by Lane Whitt
“I don’t think they get paid, so nobody has any money to buy new things when something breaks or falls apart.” He tells me.
The man who’s home we’re in speaks up to answer me. “Alpha Jace is correct, Princess. We serve the army in return for meals and housing only; we do not earn money.” He tells me.
“So you guys in the trailers were at least fed regular meals then?” I ask, thinking that’s at least something.
But the man shakes his head. “Maybe many decades ago, when the barracks were first replaced, and these news ones were bought, but by the time the trailers were brought in, Marcus was already siphoning most of the pack money for himself or his friends.” He finishes bitterly.
I offer him a sad smile. “I’m so sorry you were treated in such a way, and by my own blood. It won’t be like that anymore; we’re going to try and fix the mistakes and make it better for everyone.”
“Yes, my Princess. I do not mean to complain, forgive me.” He says with a bow.
I share a look with Jace, then look back to the man. “What’s your name, Sir?”
The man falls to his knees so he can now bow so deeply his head rest in the snow. “Please your Highness, I meant no disrespect. I am happy to have all you provide me.” He begs.
I stare at the man in horrified fascination, but luckily Jace speaks up. “Please stand, or else my mate is going to start crying and trust me, no one wants that.”
The man stands cautiously, brushing off the snow. “Of course, Alpha.”
Jace leans against the porch railing, relaxing his stance. “I’m not much for titles, never have been. The Princess was only asking for your name so she may know who you are, that’s all.” He explains.
“My mane is Henry, Princess.” He answers me.
“Hello, Henry. It’s nice to meet you. I won’t punish you for your opinions on my uncle, I don’t hold any affections toward the man. I actually ordered his death.” I add.
“Furthermore,” I continue. “I was just going to tell you that if you have any issues, like if your heat goes out, or the water stops working, to let one of us know, or Albert so that we can fix it. There’s a lot to be done, and it will take some time to get to the point where we can start replacing items, but we want to make sure everyone has what they need and are not left in the cold. That’s our priority.” I tell him firmly.
“Thank you, my Princess. I will keep this in mind for the future. And I apologize for my unfair judgment of you. I will have to remember that you are your father’s daughter and not your uncle’s niece.” He says with a grin.
I’m confused by his meaning, but Jace thanks him for letting us look around and ushers me back to the house. “Sorry, but if we didn’t leave soon, we would’ve ended up in a thank you war, and we have other things to do today.” He says.
Jace leads me up to our floor and finds two laptops for us to use, setting them on the coffee table. We take seats on the floor in front of them, and I stare at him, wondering what we’re doing.
“Alright, so I’m just going to have to assume that the dimensions are the same throughout the barracks and the trailers because I don’t have time to look through them all. Let me just text Remy really quick and we’ll see where the children are going to end up and also ask Logan if there are any unusually size men in our ranks.” He tells me as he pulls out his phone.
His phone beeps with incoming messages, and he sets it aside. “Alright, Funsize, looks like we can go with full-size mattresses for the barracks, extra-long twins for the trailers and queens for the bedrooms in the house, with a few exceptions, given the height of some people.”
“Okay,” I say, still having no idea what we’re doing.
He types at his computer and I push the button to turn mine on. It’s Finn’s, so the password screen appears. I don’t know the password. I tap Jace on the shoulder and point to my screen. “Oh, right. Sorry about that. It’s IloveKiTTen4L1fe. He’s a bit of a dork that way.” He rolls his eyes. “I’ll get you to the right sites, just see how many mattresses they have available in their stores in the sizes we need.”
For the next two hours, we clean out every mattress store fifty miles of here. Jace eventually has to call some of the stores to arrange payment and schedule pickups, but most of the shops allow us to pay with his credit card that we pass back and forth. Between furniture store and department stores, we manage to find most of what we need. Jace told me that we could probably locate the rest once we went looking, not every store has a website, I guess.
“Time to see if Ash came through with the box trucks or not.” He says, taking out his phone again. After a short chat, it turns out Ash did come through, and the trucks were already here. He then texts Reed to ask him to meet us up here.
“What’s up dude?” Reed asks as he jogs in into the family room. “Oh, hey, Babe, long time no see.” He jokes, coming to me and giving me a long, passionate kiss.
“Just pretend I’m not here, go ahead.” Jace drawls.
“Sorry man, you know how it is.” Reed winks at him. “What did you need?”
“Do you think you can stay here with Kitten and get working on ordering the bedding and such while I go with Ash to pick up the mattresses? I figure by the time we’re done getting those; you guys will have finished, and we can head right back out.” Jace asks.
“Sure, no problem, man. Tristan has enough help down there now, anyway.” He shrugs.
Jace comes to me and gives a lingering kiss as well. “Be back soon, Doll. Do try and behave yourself.” He tells me with a smirk.
“Okay, I will. Don’t be gone too long.” I say back, waving before he turns to leave.
Reed rubs his hands together, taking Jace’s vacated seat. “Alright, alright, let’s get this show on the road ladies and gents.”
I giggle at his enthusiasm and go back to some of the sites where I saw bedding available. This proves a bit more difficult because the only options they have is shipping it to our house or buying it in the store.
