I rubbed my brow, wondering how the fuck I was going to explain to Eli that, somehow, our mate had brought home the kid of a recently felled alpha from our neighboring pack.
Sweet fuck.
This was the last thing we needed.
But what were we supposed to do?
Turn him out?
I’d never agree with that shit. Ever.
“What’s going on?” Sabina questioned, her voice wary, and I sensed she could discern my own concern over the situation.
“Daniel’s father was the Alpha of the Rainford pack, which is about three hundred miles east.” I blew out a breath. “When his mother’s mate died, she passed, and in those circumstances, packs tend to—”
“Throw children out?” she whispered, finishing the sentence before I could.
I cut her a look, and knew she was assimilating a lot of information right now.
Eli had told her that only bad alphas were challenged, and Kingsley had been the worst.
He’d been cruel and vindictive. Power had bloated him.
It was no wonder that the Rainford pack hadn’t wanted his spawn there.
Except, the kid was little.
And he was scared.
I could sense that from here.
He was hungry too, bony, and if he’d been living in an actual house for a while, I’d be surprised, because it looked to me like he’d been sleeping rough, maybe in the forest.
“I know you were fostered, Daniel,” I rumbled softly, squatting down in front of him. “Why aren’t you with that family?”
“They’re mean to me,” he whispered miserably. “Everyone’s mean to me now.”
I tipped my chin, understanding how fear could lead to cruelty, even if I hated the truth of that.
Rubbing my chin, I murmured, “We won’t be mean to you. Do you want a sandwich?”
“The lady already made me one.”
I hummed. “But you’re a growing boy, ain’t you? You need more than one sandwich.”
He peeped at me from under his lashes, his bright blue eyes staring back at me. “I’m still hungry,” he whispered.
That was clear to see.
A kid his age shouldn’t be so small, especially not when he was alpha stock, and he was.
That was another nail in his coffin.
Though it was young, I could see it in him.
He was going to change soon.
It was in the air around him.
My wolf sensed it.
As I got to my feet, moving toward the refrigerator for some fixin’s, I asked, “How old are you, Daniel?”
He gulped. “Nine.”
A year older than Eli had been when he’d shifted.
It fit.
I blew out a breath, then I felt her settle behind me, her hands coming to bridge over my belly.
“What is it?”
“He’s powerful.”
“I can feel that, I think.” Her mind wandered off as she tried to figure out what was happening, things that I wasn’t explaining.
That was the trouble with our life.
Some things just couldn’t be explained. Some things just had to be bred into you. Cultural shit was hard to pass on, but this? Impossible.
How did you explain that some packs felt no compunction in tossing little kids out into the human world to survive on their own if they’d lost their family to a pack challenge?
It was evil, I knew, wrong on so many levels, but what an alpha could do to a pack when they were cruel enough to be challenged?
Not worth thinking about.
I thought about all that as I made a PB&J for the kid, then I muttered, “You need to ask Eli if he can stay.”
She tensed a little. “Why?”
“Because if you ask, he won’t be able to say no.”
“And he’d say no if you did?”
“Yes. He would. Without compunction. We don’t meddle in other pack’s politics, and Daniel is one big Gordian knot of trouble. Especially as he’s going to shift soon.”
She pressed her forehead to the center of my back. “I didn’t mean to pick up trouble, but he was being scolded, and I couldn’t stand it—”
She knew what it was to be alone.
To be left adrift.
I sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure you explain what you know to Eli and plead with him if you must. Otherwise, he’ll be returned to the foster system, and he’s far too strong for that.”
I could sense her confusion. “You really think I’ll be able to convince him?”
“Of course.” I snorted. “He’d lay down his life for you, Sabina. Just like Ethan and I would.”
She sighed. “You don’t need to. I’d prefer you to live.”
“Yes, well, that’s the goal,” I said, amused by her answer. She hadn’t taken it as a compliment, more of an irritated perk of being mated to men as