The three of them were all dressed identically in plain t shirts and sweatpants. It was the emergency wear the pack provided. I wondered if we should buy them clothes or go to the trailer and get what they had.
'What should we do about clothes for them?' I asked through the bond. 'Should we get them what they had from the trailer?'
'No,' Joel sent back, 'we will give them everything they need here. They must learn we can provide for them.'
'What if there is something sentimental of value in the trailer?' I pushed.
The boys all stepped into the hall about that time with freshly brushed hair and washed faces. Joel motioned and we started down the hall.
'We are watching the trailer now. I doubt the girl will come back to it, but we'll clean it out before the trailer park does,' Joel said.
I nodded at him. That was satisfactory to me.
The other young wolves on the wing were watching this with interest. All the heads stuck out the doorways looked almost comical and I struggled not to laugh. Hopefully, the Alphas' attention would be seen as a good thing and help these young men fit in.
"I'm sure you will find something you like on our breakfast table," Joel told the boys as we made our way back down the hall.
At first, breakfast was a strained affair. The boys kept waiting for Joel to explode at them. They flinched if he reached in front of them and Rick, when he talked, stuttered badly. Eventually, they started to relax the slightest.
It helped the situation when Emily and her new mate came into the room. They sat with her family where she usually sat. It was obvious, even from a distance, Emily's parents were happy with her new mate.
The boys at our table watched with growing interest as the young man was introduced to Emily's extended family. That was most everyone that came into the room. It was obvious the boy was already accepted.
"She's a pure blood, sir?" Joseph asked Joel watching Emily and Brett.
"Son, please don't use that term, nobody thinks like that. Since you mention it, I think her line has been all wolf. Honestly, I'd have to go back and check the records to find out," Joel said loading his plate back up with a thick slab of ham and passing the rest to Joseph.
"T-The other packs wouldn't take our calls when we t-t-tried t-t-to ask for help," the stuttering boy, Rick, whispered.
"Alpha De Santos used a switchboard and wouldn't let the calls outside the pack," Joel gently told them.
The boys got braver and asked Joel more and more about what had happened. He was honest with them. Joseph wanted to know if specific individuals had survived. Joel promised to go with him to call Alpha Sebastian Germain and find out.
'That's going to be an interesting conversation,' Joel told me through our bond. 'Sebastian claimed all of the De Santos pack that could be salvaged. He may demand some sort of payment for these four.'
'Would you pay him?' I asked curiously.
'Absolutely, these kids are born survivors. I have no doubt they are very skilled and resourceful. We just have to determine where their talents lie.'
The rest of the meal consisted of Joel trying to find out what the boys liked to do. At first, they were shy, but they slowly opened up. He made the conversation all about them and who doesn't like to talk about themselves?
I noticed they watched me closely. When I touched Joel, they all cringed, bracing for attack. They didn't really believe we were the happy mated pair we appeared to be.
I groaned when the doors opened and the human females were brought in to have breakfast. We were trying to acclimate the women the rogues had kidnapped to the pack, so they now took their meals in the main dining area. We kept them in the mix, but still separate. It was difficult.
"Joel, I need to go watch the women. Nobody's had a fit in a couple of days and I can feel one coming on," I told him as I rose and kissed his head.
I passed through the tables and went to sit with the five human women we had rescued. Most of their injuries were healed and now it was just the mental problems we were still dealing with. I just had to convince them wolves weren't all bad, so they would allow us to change them.
Greeting the women politely, I took a seat with my coffee cup. I was used to the attention I got in the pack and wasn't surprised when someone appeared at my elbow. My assumption was they were there to fill my cup.
"H-H-Hello," Rick's stuttering voice came from just beside me.
I was a little shocked he had followed me over. He seemed too shy to follow me around.
Looking up his big brown eyes were locked on the girl sitting to my right. She never spoke and her blue eyes rarely showed an emotion other than terror. Standing up, I pushed at his chest to move him away from her. The last thing I needed was her breaking down. She was fragile at best.
"I saw you from over t-t-there," he continued, watching her over my shoulder, "you are so beautiful. What is your name?"
The girl stared up at him with a mixed look on her face. The terror was still there, but she looked curious about him, too. I prayed terror would not win out, when that happened we had to literally put her in a padded room.
I placed one hand on Rick's chest and one hand pulled his chin until he was looking in my eyes.
"She has been hurt and she is not a wolf. Why are you over here? Go back with the others," I commanded.
My claws had grown a little and I knew my eyes were glowing gold. Rick looked stunned and the emotions washed over his face.
