MUM'S HEART WENT OUT TO HER

2 FEBRUARY, TUESDAY, UNGODLY AM HOUR

By the time I finished my shower, Mum had bathed the girl and was dressing her in Savy's pajamas. She folded up the pants and sleeves so that they hung loosely over the girl's thin frame.

"So cute." Mum cooed at the human.

Savy was up too, curled up on one of the sofas watching.

"Delta Simon says he thinks she's about six or seven." Mum told Savy, "She doesn't even have a name, poor thing."

"Don't get too attached, Mum." I warned from the bedroom door.

There was the sound of the key card at our door and then Killion came in. He looked exhausted. He bowed slightly when he saw me, "Everyone is healed, Alpha. They should be able to remove the casts and start walking in the morning. I've increased security and had the cages locked and guarded.

I nodded.

Then Killion looked at the girl, "Where would she sleep tonight, Luna? Should I spend the night with Ben?"

Mum must have noticed his pallor, "No, Ki. Thank you. Please go get some rest."

Ki nodded a bow before retreating to his room, "Thank you, Luna. Goodnight ladies, goddess."

I waited for him to shut his door.

"So, where is the girl sleeping tonight?" I asked.

"Sabrina." Mum smiled softly to herself.

Oh no.

"Mum, don't name her!" I protested.

"Your name will be Sabrina." Mum told the girl. The human girl who didn't belong to her, "You are my pup now, and I would never let anyone ever hurt you again."

Hell no.

"These are your new sisters, Samantha and Savannah." Mum told her.

"Mum! You can't just randomly adopt little humans you find in cages." I protested.

"If you can adopt a broken fightdog, I can adopt a broken little girl." Mum answered in her no nonsense way.

"That's completely different." I flared.

Savy cackled and told the girl, "Don't mind Sam. Let's be friends."

The girl nodded. She didn't smile, but her eyes were wide and she looked so hopeful suddenly that I shook my head.

No! No, no, no.

She was a human slave that belonged to Uncle Louis. Suddenly, I understood why Aunt Jade ignored her. She was a human! A human! Humans didn't belong in a wolf pack. She should go back to her own kind. Mum and Savy were just going to end up crying when the girl had to leave.

I had felt sorry for her then, but I should never had gotten my Mum involved. Mum's heart had just gone out to the frail little girl with a brave voice. I never meant this to be a permanent arrangement. Now Savy thinks she's going to have a little sister. Can't she see that this was just a human? She didn't belong here.

I mean, humans are interesting and all, but you can't bring them home and name her like you would one of your own daughters and promise her forever.

If Uncle Louis wanted her back, or wanted to get a refund for her, I would give her back. I had no intention of going to war against Night Forest over a human slave girl. Hundreds of warriors would die. And then we have the Rogue King to contend with. I can't risk the safety of our entire combined pack over a single slave girl.

"I won't accept her." I said and returned to my room.

I'm being responsible. I'm the alpha. I had to make decisions for the good of everyone in my pack. I hid under my blanket and tried to squelch the bad feelings. Why was I feeling bad? I'm not the one starting a war with my father's family pack.

Mum, Savy, and the girl came into the bedroom. Mum eyed my bundle of blankets cautiously, "I don't think letting her sleep her would be a good idea. Sam hasn't been very stable tonight."

"Don't worry, Mum. Sam won't hurt her." Savy took the girl by her hand, "Here, there is a roll out mattress under the bed. My best friend Lizzy sleeps her when we do slumber parties. Just be careful not to touch any of Sam's stuff. Especially, don't touch her bed, okay?"

I heard the mattress roll out and Savy sitting on it. Mum quietly puts out the blankets. She soothes the girl, "Shhh... Don't cry. You're safe now. Nothing will hurt you ever again."

The girl kept crying.

I sat up, "You're all too noisy!"

"Stop it, Sam, you've scared her enough." Mum scolded.

"I'm returning her to Uncle Louis tomorrow." I said.

"Don't listen to her." Savy said covering the girl's ears, "Mum won't let that happen."

"Yes, Sabbie, you're my pup now." Mum said.

Arugghhhh! I snarled at the three of them. Mum and Savy immediately shielded the girl.

