by Tl Reeve
“Yes. Packs often have orphans, of all ages. Humans who unknowingly adopt a child or get pregnant from a shifter, only to realize when it shifts they’re getting way more than they bargained for. When it happens, and it occurs way more than we’d like, we find children of all ages dropped within our borders.”
How they hell could a parent even think of doing something so heinous? It blew her mind. A child was a responsibility, not something easily discarded.
“Get the hell out of here,” she snarled. “Parents…mothers abandon their children?”
“Shifter children can often become rambunctious, especially once they learn to shift. Humans outside of the pack aren’t experienced to handle them,” Mrs. Martin said, her voice laced with sadness. Although the other woman didn’t say, Keeley could see it bothered Mrs. Martin and who could blame her? Abandoning a child who depended on their parents broke trust and made the child feel unloved. Something both Dani and she were familiar with.
“I take care of them when we find them. Provide them with necessities; food, clothes, shelter, and love.” Keeley didn’t doubt the love part, she could hear it in Mrs. Martin’s voice and how her face had softened while she spoke. “Often, the older children want freedom. They tend to come and go as they please, checking in with me during the week. They stay on pack lands, often shifting to their animal form to roam the woods.”
Try as she might, she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact parents deserted their children, or the fact they had little to no supervisions. Keeley didn’t blame the older woman. First off, Mrs. Martin was no spring chicken. Chasing after babies or dealing with surly teenagers required tons of energy. Second, it had to be a huge amount of work. To her knowledge, Mrs. Martin lived alone, running a store, trying to support herself. She did, though, blame Kal, the Alpha, and her mate. Better solutions needed to be put into place to protect the innocent children of this pack. It should have been done eons ago.
“How many?” she croaked, swallowing past the lump forming in her throat.
“At last count, we had fifteen orphans. Aiden being the youngest.”
“I can’t believe Kal has allowed this to happen,” Keeley whispered, her heart breaking for the children who went to bed each night without a hug, kiss or the love of a parent.
“Not Kal’s fault, dear, it’s how packs have handled the kids for hundreds of years.” Mrs. Martin stepped out from behind the desk and motioned for her to follow. “Kal’s a busy man. Sure his brothers help out when they can, but he’s the Alpha and technically this is the responsibility of the female Alpha. If Kal had the time, I’m sure it’d be the first thing he’d have resolved,” Mrs. Martin claimed.
“Just because something has been handled the same way for generations doesn’t mean it’s the best way.”
“I’d have to agree with you. Without our Alpha having a mate, no one had the authority to make changes. You’re here now so you can make any changes you want,” Mrs. Martin stated encouragingly.
The other woman’s undying loyalty to her Alpha didn’t go unnoticed. The older female might not blame Kal, but Keeley did. Busy or not, mated or not, the Alpha female’s responsibility or not, someone should have stepped in to help those children. Specifically the person they trusted with their protection. Their Alpha.
She sighed, rubbing her hand down her face. Feeling overwhelmed would be an understatement. In a short matter of time, she’d found herself the Alpha female with large responsibilities she couldn’t even fathom. How the hell does Kal handle it all? By delegating the best he could, apparently.
“I’m clueless here,” she admitted. “I didn’t even know Kalkin was the Alpha 'til after we mated. Now I have all this.” Keeley waved her hands around in front of her. “I’m not really sure where I need to start.”
“It’s best to start at the beginning, dear,” Mrs. Martin stated the obvious.
Keeley nearly rolled her eyes at the other woman’s statement. She didn’t, though, out of respect for the elder who had vast amounts of knowledge Keeley could tap into to accomplish the tasks at hand. “This is a lot to have placed on my shoulders.”
“It is. I suspect your shoulders are strong enough. Don’t forget, you have a mate who’ll support you in all your decisions and a sister.”
“It’s not that easy,” she grumbled, still trying to gain her footing with her mate. She suspected it would come, but it would take time. She already surmised she’d be driving him bat shit crazy in three months. Okay, that’s a lie. She’d do it in a month, maybe two weeks. Might be smart to forewarn him. Let him know it was going to happen. Often.
