Chapter 841 Chapter 841
Oryn cradled Mila across her lap. Charlotte was cuddled up beside her, and Dylan, even though when he wasn’t ill, thought boys didn’t need hugs, was on her other side.
Ben stood by the window and would look out it more than he would at anything going on inside the room. She would have been lost without him and the other two older boys. It was because of them she’d been able to go and get food and supplies, as well as keep checking that Kenric was still in the area.
“These are different, but okay.” Adam was eating something from the meal packets. He nodded. “I don’t know if this tastes like it says it is supposed to be because I forget what that tastes like.”
She looked down at Mila, so the rest wouldn’t see how his words affected her. It had been hard to keep them safe, warm and fed. She had done her best, and despite all her misgivings about the Alliance, she did believe Uri was being honest.
Rayne, it turned out, was a princess, part of the ruling family for all of the shifting community. She hadn’t seemed snotty, so if Uri hadn’t told her, she would never have guessed it.
Glancing around, her gaze connected with Ben. He knew. She didn’t know how he already knew, but he did and he was waiting for her to tell the others.
“Okay. Everyone sit and pay attention.” Ben and Wyatt continued to stand, which was fine. “I just spoke to some friends of Uri’s, and they’re coming to get us.” She said us because, for now, it was easier that way.
“Get us?” Adam looked at Ben and then back to her. “To go where?”
She hadn’t asked the location. She smiled at Charlotte, who, despite the meds for the tummy, still hadn’t eaten much. “Somewhere where they have a nice warm home, with beds for everyone.”
“Together?” Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest. “We all get to stay together, right?”
She hadn’t asked about that, but it would be a condition she demanded before anyone touched these children. “Yes.” She nodded. “All together.”
Wyatt exchanged a look with Ben, who nodded slightly. “Okay.”
“They’re sending a nice doctor to help Mila, Charlotte, and Dylan.”
“A one-form?” Ben looked at Charlotte.
“No. She’s a shifter, Ben.”
He looked at his sister, and the expression in his eyes softened for a second. “I go wherever they’re taking her.” He looked back at Oryn.
“Of course.”
“Emma and I are sticking with Ben.” Adam took a drink of juice. “We’re safer together.”
“That’s right.” Oryn nodded. “Everyone is staying together.” She was going to miss them so much until she got back to them, but she had to settle things. Kenric had left them orphans and she was going to make sure he paid for that.
“And you?” Emma crawled closer but made sure to not disturb Dylan.
“I have to finish some things, but I’ll be right behind you guys.” She smiled at her and hoped that she wasn’t lying to her. “They’re going to bring new boots and coats for all of you.”
“And mittens?” Emma looked at her hands. “I like mittens.”
“I didn’t ask about mittens, but Miss Rayne sounded like a smart lady, so I’m sure she’ll think of mittens too, Emma.”
Her round, freckled face, and beautiful, innocent eyes studied Oryn for a moment. “Okay,” she said, looking at her brother, Adam. “I am going.”
Adam gave her a lopsided smile but didn’t correct that he wouldn’t have left her behind.
Tony leaned back on the pillow. All Of them looked so tired, probably because they had put enough of the items she’d shopped out of Uri’s vehicle that their stomachs were full. She pointed to the dresser. “There are some wipes I brought up; everyone cleans their hands and faces and gets ready for bed.”
“Are you going to tell us a story?” Dylan asked.
“It’s my turn.” Wyatt waved his hand around. “Everyone has to go out and use the bathroom before it tonight, so I don’t have to pause five times.”
Charlotte smiled at him. “No icky stories.”
Wyatt grinned. “All right, I’ll think of one that has unicorns in it.”
“I like unicorns,” Mila said in a small voice.
“Me too. You can ride them and stab things with the horn.” Tony grinned at Wyatt.
Wyatt glanced at Oryn. “I don’t know if there will be any stabbing, but you never know.” He shrugged.
Adam got up and went over to the dresser and searched through the items. He picked up the package of wipes and held them up. “Emma, you make sure everyone gets one.” Opening them, he went over and handed them to her.
“I will.” She pulled one out and then turned and handed it to Tony. “Face and hands.”
Oryn shifted Mila and lay her on the bed. “We’ll be right back. Big people talk.” She jerked her head toward the door.
Ben moved away from the window and went out into the hallway. Wyatt was right behind him.
She waited for Adam and then pointed down the hall. She didn’t want to talk right outside the door. The boys would have real questions and doubts and even though she was still having a hard time with the idea that the Alliance was actively helping all shifters, she still couldn’t swallow that there had been no help for hers.