Mum, I understood. Mum could never resist reaching out to a hurt child, but Savy? Even Savy? Savy who took a super long time to accept any new friend?

I looked at the human girl crying softly, her thin frame shaking, her red curls now shiny and clean. And then I covered myself with my blanket, "Just stop being so noisy."

Dad would deal with this tomorrow. With any luck, the girl will be gone by the time I got home from school.

My assignment was to advert the Night Forest Crisis. She was just a small human girl. I need to focus on that. I could just ignore her till she was gone.

It won't be long.

Whoever heard of a wolf adopting a human anyway? She'd never survive. I mean, how would she cope in school? She'll become the omega for sure.

She'd be better off living among humans. Maybe a nice human family in Gate City might like a little girl.

Whatever. I had to be up again in a few hours. I had no time for things like this. I curled up tighter into a ball.

The girl stopped crying. Dad came to the room to get Mum. Savy climbed up to her bed.

"It's not like you to be so cold." Savy said into the dark, "I thought you liked humans."

"She doesn't belong here." I said, "She should be with her own kind."

"If you send her away, Mum would be sad." Savy said softly.

"Shhh... I'm sleeping." I said, "Don't talk to me."

"I'm trying to talk to you maturely." Savy's tone took a sharp edge, "You can be worse than a six year old, sometimes!"

I flared at that and gritted my teeth. Grrr...

Savy wisely said nothing more.

If she did, I think I would have lost it. Just ignore the human till it goes away. I took a deep breath inside my ball of bedding. I'm the alpha. I can take it. I can take a lot of things.

Then why was the Alpha hiding in a small ball of blankets? Grrrr...

I crawled out of bed and left the room. The girl's scent was all over the house. Ignore the girl. Ignore the girl. Ignore the girl.

I slipped into Ki's room. He was sleeping so deeply, he didn't even stir. Healing did that to him. For the next few hours, he would be defenseless in his sleep, unable to wake up.

{I could kill him and he wouldn't know it.}

Shut up, Wolfie.

I crept up close to him, and suddenly had an idea. I could dream-travel with things, but could I dream-travel with another wolf?

Heh heh heh. I sat on the floor next to Ki sleeping in his bunk. Luckily, he was already sleeping by the edge of his bed. I put my hand on his blanket... No, that's no good. I might just end up bringing his blanket with me.

I was about to slip my hand into the blanket when I remembered that Ki slept in the nude. That was no good either!

I found his clothes in a crumpled pile on the floor. Ki was making it very hard for me to take him out.

I considered grabbing his clothes and him. And then making him get dressed when we arrive - but who knew where the dream might take us? And on that note, the Little Miss Bossy Pajamas I wore wasn't going to cut it either.

I sighed and dropped the clothes back on the floor.

Nothing seemed to be going right tonight.

I returned to my bed and sulked in my ball of blankets till I fell asleep.

It was like I blinked and the next moment my eyes opened and I was surrounded by fire. Fire! It's fire! Like a monster made of many large tongues licking at the house. Wait, this is not my house!

I was crying, "Mama! Mama!"

There was a woman lying in front of me. She did not move. What strange old fashioned clothing!

I kept coughing. My white long smock blackened by smoke. My tears would not stop. "Mama, Mama."

I put my head on the woman's chest, my long red curls against hers when suddenly I'm picked up from behind. Was I being saved?

"Mama! Mama!" I cried and then I blacked out.

The next moment I opened up my eyes. My hands were bound above me. It was cold and dark in the wooden shed... A stable. I was in one of the stalls. There was a large horse on the other side.

"Greta! Greta!" I heard a man's voice shouting outside. I tried to call out to him, my voice cracked. A big man came up to me and gagged me with duct tape, "Good girls are seen, not heard."

And his companions laughed. They were like great big dark figures with only fire-lit lanterns behind them. It wasn't that dark but my human eyes couldn't see much. Another man came over and ripped off my smocking, exposing my skin to the cool night air. The men started to laugh and leer, it was horrible and I couldn't describe it...

I couldn't free myself. The beam wasn't particularly strong looking, normally I could be able to snap the leather binding easy, but I couldn't. I was helpless. I shut my eyes as large hands reached out, and then I opened them again, snarling, my claws out, my hair flared out. Grrrr....