“We’re going to have to go get these if we want them here tonight.” Reed comes to the same conclusion as me.
“Yep.” I agree.
“Grab your coat and that credit card, Babe and we’ll see what kind of vehicles are left,” Reed instructs me.
Downstairs is organized chaos as Logan finishes up his measurement list and Tristan teaches a crowd of people about food prep. Remy is also there, speaking to a different group of men about what kind of construction skills they might have to help with the new building. I check in with Mikey before we leave and see that he’s a couple new friends, and they’re playing in the living room with their new toys. Grandfather sits by, keeping an eye on them as he watches the news, and the reading guy is there as well.
“Everything going okay in here?” I ask Grandfather as I walk in.
He smiles as he stands to greet me. “Oh yes, they’ve been at it for a while now. Apparently being wolf shifters isn’t cool enough for them, they have to pretend to be superheroes as well.” Grandfather shakes his head in wonder.
“Okay, I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be going out with Reed to find bedding. Jace is already out getting the beds. Do you mind watching him a little longer? Has he eaten lunch yet?”
Grandfather frowns at me. “They’ve had their mid-day meal, yes, but why are you going out?”
I frown back at him in confusion. “To get the bedding, I just told you.”
“It’s not a good idea for you to leave the property, My dear. You put yourself at risk and the others with you when you leave. I know you have not seen it yet, but there are those that will wish to keep you for themselves if they can get to you.” He warns me.
Reed sighs behind me. “I didn’t think about that. He may have a point, Kitten.”
“Then who will go with you? Won’t you in danger if you leave, you’re an Alpha after all. More important than me.” I ask.
Reed chuckles. “Because I’m an Alpha they will want to stay aw
ay, but besides that, not too many wolves try to mess with a changed wolf. We’re stronger than them. I’ll just grab a couple of the volunteers to come with me, no biggie.” He wraps me in a tight hug and places a loud smacking kiss on my cheek. I giggle as there is a chorus of “Ewwww” from the boys.
“Okay, but hurry back,” I tell him.
Grandfather puts an arm around my shoulders as I watch Reed leave. “Don’t worry too much about him; he’ll be fine.” He consoles. “I see you’ve marked the last of your mates, any hope of getting started making tiny Ivaskovs’ anytime soon?”
I pull away from him in shock. “Grandfather!” I exclaim, not believing that he’d ask such a question.
He just chuckles and sits back down in his seat. “What? You can’t blame an old man for asking. I’d like to see my great-grandbabies run around here soon. I didn’t get the opportunity with you or your cousin. Katerina would have loved grandbabies, and great-grandbabies too.” He says with a wistful sigh.
I take a seat in the plush chair by the fireplace so I can watch Mikey and his new friends Morris and Perry. “We haven’t talked about kids, well, not really anyway. There hasn’t been much time for it, and I don’t think any of us are in a hurry.” I tell Grandfather.
“Hm, does that mean you don’t want them?” He asks.
I shrug a shoulder. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what kind of world I’m living in anymore; what kind of world I’d be bringing them into. And we still don’t know if it’s a possibility anyway. Why try for something only to be disappointed?”
He nods his head thoughtfully. “All of that is true, you and your mates have plenty of time for all of that, it will happen when it is supposed to. That’s what your grandmother always said.”
I agree with him there; we have plenty of time. Though babies are super cute and I would love to see what baby Kellan’s and Logan’s looked like, and the rest of them too.
“How come there are children here? I thought it was difficult for wolves to have children, that they were considered precious and protected at all costs. And where are their mothers?” I have to ask.
“Wolf pregnancies are complicated. Most of what we know about them is just guessing and experience. Things have changed so much since ‘The Suffering’. Those boys there are half-bloods with wolf daddies and human mothers. Some of our males are still able to conceive with humans, but once they find out about the wolves, they tend to run and leave their ‘monster’ children behind. It rarely happens, as the relationships themselves can never last, so most don’t even try it, and they have to leave the pack to do so as well.” He tells me.
“So their human mothers didn’t want them?” I ask.
“That’s right. And since they are half-bloods they won’t shift until puberty, unlike born wolves, who are literally born as wolves. We have some of those as well in the pack, but Marcus demanded to have a chance to breed any female who proved herself capable, so that’s how the remote villages were started. They hide both our females and our young there.”
“That’s horrible.” I shudder in disgust. No wonder there aren’t any women around here.
Grandfather grunts. “It certainly was. I suspect that we will be seeing them soon enough, though. Now that our Alpha’s are mated, and there’s a female ruler, there is no reason to hide, and they will want to seek safety with the pack again.”
“If they are safer here, then they should be here. Could you let them know that they are welcome here for me? We can put all the children and families with women and girls on the floor right below ours. They’ll be as safe as ever there.” I tell him.
He smiles at me in approval. “Of course, my dear. I’ll make the calls myself. You really are a lot like your father, you both have generous hearts and level heads.”
I continue to watch the kids playing, not knowing what to say about my father when I still see him as the man who threw me away. A few people have spoken about him, and from what I gather, he doesn’t seem like the type of person to do that, or at least they don’t think he was.