“In front of the pack, challenging Kal is a big no-no. Behind closed doors will be another story. You’re going to have to learn to agree with him most of the time then do whatever the hell you want behind his back.”
“'Til he finds out and reddens my ass.” Mrs. Martin laughed when Keeley realized she had spoken out loud. “Sorry.”
“You didn’t offend me. It’s how our males are. Especially those Alphas. All of them are dominant bastards who will love you 'til you take your last breath. You got a good one, Keeley. Been watching him and his brothers a long time. Knew he was something special the moment I laid eyes on him. I’m just glad I’m still here to guide you, hold your babies, and watch them grow strong.”
Mrs. Martin, in addition to being a pack elder, was much older than Keeley suspected. Even though she’d been dying of curiosity about the woman’s age, she’d never ask for the simple reason no one should ever ask a woman her age, it was considered rude and tactless. With age came knowledge and Keeley would soak up every tidbit Mrs. Martin gave her.
Plus, if anyone would know why Kal knotted her outside of the full moon, it would be this woman currently busying herself around the store. The bigger question, could she work up the nerve to ask the most intimate of question? Keeley felt the telltale warmth on her chest, neck, and cheeks. Shit. She hadn’t even asked the question yet and she was already acting bashful about it.
Mrs. Martin cocked a brow at her. “Something on your mind?”
Keeley cleared her throat. “Umm…yes. Do you know why…I mean, have you ever heard of…” She took a breath and let it all out. I just need to say it. Get it out and let her answer. “Last night, Kal knotted me.” She pushed through, not wanting to stop until she got everything out in the open. “Outside of the full moon and he didn’t know why. I was curious, wondering why.” Why can’t the floor open up and swallow me now?
Before Mrs. Martin could respond, the front door opened and a young male shifter, who she had met and seen several times, stepped inside. “Yo, Mrs. Martin. It's hotter than hell outside today,” the boy said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The cocky smile and twinkling blue eyes seemed familiar. Why, though, was the question. “Sorry, I'm late.”
“You're not late, Bodhi. I'd say you're right time,” Mrs. Martin proclaimed, stepping beside Keeley. “I'd like to introduce you to Kalkin's mate. Keeley Blueriver, this young man is Bodhi. He's one of mine.”
Which meant he was an orphan.
“We’ve met,” she chuckled. “He was at the hospital when you were injured. I just didn’t know he was one of yours.”
“Heard you mated the sheriff,” he said. “Him and his deputies are good guys. Always looking out for us.”
Some of the earlier disappointment she had over her mate not handling the orphans situation dissipated. It seemed the Alpha and his brothers did make time for the orphans of the pack.
“Mind watching the store for me? Keeley and I are going to go in the kitchen and share a cup of tea so we can talk. I already loaded up the register with today’s change.”
“No problem, Mrs. M. I got it. Take as long as you want. Got no plans today since you asked me to come help.” Bodhi beamed at the older women when she placed her hand lovingly on his wide, thin shoulders.
“Great. Lunch is on me today,” the elder woman announced, strolling toward
the back storage room, Keeley in tow.
“Later, Bodhi,” Keeley said with a wave.
“Later, Keeley.” He returned the gesture. “Chicken salad?” he called out to them moments later. “With some of those funky tomatoes from your garden?”
“They're called heirloom tomatoes, Bodhi, and yes. I picked them fresh this morning,” she replied before she pushed the curtain separating the store from her living quarters.
“Don’t care what they’re called, Mrs. M. They’re the freaking bomb,” he said. As the drape fluttered closed, music from some hip-hop station blared through speakers of a radio up front.
It didn’t surprise her, Mrs. Martin had the round table they’d sat at before covered in a white lace tablecloth. On top of it sat two delicate teacups covered in intricately painted roses. On a large serving plate sat several sweet treats waiting for them to indulge in. As she took a seat at the table, the elder placed the matching teapot on the table. Tendrils of steam curled from the spout as the fragrance of the tea wafted around them. Everything matched. Hints of a spice she adored reached her nose. Her mouth started to water in anticipation of whatever was brewing in the pot.
