Navigating Sanctuary

by Flynn Eire

  “I wasn’t exactly sober or nice to him,” I agreed, focusing on my food. “He showed up naked, and I get that’s how you guys shift, and instead of offering him clothes like I did you, I got pissed like he was trying to throw how amazing the sex is at me like that would make it all better.”

  “No, he wouldn’t do that. He would give you a million blow jobs to show his devotion and how serious he was if that’s what you wanted. You’re used to devious intentions. So are we as Hales, and having a fucked up family, so he understands them, but he could never be devious like that. He absolutely thought announcing you guys were mates would make you feel trapped, pissed at fate fucking with you again, and hurt you.

  “He never once saw it as disrespectful to not tell you or he would have immediately. He didn’t even mean to treat you like a kid who couldn’t deal with reality. He thinks you’re more adult than we are. All he wanted was for you to see that hounds weren’t all bad and you were worth more than being the young stud with the big dick some bitch was running her mouth about because he said he’d never thought of hitting a woman until he heard what she said.”

  “He didn’t tell me he met the mom of the saved soul, only one of the others,” I muttered, wondering where the miscommunication was.

  “He didn’t meet her,” Ashton clarified. “He heard someone gossiping from what she said to that person. Then he wanted to go beat that bitch, not caring who she was the parent of, and it takes a lot for Trevor to get violent. I mean, he’s awesome in a fight, don’t get me wrong, but he is the last person to let it get to a fight.” He waved me quiet when I opened my mouth. “Let’s go back to me being good and you realizing Trevor walked your maze.”

  “That doesn’t make it clear what I should do or that I can trust him,” I snapped, grabbing my coffee and giving him a dirty look.

  “Fair enough, but can you say you never want to see him and to leave you alone? I mean, really say it? Not you’re angry or your hurt talking, but is that what you truly want?” He smiled when I tried to answer but couldn’t seem to get my mouth to work. “You can’t, can you?” He laughed when I just shrugged. “Yeah, Trevor’s the sweetie who just makes life better.” He gave me a hard look. “But if you hurt him, we will eat you.”

  I smirked at him, glad we were finally to what I expected instead of playing nice and telling me cute stories. “You guys don’t scare me.”

  “No, we don’t, which is a bit scary to us because you don’t seem to have much self-preservation. Hounds are not like the bullies you’re used to, all bark and no bite, Dublin. We bite.”

  “I know, and I saw the punch Gerald meant for me, but that doesn’t mean I will ever back down, and I damn sure won’t change how I’ll act towards Trevor because there’s the threat of eleven hounds eating me. He doesn’t deserve his brothers influencing people to be nice to him.”

  “Not what I meant.”

  “Besides, I have a lot more power and people to back me that if you fucking touch my friend, I will bury you and all the Hales at one of my farms,” Barry warned from my right. I glanced at him with wide eyes, never having heard him speak so dangerously, and saw his silver Nephilim eyes, power filling the air.

  “Well, you’re forgiven,” I chuckled, smiling at my friend.

  He gave me a shocked look. “Not why I did it. I just came to see how you were and heard Ashton—who seemed the calmest Hale—threaten to eat you. So yeah, we’re our own litter or whatever and you’ve got peeps at your back. Plus my mates and my archangel fucking brother-in-law.”

  “We have Ariel,” Ashton shot back, smirking. “You guys are fun. We’ve needed fun. I mean, I didn’t want Trevor and Dublin upset to get it, but yeah, fun is good.”

  “This is not what I’d consider fun,” Barry grumbled, plopping down next to me. “Am I really forgiven? I had a whole speech and serious plans. After chore time, we’re going to Rafe’s, and I ordered all kinds of ice cream cakes. That seemed to be first on all the lists of break up foods. And we’re frying everything. All that stuff you’ve always asked if it could be really good? We’re doing it. There are Twinkies and—I got everything.

  “And so you’re not just drinking alone. All the mates got invited, and we’re going to have a break up party or whatever. So there’s tons of food, and fine, we can have fun drinks or something until we get sick, but no more drinking tequila right out of the bottle and the whole bottle or whatever. And I’ve never met a French fry I don’t like, but no bread stuff for me even if I’m drinking, and Rafe promised to keep watch, so we’re good.”

