by BA Tortuga
That was why he was here, after all. His Sam.
The rest was just fun stuff that he could replace. Sam was completely unique.
Chapter Four
SAM WATCHED the lights swirl on the slot machine in the diner, his eyes moving, his head still. When Gus had balked at paying fifteen bucks for a Denver omelet at the hotel, he’d pouted, but this was fascinating. Who knew a hole in the wall on the way out of town would be so groovy and psychedelic?
This place was fucking fascinating—loud and crazy, a total tourist trap. He loved it.
He was also ready to head home. The thought had crept in early this morning, and it had surprised the living shit out of him, but it was true. He was ready to go home and see his family and sleep in the huge bed he shared with Gus and run under the moon.
His thoughts must have been loud, because Gus snapped out of his morning funk, reaching over to touch his fingers briefly. “You okay?”
“I am. Ready to head home, I think. You?”
“I’ve had a blast, Puss, but you know me. I’m all for the wide open.” Gus’s eyes gleamed for him, the humor there plain as day.
“It’s been fun, though. I have had a blast playing.”
“Yeah? You like all your gifts?” Gus waggled his brows. The gold ring Gus had produced last night had been amazing, wrapping around the head of his dick, just under the flare…. Yeah. Best not think about that now.
“They’ve been mind-blowing. Some more than others.”
“Mmm.” Gus winked at him, looking so pleased Sam had to laugh. “It’s tough to surprise you. When I manage it, it’s good.”
“It is.” He wiggled a little, knowing that made Gus nuts, and sure enough, his mate grinned, the look purely lupine.
“I—” Gus looked past him, then paused, a frown drawing his forehead down.
“What? What is it?” He looked around, his whiskers twitching.
Gus jerked his chin toward the windows by the front door. “You see those two kids?”
“Which ones?” Sam saw them, though. One in his early teens, the other a girl, maybe ten. They stood looking in the window, holding hands. Hungry.
“Those two. Someone just dumped them on the curb. I think they were hitchhiking.”
“You want me to buy them breakfast?” He would. No one should be hungry.
“I think we should, yeah.” Gus had a nose for this stuff, for people who needed a little help.
“Okay. I’ll go see if they’re willing. If not, I’ll pass them a little cash.”
“Thanks, Puss.” Gus could be scary, big as he was.
Sam was willing to help out. He stood and headed to the front of the restaurant, beating the manager out, who looked as if she might go run off the kids.
“Hey.” He caught a whiff of pure wolf, and he swore he saw a hint of dark whisker on the boy. Lord, teenaged hormones. They weren’t filthy, though, so they were relatively new to the road. “Come in and have a bite to eat. No strings. I swear.”
“I’ve heard that a lot,” the boy growled.
“I’m sure you have. If you want to come on, come on.” Sam turned on his heel and opened the door, waiting.
It was the little girl who slipped in next to him, darting toward Gus, who still held down their table.
“Goddamn it, Bella!”
“It’s okay. We’re pack.”
The boy stared at him a moment, and Sam knew he was confused by the whole cats and dogs shit. Then he nodded and headed inside.
“Good deal. Waffles and bacons, ho!”
“I want eggs,” the little girl piped up when they all settled. “And cheeses and potatoes.”
“Bella! Jesus! Shut. Up.”
She looked up, her eyes filling with sudden tears.
“Bella is such a pretty name. I mean, it means beautiful.” Sam glanced at the boy. “What’s your name?”
“Richie. Richie Barnes.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sam, and this is Gus.”
“She’s not my sister.” Richie sighed when the tears spilled over and Bella began to hiccup. “I mean, not by birth. We’re the same, though. Like him.” Richie jerked a thumb at Gus.
“Where’s your pack?”
“Gone. There was a full moon, men with guns, everyone is gone.” Richie shook his head. “I tried to… I tried to save more, but there’s just us now.”
“And Miranda and Lisle. They went the other way.”
Christ on a crutch. More babies? More fucking guns? “Are they pups?”
“Not a pup,” Richie snapped, and it was Gus that vocalized softly.