“Do I smell cinnamon?” she inquired, attempting to make small talk while avoiding looking the other woman in the eyes.
“Yes,” she said, sitting in the chair across from Keeley’s. “It’s a new tea, came in yesterday. It’s called Spicy Sinful Cinnamon tea.”
“It smells yummy,” she admitted, keeping her focus on her empty cup.
“Keeley, about your question,” Mrs. Martin probed, dipping her chin in an attempt to catch her eye. “Kal didn’t know why it happened?”
“No,” she answered, thumbing the edge of the cream-colored napkin in front of her. “He said he was always taught wolves knotted during the cycle of the full moon.”
If she planned on working with the new mates, she had to control her reactions. After all these years of being on her own and training her mind to keep out strangers, she'd never learned how to prevent herself from blushing. She also needed to figure out how to move past the embarrassment of asking or answering these types of questions. Because she understood the newbies would have questions. Who'd answer them if she choked? Kal? Grunting and one-word answers weren't going to cut it for damn sure. She could do this. She could have a frank, open conversation with Mrs. Martin. She'd been, after all, the pack grandmother, sort of.
Why do I torture myself like this? This is so stupid. She wished now she and Dani hadn't led such shut-in lives. When they were younger, there were no talks about sex or puberty or anything. She supposed their mother did it on purpose, but in reality, it did more damage than helped. Keeley didn't even have a clue what menstruation was until Danielle explained it to her after finding her in the bathroom, hysterically crying. Why was she crying? Keeley thought she was dying when she had found blood on her pants after going to the bathroom. Dani assured her, no woman ever died from getting their period. Thanks for nothing, Mother.
“You're embarrassed and you shouldn't be. Wolves, shifters as a whole, are very frank and open about sex, my dear. With our keen eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell, there is no getting away from it. It's natural. Add in shifting and returning to human form, naked, you learn to overlook nudity pretty damn quick.”
Keeley figured as much. Didn’t help she lived in a house with two males who seemed to scatter with a growl and grunt from Kal at bed time. Once sedate and well pleasured, she’d lie in bed, cuddled close to her mate, hearing the front door creak open and footfalls on the steps as Jace and Royce went to their bedrooms. Giving up sex with Kal wasn’t an option. Hence why she ignored the fact the others could hear them. Truth be told, it bothered her more that others, specifically females, would see her mate naked during a shift. “Is this your gentle way of telling me I need to get over it?”
She laughed, patting Keeley's arm in comfort. “Yes. It's an adjustment period, for sure. In time it'll be like you always lived here. Mated with Kal and part of our pack. Now about your question.” Keeley leaned forward, not wanting to miss a word of the other woman's explanation of the knotting. “Like with the humans, we have folklore of things happening in the past, but never definitive proof. One of them is that some Alphas, the strongest ones, of course, tend to do it more often, when they subconsciously smell their mate in heat, even if it doesn't match up with the full moon.”
“So we’re an oddity?” She shrugged; being odd wasn’t exactly new to her, considering her ‘special’ gifts.
Mrs. Martin chuckled. “No, dear. Kal’s a very strong, very powerful Alpha and wolf who is single-mindedly focused right now to plant a pup in you.”
“So it’ll stop after I get pregnant?” Disappointment laced her words and she hated the thought of the knot only happening during the full moon. The knot extended her release, in addition to it made the experience more intimate since they couldn’t go anywhere for a while. And gosh darn it, it felt good and she liked it. A lot. He did, too. He had admitted the pleasure was tenfold with the knot.
Mrs. Martin lifted the pot next to her and poured the tea, filling both their cups before she placed the pot back down on the table.
“I suspect as powerful as he is and if he has an inkling you like it—which if I know my boy, he does—it might be a fairly regular occurrence.”
“Will it still happen if I am pregnant?” Her voice trembled slightly and she wasn’t sure if the thought of the knot during pregnancy or pregnancy itself was the reason.