  “I love you too,” I chuckled, letting him off the hook. “That’s awesome. Yeah, I could use the fun.”

  “Hey, you guys aren’t breaking up,” Ashton cut in, but we ignored him.

  “And we can throw like fried fish at the hounds or anything else we vote icky,” Barry rambled, looking relieved he was out of the dog house. “Personally, mushrooms would be good. Or fried dough we could potentially launch. I’m sure Garnet could rig some awesome launcher if we ask.”

  “Sure, and they’ll probably all shift and play catch with the food.” I snorted, imagining all the hounds lined up for food and to play with their mates.

  “That could be fun too. I could absolutely get Tristan to do that. Yeah, I’ve been withholding sex and making him work for it like Shane does, and he’s a very appreciative mate for how easy I made everything for him always. Which I’m glad for.”

  “Yeah, I’m glad for you,” I muttered, not exactly wanting to hear about how awesome his sex life and mating was.

  “Right, so eat and we’re going to hit the bags before chores and lunch and then party and drinking.”

  “That sounds like the best plan ever,” I sighed, about done with breakfast anyways, having eaten most of it while Ashton talked.

  “Wait, you were just saying how I was good and thinking about Trevor ran your maze,” Ashton cut in, frowning. “No break up parties. You guys need to talk and—”

  “Not for you to decide, and he can take a breather or a billion,” Barry snapped, standing when I did. “Ask Dublin what he wants.”

  “Can Trevor at least come check on you later?” Ashton wondered, glancing between us and realizing his audience had gotten a lot tougher.

  “If all your brothers come shifted and play ‘catch’ with us, we’ll lock Trevor and Dublin in the closet for Eight Minutes in Heaven,” Barry offered, giving a smug look at the hound.

  And that’s when it hit me. He was also saying this in front of him to give Trevor a chance to win me back, sort of like I’d given Tristan a chance when Barry had maybe been open to it.

  I just shrugged. “If my best friend calls it like that, I gots to back him when he throws me the party.” I left it at that, ignoring Ashton’s shocked expression, and headed to drop off my tray.

  “You knew what I was up to, right?” Barry murmured as he walked to the fitness center.

  “Yes, Barry. Even I’m not that dense.”

  “You’re not dense at all. You just don’t correct people who assume things about you.” He turned to face me as he walked backwards. “Besides, we missed some of that normal college fun, right? So let’s drink too much, eat crap, and make some bad decisions. I’ll get naked at the party and text dick pics to the wrong people or whatever.”

  I laughed so hard I had trouble walking. I could just imagine Tristan’s face if he found out people had received pics of his mate’s dick. “Oh shit, send it to the Sethos litter or something. No, the other Magnuses.”

  “I do that and I might not be getting sex for a while,” Barry drawled, rolling his eyes when I laughed some more.

  It still was a funny idea.

  We worked the bags for a good couple of hours, switching off, but I mostly went. We were smart about it though, taking breaks, keeping hydrated, but my hands were pretty raw even with the taping.

  I raised an eyebrow when we went to meet with our adopted little brothers from the chore program. Mine were playi
ng with a hound, giggling and rubbing its belly as it made funny noises and licked their faces.

  “Which Hale are you?” I drawled, moving closer to them.

  “He had a note,” Mark told me as he raced towards me at the same time Luke did.

  “Missed you guys,” I greeted, hugging them both tightly.

  “Did you really get a mate?” Luke blurted, looking excited. “One of the Hales? People were saying they were going to build a big castle like the Lundbergs. Are you going to have a castle? Can we visit? That place is so cool. Oh, and he gave us a present.”

  “Slow down,” I chuckled, kissing them both on the head. “Okay, I don’t know about any of that. Yes, one of them is my mate, but he was bad, so we’re not together.” The Hale whimpered, still in his hound form. “We’re not, and it’s not your business.”

