by S L Davies
“So, how do you have sex?” Colton asked with wide eyes.
“Sometimes, on our own, it might just be me and one of my partners, or sometimes the four of us together, and then sometimes it might be just me, Kodiak and Finnbarr. Karney isn’t usually involved if Kodiak and Finnbarr are together, together.”
“Don’t you guys get jealous?” Harley asked.
Branwen looked between the three who looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders, “sometimes we do,” Finnbarr explained, “like for example, if we hear Little Raven, with one of the others and it sounds particularly intense or good, I can feel a bit of jealousy, but not because I’m jealous of the man she’s with, but more that I’m jealous that I’m not involved.”
“I was jealous when we all first got together. Little Raven and I had been together for several years on our own, before Karney and Finnbarr were involved. So, when the relationship expanded to include those two, I did get jealous. But then I realised how much stronger it made Little Raven to have them by her side also,” Kodiak shared.
Branwen knew that he had struggled with jealousy when she first got together with Karney and Finnbarr, but she also knew that he didn’t have an issue with their relationship anymore.
“Why do you call Branwen, Little Raven?” Adaline asked.
“That’s what my name means, my da and Uncle Dyfed called me Branwen because they thought I looked like a baby raven when they found me, since then, Little Raven just became a name that most people call me.”
“We are only a couple of minutes from the airport,” the driver said.
“Thank you,” Branwen answered as she looked out the window and noticed that the large buildings had disappeared, and they were now on a freeway surrounded by farmland and factories.
Chapter Thirty-One
Harley, Ryan, Colton and Adaline’s mouths dropped open when they entered the plane. “Wait, you own a plane too?” Colton asked with wonder.
Branwen chuckled and shook her head as she hopped with her crutches through the cabin, “no, the Isakov family does, this is just on loan to us for this trip,” she explained.
“But you’re basically married to the Isakov family,” Colton said with a frown.
“Yeah, but this is Andre, Kodiak’s father’s plane. Kodiak is now the head of the Isakov family, just as I am the head of the Murphy family, but Kodiak must make his own money. But in saying that, Andre is a great guy and does help us a lot.”
“Are they going to hate us, because of what we’ve had to do?” Colton asked as he worried his lip.
“Look, it’s not going to be easy. You’re going to have to earn the guys respect. There are levels of respect in our life. Everyone is given a base line of respect, meaning that people are civil, they speak politely to you. But then the next levels are the respect you earn,” Branwen explained as she sat in the chair and stretched her leg out in front of her.
“How do we earn that respect though?” Colton asked.
“By being you. Not by being what you think someone wants of you, but being you, by being honest and respectful.”
Colton shook his head, “Branwen, I don’t know how to be me,” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears.
Branwen’s heart shattered into two. She never had given it thought, this kid, he had been groomed and moulded to be his father, to take over his role in the family business. Just as she, Karney, Kodiak and Finnbarr had been groomed. The difference being that what Colton was being groomed for was something disgusting and horrible.
“Colton, look at me,” Branwen said, as the boy lifted his face to her. She gently reached out and took his hand in hers, threading her fingers through his, “it’s gonna take you time to find who you are. It’s not going to be easy. You know you don’t want to be like Benjamin, that much is true, but now you must find out who you are. We will get you help, professional help to discover what you like, and what makes you, you. I promise that you will get better. I promise it will get easier, and me, Karney, Finnbarr and Kodiak, as well as all the men and women that work with us, will walk every step of the way with you.”
Colton gave Branwen a watery smile and nodded his head. She ran her thumb along his hand and sat back in her seat, watching as the guys and her other siblings, along with Carter got settled in their own seats. This wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t enough to just take these kids out of the situation they were in, but they were going to need a lot of work. Heavy duty work. Work that Branwen wasn’t sure she could give on her own. She was going to have to find someone to work with them to help them.
Branwen’s heart broke for her siblings. Sure, she had, had a rough start to life, it was a shitty start to life. But at least she was found by her da and Uncle Dyfed. She was saved early in life, before the memories had changed and manifested in her. Branwen didn’t remember her life before her da and Uncle Dyfed. However, her siblings, they were different, they did remember, they didn’t get the luxury of growing up without the memories. That thought alone tore through Branwen’s heart and brought tears to her eyes. Adaline would never know what it was like to be innocent, and to have a childhood. Harley would have to live with the memories of what he did to Adaline. Ryan and Colton, their innocence was stolen. All by a filthy monster of a man. Branwen was glad he was dead. She just wished she hadn’t been so impatient and had slaughtered him slowly, like he deserved. But she couldn’t change that now. Now it was time to look forward and forge a new and better life for these kids and show them what it is like to grow up with the love of a Murphy.
The end, for now.