“Yes. Don’t fear it; it won’t hurt you or the baby.” Mrs. Martin cleared her throat. “Shifter women are stronger and are known to have sex within days of their pup's delivery. We also don’t require the six week waiting period to heal.”
“I’m not a shifter,” she reminded Mrs. Martin.
“Did he tell you anything about what happens when a wolf shifter mates with a human?” Mrs. Martin demanded.
Keeley shook her head. “No.”
“I’m going to have some words with him, that’s for damn sure. Drink your tea while I tell you the finer details of being mated to a wolf.”
Keeley listened as Mrs. Martin explained being mated meant her longevity would match Kalkin. Thanks in part to them being mates and the bite on the neck, which he would continue to do every time they had sex. To say she was shocked was an understatement. It also meant they’d have many years, decades or centuries together because of who and what he was.
“Mated pairs tend to have pups cyclically. Often when one set of children grow up and leave the nest, the mated pair begin again. Occasionally aunts, uncles, and cousins grow up together. It forms a tighter, stronger pack bond. Now, granted, we do have some pairs who have a horde of pups, one right after another and then are done. Might be a good idea to ask Kal his thoughts on pups, so you're prepared.”
A notebook and pen right about now would’ve been helpful to have. She had no frigging clue how she was going to remember all these details, especially since she felt so dazed.
“Yeah, okay. Good idea,” she mumbled, taking the last sip of her tea.
Mrs. Martin picked up the pot of tea, then filled Keeley’s cup. What she wouldn’t give for something a bit stronger. The tea, though soothing, hadn’t done anything to help calm her riotous nerves.
“I’ll make arrangements for you to meet the newly mated pairs tomorrow. Several of the females are humans, so they’ll take comfort in understanding you’re going through the same adjustments they are. I’ll also get all the older children together and introduced to them. We’ll move those responsibilities to you over time, as you begin to build relationships with the pups and not to shake their foundation too much. Most of the teenage pups have already heard Kalkin mated and are expecting this shift. Aiden, I believe, will be claimed by your sister and Caden?” Mrs. Martin arched a brow as she grabbed a cookie from the platter.
“Yes, I believe so…at least Dani has.” No sense in telling the woman about her sister’s issues
with the other stubborn Raferty twin.
“Excellent. I’ll make notes in my log book.”
“Log book?”
“Yes. I keep records of all the children we find, how long they stay with the pack, who they mate if it happens, and their children. Introductions should only take two hours if we set it for say, three in the afternoon tomorrow? I'll have you heading back home in time to make dinner. Will that work, dear?”
Her head spun. Log books. Introductions. Home to make dinner in a few hours? She sat there for a moment. Suck it up, kid, this is your new life, plus it’ll give you the time to take care of your ‘problem.’ “Yes.” She straightened her shoulders. It would allow her to set up the meeting she wanted to have with Simon, without telling Kal. Having to come back into town would be the perfect excuse. Kal would never suspect a thing, which was exactly how she needed it.
After she finished up with Mrs. Martin, Keeley headed back outside, more determined than ever to resolve this issue with Simon. She needed to protect Kal, the pack, and her sister, even if it meant sacrificing herself in the process. Her plan, eliminate Simon from equation. Pulling her cell phone from the back pocket of her shorts, she turned it on. She figured out after the first time he found them, he'd placed a tracker on her phone. She promptly turned it off and never used it again. She might not be able to search for the asshole, though she knew he had to be in town, this would work, too.
Keeley would call him. She sent up a silent prayer the number hadn’t changed, then dialed it by memory. It rang. Simon didn’t answer and it went to voicemail. She shivered in disgust when she heard his voice telling the caller to leave a message. She left a terse message, demanding he meet her at the town’s parking lot at five-thirty on Thursday then shut the phone down once more. Allowing her time to tie up some loose ends in the pack would aid in her escape, especially if she failed. Also, picking the meeting place gave her an advantage. She could make up some excuse to get out with Danielle so they could find a home for the orphans. The parking garage sat in the middle of the town, and they could park there, giving her a moment to find the best vantage point. It was also far enough away from Kal’s office to provide enough coverage to hide their little meeting.
