He nodded again as they reached the second floor and paused. “How did they seem?”
“Like little land mines,” she replied instantly.
“What?”
Sighing, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “The oldest one—”
“Kai.”
“Yes, Kai.” She smiled at him, but he ignored her knowing look. “He had a panic attack, or at least the beginning of one, while sitting in the kitchen talking about laundry. The oldest girl glared at me when I held the baby. And the little girl has come down for food three times and has flinched each time I tried to hand her anything.”
He closed his eyes and sighed slowly. “Land mines.”
“Yes, sir.” Her usually sunny face was serious, the laugh lines deepening and making her appear older than she was. “They’re going to need lots of love.”
“Hmm. Thank you for taking care of them,” he said as he stared down the hallway where he could smell she’d put them. He absently raised a hand and placed it on the side of her neck, scenting her for a moment, before gently patting her shoulder and sending her on her way.
He moved slowly past a few empty rooms before reaching the two they’d been given. They were the nearest rooms to his suite and were across from each other. He stopped to listen and was surprised to hear three heartbeats in one and none in the other. Cracking the door open, he peered inside. Beth had found a crib somewhere, and it was set up right next to the bed. He could see two distinct lumps under the covers on the bed, one significantly smaller than the other. His nose told him Kai was absolutely not in the room.
But he had been, very recently. Rick noted the gap in the curtains of a window that faced the driveway and got an idea of where Kai might have gone.
He carefully shut the door and moved down to the very end of the hallway where his suite was. He could hear Kai’s rabbit heartbeat before he opened the door, but he still wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted him.
Stick thin, pale, and covered in an array of bruises, Kai knelt naked in the middle of the room. Rick’s breath caught in the back of his throat at the beautifully submissive pose, but his groin barely twitched before his eyes were taking in the fresh and faded marks marring his sun-deprived skin and the way his entire body shook just slightly. Kai’s expressive green eyes were squeezed shut, his face downturned.
But it was the scent of fear that made him take a step back and his anger begin to simmer just below the surface.
“What are you doing in here?” He accidentally growled at Kai and then nearly smacked himself in the face when he saw the boy flinch. Rick carefully took a step into the room but then moved three steps away from the door, off to the side.
Kai’s head cocked at his movements, but he didn’t open his eyes. “I wanted to thank you, Alpha.”
He felt his eyes narrow despite his best efforts. “For what?”
Kai licked his lips and shifted on his knees, his hands pressing so hard into his thighs, Rick worried he’d draw blood. “For saving us and taking us into your home.”
Rick took a deep breath. “And why do you think you need to thank me naked?”
Kai’s body visibly quaked at his question, and Rick cursed internally. He didn’t know how to get out of the situation without terrifying Kai, especially since he didn’t understand why Kai was doing it.
“I just…” Kai’s breaths came too fast, and Rick saw a tear slide down one cheek. He started to move toward him, ready to take him into his arms and comfort him, when Kai’s words stopped him in his tracks. “Sammi’s only sixteen. Please. You can have me, Alpha.”
If Kai had pulled a knife from behind his back and stabbed Rick, he would have been less shocked. Kai thought Rick was going to… what? Rape his fucking sixteen-year-old sister? Fury built in his chest, and he knew he needed to get Kai away from him before he exploded and scared him even more. Though, considering what he thought of Rick, he wasn’t sure that was actually possible.
“You need to get the fuck out of this room.” He kept his voice soft, but there was no mistaking the anger in it.
Kai’s eyes opened for the first time since Rick had entered. “Alpha, please, don’t—”
“Now!”
Kai sprang to his feet, gathered the clothes neatly folded on a chair near the entrance, and raced through the open door. Rick stormed over and slammed it shut. He immediately regretted it when he heard a soft whimpering begin a moment later. Great, he’d woken the baby.
Too wired to shower and join his betas anymore, Rick ripped off his leather jacket and threw it on the floor. He quickly stripped out of his jeans and slipped on sweats. He chose to use the back steps that connected his private office directly to the basement, bypassing the first and second floors completely. The automatic lights came on as soon as he hit the bottom step, and he beelined for his favorite heavy bag hanging in the corner. He didn’t grab gloves or wrap his knuckles.
His first strike came with a roar he knew wouldn’t make it back to the third floor, and he sent the bag flying into the wall, tearing its chain out of the ceiling. He didn’t even pause before moving a few steps over to another bag and beginning to pummel his rage into it.
He wouldn’t have been surprised if his Enforcers and betas had heard him. Luckily, he knew with Bennett there to corral them, none of them would be making an appearance anytime soon.
As his claws slashed at the second bag with a growl, his knees gave out, and he hit the mat with a solid thud. Sand fell soundlessly just in front of him, and he tried to focus on the individual particles, his breaths ragged.
What the hell was he going to do with the King siblings if they didn’t even trust him not to force himself upon one of them? He knew it was unrealistic to expect them to completely trust him—especially after everything they’d been through—but he’d never had a new pack member who didn’t have at least an instinctual pull to him as a strong alpha. It wasn’t cockiness; it was shifter biology.
Something was reaching past that instinct and terrifying the Kings, something so deeply ingrained he wasn’t sure he’d be able to heal the wound. As an alpha, he wasn’t quite sure how to begin building up their trust when they didn’t have that instinctual foundation to start with.
The part that hurt the most as a man, Rick realized, was that for one brief, glorious moment, he’d actually thought Kai had come to him willingly. Because he’d felt the same pull Rick had.
Fucking hell.
Rick knew he needed to make a decision.
He’d spent the last week avoiding the King siblings, trying to give them space to get used to being part of the pack without the added pressure of a strange alpha hovering around them. The first couple days had been a bit difficult, a few awkward run-ins in the hallway or kitchen before they found a rhythm of avoidance.
It was easiest to stay away during the day when he was either holed up with paperwork or working on the new project with Bennett, Marcus, and a witch from the pack coven. They’d spent large parts of the last week driving around the border of the pack territory, visiting with members he didn’t know very well, and strengthening the border wards. The knot in his stomach wouldn’t go away, reminding him he should have known Kai and his siblings were in trouble while on his land. He needed to make sure he couldn’t be surprised by something like that ever again.