  “He gave us this,” Mark said, giving me the note. I sighed and opened it.

  Dublin,

  I apologize for Ashton not keeping his promise, but he did tell me of the deal Barry made, and while I would have liked to accept it in person, I’m currently on my guard shift. This is Sebastian from our younger litter. I bought a gift for your younger brothers, and it arrived. I know we weren’t at a place for gifts, but they make you so happy I thought a little something would be acceptable.

  FYI Sebastian is a goof who adores kids, so he asked to come, and he’ll behave. See you later, and I hope you have a good day.

  Trevor

  “What did you get?” I asked, swallowing my feelings about how it seemed like he was buttering up the twins.

  “A Nintendo Switch!” Luke exclaimed. “We share it, and I got the blue controller and Mark got the red one. We called it. And it says if we do well on our report cards, he’s going to get us more games for the summer. And if we play fetch with him. I guess he likes to play fetch. He seems nice.”

  “This one isn’t my mate,” I clarified, glad when they nodded. “You guys should write a thank you after homework, and maybe I’ll introduce you to Trevor if we make up and you can give it to him.”

  “Was he mean to you?” Mark demanded, shooting Sebastian a dirty look. “If he was mean to Dublin, we won’t take the gift.”

  “It wasn’t intentional, but it hurt me,” I clarified, waving them quiet when they both jumped to ask. “It’s adult stuff, so you can accept the gift. Thank you for putting me first.”

  “We love you, Dublin,” Luke said shyly, like duh of course they’d side with me.

  “I love you guys too,” I promised, tickling them when they came in for hugs. I realized Barry and his twins were already getting to work and hurried them along. I glanced at Sebastian, wondering what to say. I went with honest. “Being nice to the twins was sweet of him, but make it clear I’m not about to forgive him because of it even if he gets them ponies next.”

  I waited until he nodded and then headed to the twins. I checked the list of what we were doing and wanted to sigh, as it was going to be a lot of heavy lifting and my arms were jelly after the bags so long.

  “Okay, so we’re on muffins today,” I told them. “So you guys are on muffin cups and loading. I’ll get them back on the racks.”

  “Because we kept spilling,” Mark muttered, looking away.

  “Hey, I’ve messed up too,” I reminded them, hating they were still upset. It had been a big crash and ruined cookies, but accidents happened. “Even adults make mistakes and certainly when it’s new. No worries, okay?”

  I was glad when they nodded. I’d been more upset that Mark had gotten a cut on his leg from the rack falling over and not being able to get to him in time to stop it.

  We got everything going, and it was hard not to laugh as they excitedly told me about their studies and karate, which they’d started at the beginning of the school year. I mean they were so excited.

  “Will you teach us football?” Mark asked as we traded our finished rack for an empty one. “Someone said you’re like a football legend and we should ask you.”

  I winced and realized I was going to disappoint them. “I don’t agree with kids your age playing football.” They both looked at me with big eyes. “We can throw around the ball all you want. I will absolutely teach you how to throw and catch, but after all the injuries I had, all the studies I’ve read as an adult showing how badly tackle sports can mess up kids and your whole future, I’m against it.”

  “Like what?” Luke asked, shooting his twin a worried look.

  I sighed. “You could tear something that needs surgery. I knew a kid who busted his knee, and he had to have a knee cap replaced when he was a kid. Just a little kid, which mean as he grew, he would need more surgeries because it wouldn’t grow with him. Neck and brain injuries. Hurting the chances of your brain growing fully. Doctors report again and again it’s not safe, but people ignore them because of the money involved.”

  “That’s stupid not to listen to doctors,” Mark muttered. “We just wanted to spend more time with you. We get a break for summer, and we wanted to see you more.”

  “I’d love that,” I told them. “I’ll check with Dr. Mackey, but I’m sure he’d be cool if you helped me in the clinic. They could always use more help washing bedding and stocking stuff. And we can play outside. I heard the archangels are thinking of ideas for using more of the land. We should totally check it all out. And you guys are always—and I mean always—welcome to just drop by my room and hang out.”

