Even when Rick had to return to the manor, B and the others continued checking until they’d verified with their own eyes every person and inch of land in Rick’s territory.
He still didn’t feel like it was enough.
Two days after the Kings had arrived, Doc had gotten back and stopped by to do an examination of the Kings, taking some blood. He’d popped into the library where Rick had been working to let him know they were healthy, just underweight, and that he’d given Beth a list of high-caloric foods to feed them for a week or so. They’d chatted about the clinic and the new nurse he’d hired, then he’d taken off.
A couple days after that, Rick had asked Vanessa to see if she could get some information from the Kings since they seemed to have bonded with his Enforcer. She came back a few hours later and told him she’d sat Kai and Samantha down in the kitchen, with Beth plying them with cookies. When she’d asked about tracking down their mom, Samantha had started crying, and Kai had only said she’d died before getting choked up himself.
Rick couldn’t blame her for not pressing for more details.
After that, he’d told Beth and his Enforcers to give the Kings whatever they needed. Then he contemplated his options while juggling the rest of the responsibilities on his plate so he didn’t end up neglecting anyone else.
He knew things couldn’t stay as they were for much longer though. For one thing, he had a dozen witches and seers due at the manor later that afternoon, which was always a raucous ordeal.
For another, things were so tense around the house, his pack was beginning to avoid coming around.
And that was unacceptable.
Nothing was as important to him as the safety and success of his pack members. He’d sacrificed and bled and fought and killed to build the Kincaid Pack into the most well-respected pack east of the Mississippi. He knew he wasn’t perfect—fuck, Kai and his siblings proved that resoundingly well—but he’d always prided himself on being there for anyone in the pack who needed him for help or advice.
Running a hand through his hair, he stared at himself in his bathroom mirror. His hair was still damp from his shower and stuck up from his fingers, but he didn’t care. He had a plan.
Sort of.
He was going to have Fiona find the Kings a place of their own. He figured that way they wouldn’t be a distraction for him, and they’d feel safer without so many strangers around.
A voice that sounded suspiciously like Beth’s whispered in his head that he couldn’t just dump those poor kids in some abandoned shack and forget about their haunted faces. He hadn’t even gotten around to talking with them about how they’d ended up in the Kings’ shed. But every time he passed Samantha in the hallway, she frowned at him and hurried past.
The two youngest seemed to like him at least. The littlest pup reached for him whenever they happened to be in the same room—which had actually only been twice, since he was surprisingly good at sneaking around his own house.
Someone knocked on his bedroom door, and he sighed. He stuck his head out of the bathroom and scented Bennett right away.
“Go away,” he grumbled, grabbing his jeans off the counter and slipping them on over his briefs. He didn’t bother buttoning them or putting on a shirt before throwing open his bedroom door to glower at his second in command. “What.”
Bennett rolled his eyes and tried to step into the room, but Rick sidestepped in front of him and growled low in his chest. Of course, that was the moment the door down the hall opened and Kai walked out, fear clearly written all over his face and spiking in his scent. The small girl, Callie, stood next to him. She waved cheerily as soon as she saw him looking at them, but Kai pressed her back so she was behind him.
Protecting her from her own alpha.
Jesus.
He made sure to meet Callie’s eyes from where she peeked around her brother’s leg, smile, and wave with two fingers before moving out of the way of Bennett. He gently closed the door behind his oldest and most annoying friend and sighed.
“I know what you’re going to say.” He moved back into the bathroom and quickly finished dressing. He was surprised Bennett didn’t immediately jump into his lecture; it was very unlike him.
“Oh, so you know I’m going to call you a jackass and ask you what the fuck you’re doing?”
There it is.
Rick snarled as he stepped back into his bedroom, then frowned at how Bennett had made himself at home on Rick’s bed. His long legs were crossed at his ankles, arms folded behind his head making his biceps bulge obscenely. His dark brown skin practically glowed next to Rick’s white sheets.
Walking past his bed, he stepped into his office and went straight for the tall filing cabinet by his desk. He pulled out the files he needed, set them on his laptop, then picked up the whole pile and carried it back into his bedroom.
Bennett hadn’t moved a muscle other than to shut his eyes. He looked half asleep, but Rick knew better.
“I have things to do and a meeting to prep for,” he said, completely ignoring Bennett’s question. He gestured toward the door when soft dark brown eyes opened and stared at him. “Let’s go.”
“No.”
“Bennett…”
“Alpha…”
Rick slammed his computer and paperwork down on the foot of the bed before stalking to the head and leaning over Bennett. “What do you want me to say? How am I supposed to help them when they’re terrified of me?”
Bennett jumped off the bed, but Rick held his ground. Lip curling back to show his fangs and their chests nearly touching, Bennett said, “I didn’t realize you were scared of frightened children.”
“Watch. Your. Mouth.”
They stared at each other for a few long, tense moments, then Bennett averted his gaze and tilted his chin slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Bennett stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Explain it to me so I understand what you’re doing, Rick. Because right now, all I see are four terrified packmates and my alpha ignoring them.”
Rick held his stiff posture for another few moments, then deflated and sat on the side of his bed. He rested his forearms on his thighs and stared at the ground between his feet. He heard Bennett pulling a chair over and then saw his scuffed-as-hell boots in his eyeline.
A kernel of shame settled in the pit of his stomach. Clearing his throat, he said, “I don’t know what to do, B. I thought he—they… uh…”
“Ah, shit, dude.” Bennett’s hand landed on the back of Rick’s neck, and he squeezed, giving the comfort Rick was usually responsible for doling out. “You like that kid Kai, don’t you?”
“Yes. No.” He huffed out a breath. “Fuuuuuck.”
He scrubbed at his face with his hands, pressing into his eyes with his fingers until they sparked and ached. Did he like Kai? The tug he felt in his chest when he looked into his green eyes didn’t feel like a passing fucking infatuation. But both elder Kings scurried through the halls like they were terrified they’d be attacked at any moment.
But nights were the worst.
The first two nights they were in the manor, one of the Kings woke up crying every couple hours, sometimes more than one at a time. The next few days after that, it had slowed to only twice a night. And in the last two nights, it had only happened once, but it still physically hurt Rick to lie in his bed, fisting his sheets, and wait for Samantha or Kai to soothe whoever was crying.