They stepped outside. Uri was walking back toward the building. Did she wait and see if he had more answers than before?
“Is this really happening?” Adam asked.
She nodded. “Mila and Charlotte need medical help.”
“I know.” He turned and watched Uri come toward him. “How did he find us?”
Oryn almost smiled but didn’t go into detail about it. “He's in the area getting information on Kenric.”
“For who?” Ben didn’t hide the suspicion in his tone.
“He works for the Alliance—” She held up her hand. “I know what I’ve said, but I just talked to some of them and there’s a lot of them now.”
“This Alliance came to take out Kenric?” Wyatt’s tone wasn’t as harsh as Ben’s, but they’d learned the hard way not to trust easily, and all of them had earned the right to ask the questions.
“I’ll let Uri tell you. Stay here.” She walked away from them, wanting to speak to Uri before he reached them.
“I take it you told them?” He stopped and glanced at the boys on the porch.
“Yeah. They seem okay with it.” She kept her back to them. “I told them they’d all be together.”
He nodded. “I told my alpha the same and she agreed. There’s a big house with plenty of room for everyone.”
“You talked to your Alpha? She’s going to take them in?”
He nodded. “Esen is around our age. Her father stepped down a few years ago after an injury. She can be hard, but she’s fair.”
Oryn nodded. A woman in charge. Had her clan ever had a female alpha? She didn’t think so. “Okay.” She stepped closer. “If any of this feels sketchy, it’s a no deal, got it?”
He held her gaze without faltering. “Understood.”
Oryn stepped back and released the breath she’d been holding. “Okay. The boys have some questions.”
“I figured they would.” He motioned toward them. She nodded, turned around, and started walking. “You did good, Oryn, keeping them safe.”
Many times, she hadn’t felt she was doing a good job at all, but those had been moments of exhaustion and frustration. She’d never been able to get close enough to Kenric because she hadn’t wanted to leave them alone too long.
“Are you going with them?” He glanced at her.
She shook her head. “Not right away. Is that a problem?”
He searched her face. “Nope. No problem at all.”
She nodded. “They both look to Ben.” She whispered, giving him the solution to any hard questions that might arise.
“I figured.”
He didn’t look phased at all by any of this. It made her wonder what he’d been through because people with happy, pretty lives didn’t just accept things like eight kids living in an abandoned building with no heat or water. Maybe his life was like hers, raw and ugly. Whatever the reason, he was here for Kenric and that kind of help she needed.
“Boys.” He stopped at the bottom of the step, and she wondered if he did that on purpose so they’d be disarmed when he was at a lower level than him.
Adam looked at him for a moment and then turned to Ben. “I’ll go get bedtime started. You can fill me in later.”
Ben nodded to him but didn’t speak.
Oryn stayed back. She trusted Ben and Wyatt and needed them to know she was here, but this was their show. She was so proud of how far they’d come in the last year. At the start, they had just been freaked-out kids, like the rest, but slowly, they’d come around and started helping her. Now, they could handle just about anything thrown at them. She was so damn proud.
“Where are we going?” Wyatt asked.
“To my clan in Manitoba. My alpha has a big house for all of you.”
“Together?” Wyatt glanced at Ben as he asked it.
“Yes.” Uri nodded. “She understands that you’re to stay together.”
“She?” Ben glanced at Oryn as he asked it.
Uri grinned. “Yes. My alpha is a female.” He turned and looked at her. “Several Alliance team members are women. You’ll meet a few of them when they get here. Shaelan is part of the medical team, and her mate is one of the main men who helps the alliance.” He grinned. “Wynter is the leader of the incursion team, and there’s nothing she’s afraid of, so you guys will be very safe on your trip.”
Ben nodded but didn’t speak.
“You’re going to help Oryn get Kenric?” Wyatt’s expression was cold.
Uri gave her a quick look and then turned back to the boys. “The Alliance wants Kenric and the information he has.”
“Information?”
Uri nodded. “I’ll give you the truth because—” he looked around them. “What you’ve been through demands nothing less. Kenric works for a group that abducts shifters of all kinds.” He looked down for a second. “We got the main one in the organization at Christmas and we’ve been traveling around since then shutting down any others and rescuing many they’d taken.”
Oryn hadn’t heard all of that. “Kenric has trucks come and go all the time.”
Uri turned and looked at her and was quiet for a moment. “I have no doubt there are some that have been taken inside that building. A colleague was undercover with one of those places connected to Kenric and saw a water clan member in a big tank on the screen during a video call…”
“Water clan?” Ben looked at Oryn briefly. “I thought they were all gone.”