  “Really? It’s okay? We won’t bug you?” Luke checked, worrying his lower lip.

  “Nope. I might be training or not around, but you guys are always welcome to come hang with me.”

  Mark’s eyes shined with excitement. “Can we go swimming at the Lundbergs’s? I know we have the pool here, but that one is really, really cool.”

  “Sure, I’ll ask. I’m sure they’d be totally cool with it,” I promised, and we got back to muffins. By the time our period was up, my arms wanted to fall off and die.

  “Hitting the bags so long wasn’t smart before having to lug up all that muffin batter into the depositor, was it?” Barry teased me as we brought them to the cafeteria.

  “Last time it was meringue cookies,” I grumbled, rubbing my shoulder. “I mean, fluffy, light meringue. Seriously, those big buckets were heavy.”

  “I think that’s why you got it,” he admitted. “I heard someone complaining they weren’t being smarter because one of the tiny high school kids came to help with their adopted siblings and couldn’t lift the damn things.”

  I winced. “Yeah, fine, I’ll do the heavy stuff.” I headed over to the twins and frowned. “Hey, why aren’t you getting the portioned stuff?”

  Mark shot me a guilty look. “We can eat more like you.”

  Oh crap, they were so cute. I leaned over and kissed his hair again, Luke’s too. “I don’t want your tummies hurt because you ate too much. I worked very hard with some others to get everything to where we’re doing portion control. Now if it’s not enough and you’re still hungry, we’ll absolutely talk about that. But eating more often and less is better for you and will help you grow stronger.”

  “I’m hungry sometimes after the dinners,” Luke admitted, Mark nodding as well. “We didn’t want to be greedy and take more though.”

  “Well, you’re on the end of the range, so it’s fine if you get something extra,” I told them. “Add a fruit or something from the salad bar. That’s what I do. Or make sure not to skip snack time after school. Something with protein.”

  That seemed to appease them, and we sat with our meals, both of them shooting me questioning looks when I only had one small sandwich. Barry explained we had something to go to afterwards and were eating there too, hiding a smile behind his apple. Goof.

  I watched them eat, laughing with each other, getting along with Sam and Ram, and was suddenly overwhelmed. Their lives would never be easy, that was for sure, but they could have been a lot, lot worse.

  “Dub?” Barry asked gently, snapping me out of my thoug
hts.

  I sniffled, realizing my eyes were itching. “Sorry. I’m just really glad you guys are growing up so well. You’re not going through what we did and are safe here.” I glanced between Mark and Luke. “There’s nothing you guys need, right?”

  “Shoes,” Mark admitted, glancing at Luke. “Our shoes started hurting, and we didn’t know who to ask. We forgot.”

  “I’ll handle it,” I promised. “That’s good that you’re getting bigger. Now you’ve worn in the shoes a bit for someone a year younger than you. Good job.” Saying that seemed to work and not let them feel guilty. We finished lunch, and they headed off, giving me several hugs before they did.

  “What’s going on?” Barry muttered as we headed towards Rafe’s.

  “They seem happy, and they have each other, Sam and Ram. I’m glad. I was just thinking about how I was at their age, always dirty, wearing clothes I normally stole from the Goodwill drop locations. Sitting alone at lunch with nothing to eat. No one would talk to me like they could catch poverty. Some kids would give me half eaten sandwiches while bullying me, but I didn’t care because at least I got food.”

  “Mark and Luke are doing good,” he comforted. “They’ve got you, they’re safe here at the school, and they’ve got teachers that care unlike those asshats at your school. They even got a sick new toy from your mate. Ram and Sam looked super jealous and were talking about how much fun it is and it’s meant to be shared. So yeah, I’m getting them one too.”

  “Make Tristan do it,” I teased him. He laughed so hard he tripped over the walkway.

  6 ~ Dublin

  We arrived at Rafe’s to find a lot of people already having fun. Daniel Craigen, who worked in the kitchen of the younger school, brought the extra fryer on wheels that they used when it was like fried chicken day when the normal fryers weren’t enough. We greeted people, but then I saw the spread all over Rafe’s enormous counters.