"I just want to talk to her. I won't hurt her, I promise. May I please talk with her, Madam Alpha?"
Joel's voice crept into his mind and I heard him sigh, 'It's probably his mate the way he's acting. You aren't going to be able to keep them apart.'
Watching Rick I had to agree and shot back to Joel, 'What are we, the new dating game?'
Taking a deep breath I pushed my protective instincts down. This male would never harm his mate.
"Rick, do not touch her unless she permits it and do not crowd her. If I see you overstepping the boundaries I will remove you," I stated.
Rick pulled up a seat next to the girl and looked at her. She cowered in her chair some, but she wasn't panicking yet. That was a good sign. He pushed a plate of bacon toward her and she took some, yet another good sign.
"You should eat more," he whispered to her, "the food will help you get stronger."
She nodded to him and I was floored. This particular young woman never responded to anyone. We had figured out her name by running her features through a missing person's database. It was April, she was only twenty-two.
"Can you t-tell me your name?" he asked pouring orange juice in her glass.
Those blue eyes looked like they were going to bug out of her head, but she didn't speak.
"It's not a big deal," he soothed, "you'll t-tell me later, when you want t-to. My name is Rick."
A kitchen worker appeared and refilled my cup of coffee.
The table ate quietly for a little while. Rick made no attempt to touch April and I was glad. Removing him seemed like it would be a big scene.
"Rogues hurt her, Madam Alpha?" he asked me.
"Yes, they hurt all these women."
"I'm sorry for that," he said directing the comment to the group. "How can I help?"
One of the other girls spoke to him, "You could let us go and leave us alone. We never wanted to be part of this," she said bitterly.
"Donna," I addressed her, "I'm sorry, but that is not an option. We've talked about this."
This was an old argument and I felt for the girl. She was right. We were keeping them because we could, but we had no right. It was a useless debate, though. The rules were set in stone.
"I remember being in a pack when I was younger," Rick told her. "At the end, it was bad. In the beginning it was wonderful. This pack seems like that, the way it was in the beginning."
"What happens when it goes bad?" she asked him harshly.
"I don't feel like it will happen here. The Alphas here are strong and stable. Our Alpha was always afraid of something, we never knew what it was," Rick said scooping more eggs onto April's plate.
"I think he was afraid of weakness," I added to the conversation, "from what I've heard."
"Who isn't afraid of weakness?" Donna asked. "I'm weak and I'm terrified. Anybody here could beat me, just like those thugs that took me did. There is nothing to stop them."
"Then you should let them change you," Rick said. "You'll be stronger after the transition and able to hold your own."
Evidently, Rick remembered the rules about humans stumbling onto wolves.
He continued to talk with Donna and shockingly, she responded to him in a positive way. He didn't say anything different than the rest of us had said, he just said it differently. The women leaned toward him and spoke freely. It was change from the way they usually talked to us.
I watched Rick talk to the women and it suddenly struck me. He was getting through to them. In this noisy crowded hall, he had done something that allowed them to trust him. For weeks I'd tried to do that and had failed. He was markedly good at this naturally.
'Joel, I know what Rick can do,' I shouted into his head.
'Very good, love, he's yours then,' Joel called back laughing.
April never did speak to Rick, but she watched him closely. When his arm was on the table next to hers I saw her scoot closer, so they touched. It was a good first step for her.
Joel took all four boys when he went to call Alpha Sebastian Germain. He was able to provide the information the boys had asked about.
As expected the other Alpha demanded some form of payment if Joel was keeping them.
"I've got a couple of unmated trackers I could loan you for the year," Joel bargained.
"I don't expect you'll let me take those young men back at the end of a year, why should I let you have your trackers back?" Sebastian argued.
"My trackers are fresh eyes on an old case. They'll help you make more headway. If it's still open in a year and you want new eyes, I'll send you two more for a year," Joel said.
"And how long would this continue?" Sebastian asked cooly.
Joel turned and looked at the boys before he spoke. "Ten years, two of my best trackers every year until she's found."
"Make it twenty years and you have a deal, Joel."
"Done," my mate said nodding.
"Your probably getting the better end of this deal, aren't you Joel?" Sebastian asked.
Joel patted Joseph on the shoulder and agreed with the other Alpha.
"These are special kids, Sebastian, I'm glad I found them," Joel said.
We talked to the boys for a while after they got off the phone. During the light conversation I noted Rick's stutter had returned with a vengeance, it had almost disappeared this morning. I wondered about it, but didn't ask for fear it would embarrass him.