a lifeline and turned toward the door.
My breath whooshed out of me, leaving me feeling strangely deflated. I might have won that particular battle but I knew for certain I hadn’t won the war. Did I even want to? The thought hadn’t even occurred to me; the instinct to claim and mate was overriding any logical thought. If I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure. Wasn’t certain that I could be the mate she needed, especially with her being human.
Following her out of the door I paused, watching her stroke a hand over her son’s hair, fussing in that way mothers do.
Trouble was, I didn’t know if I could walk away.
***
Ana
I had my son back! I couldn’t stop fussing with him, holding him close, flying high on the rush of finally having him near. And no one is ever going to take him away from me again, I vowed, unable to help myself from brushing another kiss across his cheek.
Oliver was right, we needed to get out of there and then I could figure everything out, like what the next step would be, where I could go from here. Could I go back to my old life? I tried to imagine returning home after being gone so long, what Mom and Dad would say, what my brother would say. Did they think I was dead? Had they mourned me? Moved on?
And what would they think of Josh? Would they accept him, or would they hate him for being a part of what took me away?
If I didn’t go back, what then?
“Mom?”
Just the sound of Josh’s voice brought a smile to my lips. “Yes, Josh?”
“Where’s Dad?”
My mind froze at the innocent question. “Your dad isn’t really a good man, Josh. He has to answer for the bad things he’s done.”
“But…he’s my dad.” His voice sounded lost as his face scrunched up in confusion. “We should be together, like a real family. We can do that now.”
What should I say? “Josh, was your dad ever…unkind to you?” I’d wanted to say cruel, mean, vicious, but I stopped myself in time.
“Everything he did was for my own good, to make me a better wolf. Every wolf is trained like that, Mom. It didn’t mean he doesn’t love me—you know that.”
I bit back the words I really wanted to say, and instead took a deep cleansing breath. We were nearly at the tree line, only a little longer and we’d reach the other women. I was hyper-aware of Oliver following just behind and listening in, his silent presence oddly reassuring.
“There are some things you need to know about your dad, Josh, but not now, not tonight. Can you trust me for the moment and I promise I’ll explain everything in the morning?”
When he looked at me, his brown eyes narrowing in consideration, I held my breath. I was asking a lot, asking for him to choose me, the mother he had hardly seen over the father he knew so well.
He eventually nodded, his gesture and expression older than his six years, and I let go of the breath, my heart thundering inside my chest.
On light feet, not making a noise, Oliver slipped ahead, leading us through the forest. Muscles rippled under his T-shirt with each step, a hand darting out here and there to hold back branches or indicate rough terrain.
He’s making allowances for my human sight, the thought dawned on me after he scooped back a third branch, Josh automatically avoiding it, yet I would have walked smack bang into it.
I stumbled, despite the prior warning, and his hand shot out, gripping my elbow.
“Thanks,” I murmured, wondering at the heat searing into me as it traveled up my arm and warmed me.
“No problem,” he answered, then let go, his fingers lingering for a second before dragging free.
“Who’s that?” Josh whispered, his tone wary.
How do I answer that? My brain was starting to hurt with all the difficult questions.
“I’m Oliver and I can hear you,” Oliver whispered back, chuckling under his breath.
He had a great laugh. It sounded real, like it came from a place inside that wasn’t used to laughing, so when he did, you could tell he meant it. A strange thought, but that’s how it felt.
“I heard you earlier talking to my mom. You can’t have her, you know. She’s my dad’s.”
In the faint moonlight Oliver’s jaw clenched, his back stiffening. “She’s her own person, kid. No one owns her,” he eventually said in a tight voice.
“When a man mates, the woman belongs to him. That’s what Dad said.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! “Is that what you would want, Josh? For a girl to belong to you?”
“I don’t want any stinking girl, they’re crybabies. But Dad said that eventually I’d want to, and that I’d get to pick because I’m strong and it’s my right. But I don’t really want to.” He screwed his face up in disgust and relief flooded me. Given time I could make him see how wrong his father was, show him what it really meant to be a good man.
“Kid, women have the right to choose, just like you do. You’ll understand when you’re older it’s about love, not ownership. And, yeah, it makes my head hurt! So, enjoy being a kid while it lasts.” Oliver mimicked Josh’s screwed-up face of disgust while rolling his eyes.
When Josh grinned, rolling his eyes in agreement, I shot Oliver a grateful smile.
“And, we’re here.” Oliver moved to the side, revealing the small group we had left behind. “I’m going back to find the others. Stay put this time,” he ordered, his lips quirking in a smirk, before he tore off, back the way we had just come.
It was like standing in the middle of a stampede, the women swarming toward the children, cries of shock and happiness echoing through the forest as small bodies were gathered up into loving arms, kisses raining down on tear-streaked faces.
Some of the children ran toward Jason, his face twisting in shock and concern as they stood before him, blinking at him with big eyes. The women stiffened, grabbing their children, until Macey quickly explained the situation.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, moving toward the small group of children who stood off to the sides, their faces stricken as they viewed the loving scene before them. These kids had no one, their mothers having lost their lives in this fight.
One by one they were gathered into loving arms, scooped up with the rest of the c
hildren, their faces wiped dry and showered with kisses.
We were a family. Circumstance had made us one.
One of the women who had arrived with the rescue team moved to stand by my side. “Their moms?” she asked.
“Dead.”
She cursed under her breath. “Then they’ll find a home at the Colstone Pack.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to lie to them. They’ve been through enough already.”
“I’m sure. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Kara, James’ mate.” She nodded at me in greeting.
“James?”
“The Alpha of the Colstone Pack.” She chewed her lip, the gesture speaking of hidden nerves. “He’s not back yet. He went to capture Bert.”
Ah.
“But he’s fine, I’d know if he wasn’t,” her words came out in a rush.
I raised an eyebrow in silent question.
“Of course, you’re human. I’d feel it through the bond if he were badly hurt or—” her voice broke, worry creasing her brow.
“Bond?” I asked, mainly to take her mind off things, but also because I had a nagging feeling I knew just what she was about to say.
“The mating bond. When shifters are true mates they mark each other and say the words, binding their souls together before The Mother of All. It’s a little more complicated than that, obviously, but that’s the gist of it.”
My heart sunk. I swept back my hair. “Like this?”
Kara sucked in a startled breath, leaning closer to inspect the ravaged mark on my neck.
“You’re mated.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “Yes. To Bert.” I looked around, spotting Josh standing to the side with some of the other children. “That’s my son over there.”
Kara followed my gaze. “Does that mean—?”
“Bert’s his father.” It felt like an admission of guilt, and I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t my fault. Screw that, this whole messed-up situation had given me Josh, and that was something I would never regret.
“Did you mate him?”
“What do you mean?”