"Sam? Sam!" I heard Ben on mindlink. He sounded like he just woke up. Grrr.... I shook him out of my head and shut off my mindlinks.

"Sam?" It was Savy from above me in the bunk, "Sam? What's wrong?"

I clutched the blanket closer around me. I was still shaking from the dream... my claws dug into the spring matress, scraping past the now exposed metal springs. The room was dark and warm. My room. I could smell the familiar scent of my space... there was no fire or large unkempt strange men or horses...

{Calm down. It was just a dream. For us anyway.}

I peeked out from the blanket.

"Sam?" Savy hung upside down to look at me, "Sam? What's the matter? Ben is really freaked out. He's coming over."

She sounded scared. I think she might have sensed some of my fear while I was dreaming.

She wasn't the only one reacting on secondary fear. Ben's stupid panic through the Beta mindlink had awoken Killion. He bashed into the room growling. At least he had the sense to put on his boxers before running into a girl's room.

The girl sat up at Killion's entry and started screaming.

I heard Dad's low growling as my parents approached. Mum ran into the room, "Sam! Don't!"

Sam don't what?

"Why do you always assume it's me?" I growled.

And then Ben came through the front door. I could hear him let himself in. My bedroom door was already opened so he simply walked over.

Now the room was filled with wolves who should have just minded their own business. Savy above me in her bunk. Mum hugging the sobbing girl on the mattress on the ground.

"Mama! Mama!" The girl was crying. Mum just hugged her tightly, "Don't cry baby, Mama is here."

I flared at that, "You're not her Mama."

"Sam!" Mum reprimanded.

My alarm went off. Ben walked over the girl's mattress and turned it off. He was shirtless, in just a pair of joggers, "What the hell, Sam!"

The girl hugged Mum tightly and cried.

Dad wanted to know too, "What is going on, Sam?"

Why me? Something inside me snapped, "It wasn't me!"

My clawed hands grabbed the beam of the bunk bed, snapping it like a matchstick, "Why me? Why does everyone assume it was me?"

"Because you can do that?" Ben said pointedly at the broken bed. He had reached up one hand to support the top bunk from falling down on me while Dad lifted Savy off the top bunk.

Yes. Yes I can. I can break the beams, the leather straps, the entire rickety stable. I could have tore out those men's faces... I could have...

"Sam, calm down. What happened?" Dad asked. He put Savy safey on one side.

I broke the next beam closest to me. Two beams down!

Ben grunted and shifted the weight of the top bunk to his shoulder so it wouldn't fall on me.

Grrr.... Now the third beam was cracked in half by a single kick. I'm snapping them like twigs. Ki caught the bunk on the other side before it fell.

Mum picked the girl up and moved her away. She stroked the girl's back, "It's okay, baby. It's okay..."

Dad sighed and instructed Mum, "Darling, get the girls out to the living room. Sam's wolf is out of control."

I kicked the last beam down. Might as well.

Dad folded his arms and considered the situation as Killion grabbed the bunk with his other hand. Now the bunk above me was supported solely by the two betas.

After consulting with his wolf, Dad reached in for me. Large hands coming towards me... I froze. My fangs shifted... actually, I nearly shifted And then I caught scent of Dad. Not scentless large men... My dad's hands engulfing me, pulling me out. I hugged him back, claws and fangs retracted.

My Betas lowered Savy's bunk down. There was no more floor space, so they lowered it on top of my bed.

"Sam, what happened?" Dad asked again. He sat me down side by side with him on Savy's bed and held me.

"Just a bad dream." I mumbled into Dad's shirt. It was only half buttoned up. His scent suddenly making me feel safe. It's alright. Dad was here. He'll definitely fix it.

Dad soothed my hair till I pulled out of his embrace. I looked at my betas. And then down at the bunk bed I just broke into two. Opps.

"I'll go start breakfast." Ki decided.

Ben sighed at the bed, "I'll take care of this."

Dad nodded, "I'm going to check on my Luna."

I grabbed my uniform and slammed myself shut in the bathroom. Mum was probably going to scold me for frightening the human etc etc.

Grrr...

{Just ignore the human.}

That was what I was doing!

But no... My Wolfie had to dream-travel into her memories. WTH.

But while showering I remembered the voice shouting for "Greta." The girl had a name!