Working in the FBI hadn’t been all posturing in suits and aviator sunglasses. Wes had worked with abused children before. But there was the little matter of him being a predatory shifter, while Carrie was definitely not. So, Wes sat, not making any sudden moves, waiting for Carrie to decide if she’d trust him. It was amazing just having something soft and comfortable to sit on. Wesley was happy to wait although, when Carrie finally sat on the bed beside him, holding out her bloody arm, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Focusing on the jagged wound, Wes was surprised when Carrie asked, “What’s your name?”
“Wesley but you can call me Wes.” He looked at the crusted blood and the fresh ooze. “I’m going to need water and a cloth to clean this. Is there…”
“I’ll get it. We have all that and other stuff in case we got hurt.” Frankie, who’d been hovering protectively, turned to leave the room but stopped. “Carrie, are you okay if I leave for a minute?”
“It’s okay. You found someone to take care of us.” Carrie said, trembling. “Wes will make sure we’re okay.”
Wes’s heart melted. Frankie darted from the room. Turning her big eyes on Wes, Carrie said softly, “He tries so hard to take care of all of us. He makes sure we have food and that the little ones are cleaned up. I didn’t listen to him when he said not to leave the house, but I wanted my Mommy and Daddy. Frankie says they won’t be coming back but he didn’t look for them, and I wanted to find them. Maybe the bad guys sent them here, just like they did us, but they might be in a different house. They tried to keep the men from taking me and there was fighting. Mommy and Daddy fell down and the bad men took me. I screamed and screamed but they didn’t come. They still haven’t come.”
Remembering what Frankie said about their parents being dead, Wes didn’t have the heart to say that to her. She looked so hopeful. “I didn’t see anyone else before Frankie found me. I searched a long time. I don’t think they’re here.”
“Oh.” Carrie looked down and tears rolled. “Frankie must be really mad at me for being stupid.”
“You aren’t stupid for wanting your parents. And I don’t think Frankie’s mad at you. I think he’s worried that you got hurt.” Wes stroked her dirty hair. Like all the kids and cubs and pups he saw, she needed a bath, but she looked well fed. He wondered if Frankie was shorting his own food to feed the others. Wes hoped they had more food than he did because he hadn’t seen anything to eat on his travels, and the last of his rations were almost gone. “Did you all come here together?”
“They put me in a cage. The others were in cages too. Even the babies.”
Babies? Oh shit.
“They would take one of us out and do things to us. I could hear them crying. I cried too. They used big needles,” Carrie sobbed.
“That must have been so scary.” Wes gently wiped her tears with his thumb. He was struggling to keep his own emotions in check, just thinking about the kids in the living room confined in cages with Carrie. “How did you get here?”
“Men came. They were all dressed in black robes that went right down to the floor and they had funny ears. They yelled at the men with the needles, who acted like they were really scared of them. Maybe it was because of their ears. But they were scared, and then there was a whoosh and we were here.”
“And you haven’t seen anyone since?” Fuck, how long have these kids been struggling on their own?
“Just the dark men with the funny ears,” Frankie struggled through the door with a bowl of water and a towel tucked under his arm. “They used to drop in sometimes, but they haven’t been here for a while. They kept saying someone would be here to take care of us.” At least the towel looked clean. Wes stood and took the bowl from under Frankie’s arm as the boy continued. “They said they would be our new parents. We didn’t want new parents. We wanted our parents. Not like that’s going to happen since…”
Wes cut him off before he made Carrie cry about her parents again. “Did they say anything else?”
“Oh, yeah. They spouted all sorts of stuff. We were gonna be superstars. Leaders in a new army and we were gonna rule the world.” Frankie paused for a moment and Wes could hear the anger when he finished. “There was nothing wrong with our old lives. They were nuts.”
“Frankie, you know what the dark men did last time you said stuff like that.” Carrie’s voice trembled and the stench of fear filled Wes’s nostrils.
Wes sat back down beside her and said softly, “I don’t think they’re coming back, honey. There’s nothing to be afraid of now.” He started to clean her wound.
“Do you want the first aid kit?” Frankie asked.
Looking up at the boy, Wes was sure he had surprise written all over his face. “There is one? Yeah. Please.”
“They left all sorts of stuff including a couple of first aid kits. I’ll get one.” Frankie disappeared again.
Carrie slid closer and Wes could feel she was still trembling slightly. “I’m glad you’re here. Frankie takes good care of us, but it’s scary without a grown up.”
Wes reached around her shoulders and hugged her gently. “I’m glad I’m here too.” He grinned. “Even if I’m a bit rusty when it comes to dealing with kids, pups, and cubs.” He winked at her. “And cute little fawns.”
A high-pitched wail split the air, and then another joined it. Wes shot to his feet.
“It’s okay, Mister Wes. It’s the littlies. They must need changing… or they want to be fed. They eat a lot.”
“Littlies?”
Before she could answer, Frankie ran in the door and tossed the first aid kit at him. “Got to go,” and ran back out.
“I can’t help him. Please go help him. It takes two of us to feed them when they’re crying like that.” Carrie looked ready to cry too, again.
“It’s okay, Carrie,” Wes soothed even though his nerves were fraying. “I’m going to soak this towel and I want you to sit here with it wrapped around your wound. It will make it easier to get it off and it won’t hurt a lot.”
“I can do that.” Carrie nodded looking more sure of herself. The tears dried up. “Please help Frankie.”
Applying the damp towel as quickly as he could, Wes muttered, “I’ll be back,” before striding out of the room. It was easy enough to find Frankie. One set of wailing had stopped but the other was as loud as ever. Oh, hell, what have I got myself into, Wes thought as he picked up the nearest baby, grabbed a bottle, and shut the noisy little tyke up.
Chapter Three
“How long before we run out of stuff? Do you have any idea?” Wesley had found coffee in the messy kitchen once the kids had finally gone to bed. He’d immediately made a pot, not caring about the rest of the dishes. Frankie was sitting across the table from him, picking at some toast he’d made, reinforcing Wesley’s belief the young cub wasn’t taking care of himself. It was late, Wesley was running on fumes and Frankie didn’t look much better.
Frankie shrugged. The poor kid had dark shadows under his eyes. “The dark ones said there was self-perpetuating magic here. I didn’t have a clue what they meant, but when I took the last formula bottle out of the refrigerator, suddenly there was this ding sound, and the shelf was full again. Same with when I used the last of the eggs, the bread, and the milk. All the stuff.”