“No. You’re doing fine. Sam meant are they young ladies?”
“Randi is thirteen. Lisle is five.”
Sam looked at Gus, who stared back, eyes serious, sure.
He bit back a sigh. “How long ago did you guys separate?” Sam knew Gus would shift and start tracking the others as soon as they hit the far edge of town. Sam would drive these ones to his mom.
“We left each other this morning early. We got a ride on one side of the highway. They went the other way.”
“Well, good job picking a safe driver.” Sam tried to keep even a hint of sarcasm from his voice. “What would you like to eat, Richie?”
Richie ducked his head. “Um. I’ll just have cereal.”
“Hey.” Gus poked the kid gently on the arm. “No strings. Sam promised.”
Richie glanced up, worry in his grayish green eyes. “I love pancakes and bacon.”
“Pancakes and bacon it is. Seriously, Richie. We’re not looking to hurt anyone.”
“You’re not one of us, but you smell like wolf. That’s a little weird.”
Strong words from a kid with one shifted ear and a set of whiskers.
“I was raised by wolves.” Sam managed it with a straight face.
“Really? But you’re a kitty, right?” Bella bounced. “I had a kitty. Like a real one. She wasn’t scared of me at all.” She sniffled again. “She ran away.”
“I am a kitty, yes, but my family has all sorts. We’re a mixed pack. My brother was born blind, and one of my sisters can’t shift at all.”
Richie gave him the big eyes. “Wow.”
“I know, right? Gus here is my mate, the alpha.”
“Oh?” Bella sighed softly. “Oh, Richie. You said we just had to find a pack. You said someone would find us, and it didn’t even take you a whole day!”
“Bella!”
She firmed up her little chin. “You said! This pack sounds perfect.”
“I can help find your other two.” Gus nudged Sam’s ankle under the table. Thank you for understanding, mate. They need us.
Like I’d leave them out in the cold. He understood being scared and alone, and he had been an adult.
I know. Gus’s warm approval made Sam preen a little.
“You really are mated!” Bella clapped her hands. “Oh, wow.”
“We really are.” Gus smiled at the wee girl. “Do you think you’d like to come hang out at the pack? See if you like it? We have a bunch of little ones to play with.”
“I… I don’t think that’s so smart.” Richie frowned deeply, eyebrows lowering. “I’m supposed to keep her safe, and we’re strangers.”
“You hitched a ride with someone not even a wolf,” Sam pointed out. “If you don’t like it, we can take you to Gus’s old pack.”
“No.” That was Bella. “No. We should go here. With them, Richie. With them.”
“What do you know?” Richie growled. “You’re just a girl.”
“And you’re just a stupid kinda fuzzy boy. You’re just as scared as me.”
Richie’s whiskers grew, and the waitress was bringing milk, so Sam scooted where she wouldn’t see. These poor babies needed care. Protection.
“Look. Let’s eat. Then we’ll talk, okay?”
“Food makes decisions easier.” Gus nodded very seriously at Bella, who bounced her head in return, just as solemn.
Sam was alre
ady in love with her.
“Okay. Yeah. I… I can’t take my hood down, you know?”
“I understand.” Gus rolled his eyes as Sam cackled. “My butthead mate laughs because I spent from fifteen to seventeen with a tail. Constantly.”
“That’s harder than ears.” Richie was warming up to Gus, giving him the admiring stare.
Sam knew it would happen. Gus really was the alpha. He could charm young wolves easily.
“You have any idea how hard it is to fit in jeans with a big fuzzy tail?” Gus made this face, which made both kids giggle. Then the food came, and boom. The kids went to town.
They weren’t starving, more scared and stressed and desperate for something normal and familiar. They would settle in with the pack and help Lizzie and Marina with the pups. Sam began making mental notes. They would have to find a way to homeschool. Maybe Helena would be willing to stay, just for a bit….
“You okay, Puss?” Gus asked, and he realized the kids were done eating and staring at him.
“Just thinking.” He winked, pulling a face. “It’s a challenge for me. I’m old.”
