Abandoned and Unseen (Branded Packs #2)(5)

Again, it was only her attention to detail that made this matter. She was just looking out for her people in a new compound. She’d noticed many cats and wolves. Cole was not special.

He was annoying, conceited, and not worth a second look. Or a third. Or even a fourth.

“You done brooding over there?” Oliver asked, a smirk on his face.

She stuck out her tongue. Real mature. She was the younger sister, after all; she shouldn’t have to be as grown up as her big bear of a brother. Of course, they were both in their early thirties, and that two-year difference didn’t matter much. Technicalities.

Oliver ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and grinned. She wanted to take a photo so she could remember that smile since he didn’t do it often. The weight of the Pack—the world—rested on his shoulders most days, and she didn’t know how to help him. But if acting as young as her sons helped her brother smile, she’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“Momma, I’m sorry,” Owen whispered, his hands clasped in front of him and his head lowered. He was her quiet baby. He followed Lucas and did what his brother did, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He was happy being a follower and doing what he could to make their day better. He was her emotional baby, and she loved him.

“Yeah, Momma, sorry for running away.” Lucas bounced on his feet as he spoke, his teeth biting into his lip. Lucas was her loud and take-charge baby. He took Owen on adventures and wanted to explore everything before moving on. While Owen may stay back and study something a little longer, Lucas was ready to jump into the next thing quickly. Though he could be a little louder, he was sweet when he needed to be. He was her fiery baby, and she loved him just as much.

It was hard for Anya to stay mad at her boys for long, but sometimes, they needed to learn that boundaries were put in place for a reason. She hadn’t grown up within the confines of a compound. She’d known what it was like to run free in the forest, to have to hide what she was, yet still know she was free. Her children had been born after the Verona Virus, and into a world where they had never tasted the freedom she craved. And because of that, they had to learn the hard way that their world wasn’t one they could let their guard down in. She hated that—hated it—but maybe one day she’d be able to give her children something better than the tall walls that surrounded them.

Anya knelt in front of them, trying not to smile. She wasn’t truly angry with them. She couldn’t be when they were just being curious shifter children. But she’d been scared. And that was something that needed to be addressed. Because, despite the fact that they were inside a small compound with numerous shifters she didn’t know or understand, it was the humans who ventured in that worried her most of all.

The humans thought they owned them. They ruled over them. Put laws on them, and branded them. She’d been forced to watch her cubs be branded just last year. The Alpha had taken the pain inside himself, using the magic of the Pack to keep her babies from agony. The humans didn’t know the Alpha could do this, and she would be forever grateful that they didn’t. The SAU thought they were subjugating the entire shifter population to fire at a young age. Instead, the Alpha—Andrew in her Pack’s case—felt each lick of flame as his own. If the humans found out what the shifters could do, they’d use it to their advantage. Then they’d find another way to hurt the shifters’ children. She’d been forced to watch her babies’ flesh be burned and marked so that they were forever known as not human at a glance.

And because of this, because of her nightmares about the screams she’d forced them to voice, though she knew they’d felt no pain, she had to be strict when it came to their safety.

“I know you’re sorry, boys.” She felt Oliver’s gaze on her, but her brother let her do what she had to. Her brother was unmated, and because she’d been an idiot years ago, she was, as well. She and Oliver raised her boys together because there was no way she’d be able to do it alone, but in times like these, Oliver let her lead. They were her children, her responsibility, the lights of her life.

“Are we in trouble?” Lucas asked. He shifted from foot to foot, looking far too cute for his own good.

“Yes, but that’s because you have to learn to be careful.” Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but Owen nudged his shoulder into his twin’s. Lucas closed his mouth, and Anya held back a sigh. Damn it. She didn’t want to be the nice and mean parent all at once. She wanted a partner, had wanted it all those years ago. But the human man who had told her he loved her when he’d visited the compound with the others had lied. He was one of the medical professionals who had come in to do health checks on the Pack. Some had been there under that guise, but had actually wanted to learn more about shifter physiology. The man who had taken her to bed had told her he wanted to help people. She’d believed him, stupidly, and had ended up pregnant.

When the thought of being labeled a shifter lover became too much, he’d left her pregnant and alone.

“Momma?”

She closed her eyes at Owen’s voice and took a deep breath. She needed to keep her head out of the past and look toward the future. Her sons were her future, and they were the most important thing—not broken promises and lies.

“I know you want to go out and play, but we’re still new here. We need to make sure we all understand how this new compound works.”