“Wait. You said wolves are born as wolves. How is that possible?” I ask, a horrifying image of a baby wolf clawing itself from its mother comes to mind.
“When a female wolf gets close to giving birth, she’ll shift into her wolf form and remain as one, until about after a week after her pups are born. The pups themselves stay wolves for at least six weeks, and can shift any time after that.” He explains.
“Oh. That must be difficult then. Babies turning into little wolf puppies whenever they feel like it and all.” Nursing must be very complicated, scary even.
Grandfather laughs. “It can be, yes. But as infants, they pick up on their parents’ energy and learn to shift when they do quite quickly. It’s the toddlers you have to watch out for. The stubborn ones can be hard to handle. Your father liked his fits when he was younger; he’d feel as if some great injustice had been done to him and remain a wolf for days at a time.” He smiles at the memory. “All I wanted was for him to take a bath or eat his vegetables usually.” He adds with a chuckle.
I laugh too, glad that Mikey can’t shift, but he’s pretty easy going as far as kids go. I know some of it has to do with his past and the punishments he received for acting out at home.
Grandfather and I talk for a little while longer, about everything and nothing really. Soon though, I decide it’s time to get back to work and leave the kids with him and the other man, who never looked up from his book.
We get the beds situated with the help of most of the pack, complete with sheets, pillows, and blankets. It’s a heck of a lot of work, but it’s worth is. Once the beds are made though, it still doesn’t seem like enough. I just keep telling myself that it will take time. I had told Remy of my offer to the women and children and how we might be needing space for them, and he agreed to keep the floor below ours empty for now, except for the few children we have already, until we see how many there are. He also suggested that their floor have security as well, and that would give us double the protection, so it’s a win-win.
Tristan had managed to get his hands on a couple of box trucks, so he and a bunch of others had taken a trip to a Club store to stock up on groceries and personal items. We may be eating a lot of macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles for a little while until we can get the rest of the stuff for the kitchen we need. But that’s okay with me, as long as everyone gets fed that’s good enough for me. And Tristan makes fantastic macaroni and cheese.
I had been up on our floor for a while before the guys started to return. I had to put Mikey to bed, and I didn’t want to leave him up here by himself, so I grabbed the Harry Potter book Finn and I were reading and read ahead to keep myself entertained. That, and because I was quickly becoming addicted to them. I read at an average pace, though, so I wouldn’t get too far ahead.
Logan and Jace were the first ones back, and they were happy to grab the laptops and sit on either side of me while I continued to read and they shopped online for clothing for the men in the pack. I took a quick shower, and when I returned, Finn had the book and was catching up where I had left off. Logan must have gone to shower too, as it was just Jace and Finn.
“How was your day?” I ask him as he sets the book aside.
“Long.” He replies with a smile, bending down to give me a kiss. “I think we’ve found classes for most everyone that won’t be too far out of the way. There were a few people who asked about nursing and cooking classes, but I told them that Kellan and Tristan could probably teach them better than any school. So that helped cut down some of the need. Others were interested in carpentry and mechanics, so I told them the same about Remy and Ash. If they’re dead set on degrees, they can still go of course, but as it is, we’ll have to spread the enrollments out to not draw attention to ourselves.”
“That does sound like a busy day.” I hug him to me and run my hands through his shiny black hair. He sighs and nuzzles my neck in thanks. “I bet people were excited. You
did a wonderful thing today Finn.”
About that time, Remy strolls in, looking beat. He gives me a hard kiss on the mouth and messes with Jace’s hair before he heads straight for the shower. Reed follows shortly after with Tristan right behind him, Kellan and Ash being the last ones in. Each of them gives me kisses or hugs before showering or snacking on the chips Tristan brought with him.
“And how was your day, Shadow?” I ask Ash, having already asked everyone else.
He snorts as he sits heavily on the floor in front of me, leaning his head back into my lap. I play with his long locks as he answers. “It was a fucking nightmare.” He starts, craning his head back to look at Remy. “Did you know that they have no training facilities to speak of? Those shit trailers were placed where their field used to be, and the new barracks are where the training center was on one side and the other used to be stone barracks that matched the house.”
“So where do they train?” Remy asks, his rumbly voice sounding tired as well.
“They don’t. That’s my point. This army that’s supposed to scare the living shit out of all other armies hasn’t trained since the fifties. They rely on their parents or other soldiers to show them a few things. Most of those men haven’t ever touched a sword or a gun.” Ash huffs, closing his eyes as I use my nails to scratch lightly at his scalp.
“What about the commanders we met today? What do they do?” I ask.
Ash snorts. “Apparently nothing. They are mostly secretaries and make the schedules for patrol and security. These people are lucky no one has come for them in a while; they couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag.”
“You telling war stories again?” Logan asks as he saunters back into the room, shirtless. He catches me staring and winks at me before collapsing on the couch.
“I wasn’t talking to you, Fucker,” Ash responds.
“You know you love me, Fatass. Don’t act like you don’t.” Logan calls out playfully. Ash just grunts, pushing his head into my hands as I momentarily stopped scratching his head.