“Oh.” Bella seemed satisfied with that. She glanced up at the counter at the back of the diner. “If I promise to scrub floors for a week, can I have a cinnamon roll? I’m still hungry.”
Gus laughed gently. “I love cinnamon rolls so bad. Maybe we can all get one? Or do you like something else, Richie?”
“Cinnamon rolls rock, and those smell good.”
“Let’s get a dozen, then,” Sam suggested. “Some for now, some for the road?”
Bella’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Yes, please! If we find Randi and Lisle, they can have my extra one.”
“Do you think we can? Find them? I’ll call them, if we can.”
Oh, thank God for cell phones and the teenagers who loved them. “You still have service?”
“Until the bill runs out.”
“Call them, Richie. You four are stronger together.”
Richie pulled out a wee flip phone that had to be ten years old. Still, it was a phone, and he had enough battery to make the call. “Randi? Randi? Where are you? No. I found…. There’s a pack that has a place for us. Can we come get you?”
They heard a girl’s raised voice, the sound obvious. She was crying. Yelling.
“No, seriously. I think—” He bit his lower lip. “I think they mean it, okay? Like, they seem good. Bella is ready to go.”
“Tell her to at least let us meet her, huh?” Sam suggested.
Richie’s head bobbed. “We can meet somewhere. Like at a truck stop. They’ll buy us food if nothing else, okay?” Richie looked over at Gus. “She says they’re at the Alamo Casino in Mill City. Can you find that?”
“That’s on our way home. Tell her to hunker down.” Gus stood. “I’ll get cinnamon rolls. You guys need to pee.”
“We’ll have to reorganize the SUV a little.” Sam winked at Richie once the plans were set. There was no way he was letting two other little girls wander on the fucking highway. No. Way. “My mom sent me with a huge list of supplies.”
“We also bought this thing.” Gus headed up to the counter.
“I can help with the car.” Richie got up and held out a hand for Bella. “Promise you’ll be here when we get back from the bathroom?”
“You have my word, Richie.” Sam let his words ring with command. He was the alpha’s mate and the top kitty. He could totally do this.
The kids trundled off to the bathroom, and Sam made sure they left a good tip.
Gus returned with a box that had to hold two dozen rolls. He shrugged. “Stress is best treated with sugar. I got you a salted caramel doughnut and a croissant with ham and cheese.”
“I love you. So… did this just happen?”
“Looks like. I hope Randi and Lisle are as well-raised as these two.” Gus smiled for him. “I love you too, Puss. So much. Call your mom.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she’ll need to get ready. We can put Richie with her and the girls with us, for right now?” Seriously, they were going to have to build. Again.
“Yeah. We’ll see how bedrooms work out, but we have the most space.” Gus squeezed his arm. “Gonna go start shifting shit in the car. We’ll need the seats.”
“I guess we will.”
Gus nodded and headed out to the parking lot while he waited for the kids. The kids. Thirteen puppies, four new pups, Lizzie pregnant.
He grabbed his phone and hit Mom’s name on his favorites list. “Mom? We have a bit of a situation.”
THE DRIVE seemed to take a hundred years. Mill City was on the way home, but the thought of two kids alone at a truck stop made Gus nuts. He floored it up 80, and the two kids they already had fell asleep two seconds after they ate a cinnamon roll each.
Sam had his head down, fingers flying over the screen of his phone.
“You okay?” he asked, and Sam nodded without looking up.
“What are you up to?” When Sam got quiet, Gus got nervous.
“Making some arrangements with Helena, right this second, and having an order of supplies ready for Pete to pick up next week in Winnemucca. Simple stuff—food, some clothes, basic bandages.”
“When did you become practical?”
“I didn’t. I pretend I’m choreographing a show. It keeps me from feeling mundane.”
“Soon you’ll have a whole cadre of dancers to teach.” Gus winked over, trying to get Sam back with him.
“We have a huge, vulnerable, young pack.”
“We do.” Gus sobered. “I’ll start looking for a couple of strong adults.” He was equal opportunity. Cat or dog, male or female.
“Helena’s coming. I know you two don’t like each other, but she’s fierce.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her, Puss. I am justifiably nervous. She carries a knife. I might have been stabbed.”
“She held a knife on you. That’s different than stabbing.” Sam’s grin was mischievous as fuck. “She loves me. Eventually she’ll forgive you.”
Gus had to love that about Helena. “Fiercely. If she wants to stay, she’s welcome. Your mom said her visit was open-ended and that she was at some kind of crossroad, whatever the hell that means.”
“It means her job sucks, she’s lonely, and she wants a change. It means that she needs someone to talk to that understands her. She’s a wolf, even if she can’t shift.”
“You think she’ll miss the city?” Do you miss the city?
Sam had been ready to leave Reno. That meant home was good, right? Sure, he got that Sam wanted his conveniences sometimes, but the city had been dangerous….
“Sure, when she wants a pizza or the perfect latte—although Marina’s sort of wickedly good at those these days.” Sam shrugged, the move deceptively casual. “There’s something about being home, though, about being where you’re accepted. That’s huge.”
“It is.” Gus would do his damnedest to make Helena welcome. And he would learn to make pizza.
“I’m happy at home. Reno showed me that. I loved it—getting away, playing, shopping—but I am ready to go back home.”
That was what he needed to hear, needed to know, that his mate was satisfied.
“Cool. Next time maybe we’ll run over somewhere in California. Get that sushi you like.” Gus perked up a little when signs started showing up for Mill City. Almost there.
“Mmm. Spicy tuna….” Will they come with us, Gus?
I hope so. They’re little.
So young. Sam shook his head. At least my mom knows how to deal with adopted kids who have had trauma.
Exactly. She’s….
She’s my mom. Sam’s thought was warm, happy, proud. Mona had a staunch supporter in her kids, all of them, no matter who gave birth to them.
Gus had no doubt in his mind that Richie and Bella, and hopefully Randi and Lisle, would quickly become her grandkids. “There’s the TA Travel place, babe. Is this the right exit?” Gus wanted everything to match up to what Richi
e had told them.
“This is it. How are we going to do this? All go in together?”
“I think so, yeah. I don’t want to scare the kids, but I don’t want this other set to convince ours to….” He trailed off. To run.
Yeah. At least let them get off the adrenaline rush of running first, huh?
Right. Christ, someone had wiped out a whole pack? On purpose? Gus needed more information, but getting these kids home and safe was more important.
Gus glanced in the rearview. Richie was awake, watching him and Sam. Bella still slept, but he would need her on board. “This is where your friend is, right, Richie?”
“She’s my cousin.” Richie blinked hard, as if he had something in his eyes. Like tears, Gus knew.
“Well, let’s get her and make sure she and the little one are safe, huh? I hate thinking of them being scared and alone.”
“Randi’s not scared of anything. She’s fierce. She’s the one who said we should split up and find a pack.”
“It worked,” Sam said gently.
Gus parked the truck, and Bella bolted awake. “Don’t leave me.”
“Oh, baby girl. No one’s leaving you.” Sam turned to face her, and she scrambled over the console and into Sam’s arms. “We’re getting Randi and… Lily?”
“Lisle,” she sniffled, clinging to the least paternal feline that had ever been born. “She’s my sister. Not Randi. Lisle.”
Sam gave Gus a stricken look. Leaving her sister. God.
“Okay, well, we’ll all go inside together so nothing spooks them.” Gus took a deep breath. “Ready?”
“Yeah. Can I get a ginger ale or something? My stomach is horked.”
“Sure, kiddo. Let’s find the other girls first.”
“Okay.”
They each took one kid’s hand once they got out of the truck, and Gus expected Richie to shake him off, but the kid clung to him, maybe taking strength from his grip.
The truck stop was deserted, barring a single table with two girls—one older, one just a baby—and this… psycho.
I swear to God, mate, if this bastard starts shooting the place up….
Sam’s nostrils flared. He’s a feline.
Like you?