Uri shook his head. “Turns out they aren’t.”
“Fish people?” Wyatt looked his age for a moment. “That’s cool.”
“I don’t know if I’d call them fish people. We’re not bird people, but I’ve worked with one on an Alliance team a few times, and seeing him in the water is something else.”
“I’d like to see that.” Ben had dropped the wall. Oryn sighed soften
Uri nodded and then reached into his pocket. “Uh, I need to take this.” He glanced at Oryn and then the boys. “I’ll put it on speaker for you. It’s Konner, the water clan member I just mentioned.” He tapped the phone a few times. “Hey, Konner. You’re on speaker.”
She thought that it was smart to warn the person right away before they spoke. She hoped it wasn’t so they wouldn’t say anything she shouldn’t know.
“Uri.”
There was a loud noise in the background.
“I spoke to Raymond. I’m heading that way in five.”
Uri looked surprised. “Are you bringing the others?”
“No. My chopper isn’t big enough for that many bodies and gear. I’m going to drop supplies to you. Are you near the chip ping?”
Uri turned and looked at the bush. “No. I’m up the mountain from it.”
“Is there a small clearing? I can drop it down and release it. I don’t want to hang there too long or land because if Kenric has anyone watching, we’ll lose the advantage.”
Uri spun back around and looked at her. “Is there a clearing close by?”
She looked at Ben and then back to him. “It’s not big, but there are no trees.”
“That works.” The man on the phone said. “Give me a bearing on the map from your ping—which way do I head?”
Oryn watched Uri turn and face the way they’d come to the building. He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them.
“When we came up it was Northeast from the SUV.”
“Got it. I’ll send you a message when I reach your ping location. I’ll need three flashes every 60 seconds to locate the clearing. Do you have something to flash in the air?”
Uri nodded. “Flashlight in my bag work?”
“That will work. We don’t want to broadcast it for long. Hold on.”
The noise got louder, and Oryn realized he was getting in a helicopter as they spoke. There was a second of silence and then the noise was less.
“Okay, on the headset now. Have you had eyes on Kenric’s location?”
Uri glanced at Oryn and then shook his head. “Not yet.”
“I was hoping you’d seen this tank that Calla described.”
Uri turned and looked at Oryn. “Not yet, once the kids are away safely, I’ll be taking a look.”
“Tank?” Ben stepped off the steps. “I don’t know about tank, but they go out on two big boats a lot.”
“What kind of boats, son?” The man asked.
“Big fishing boats.”
“I’m going to need the names on those. They will be disabled once I’m there.”
Oryn watched Ben and Wyatt exchange a wide-eyed look. She shook her head. They would not be sticking around to witness it.
“ETA on when you’ll be here so I can be near the clearing.”
“The weather heading that way is fairly clear, but I always run into some strong winds in that direction. I’ll have to stop and refuel, but that doesn’t take long. The package is already being rounded up; I have to go to Benny Giles' land to get it. He's in B.C., but closer to Alberta than the coast. I'll fill up again when I’m there. Give me at least four hours, probably closer to five.”
Uri looked at his phone. “So somewhere between in the neighborhood of one in the morning?”
“Roughly, yes.”
Uri nodded. “I’ll be at the clearing waiting.”
“All right. I’ll be seeing you in a few days. I’m going to reach out to Malik and set up a meeting as soon as possible. I don’t know if it’s water clan or Sea clan Kenric has, but I need to set up for either.”
Uri’s eyes held a sadness in them. “Once the kids are away from the area, I’ll scramble a breech team and start watching.”
“Kaid is prepared for cleanup and I believe Nola from tech is headed that way, but that’s all I have for now.”
Uri grinned. “I’ll have some of the finest on the way before you reach me.”
“Make sure they’re good on a rifle. We’re going to need some overwatch on this one.”
Uri nodded. “Watch where you’re flying, and let me work out the details.”
“Will do. Be in touch soon.” The line went quiet.
Uri looked at his phone and then put it in his pocket.
Wyatt held up his hand. “I’ll take him to the clearing. I want to see this.”
Oryn watched Ben straighten and pull his shoulders back. “You’ll both go get some rest. I’ll keep watch, and when it’s closer to the time, you can take him to the clearing.” Both boys grinned, and Oryn had to work hard not to let her eyes water. “Go. Rest.”
They both hurried back into the building. She turned and looked at Uri. “The water clan man is going to drop us supplies?”
He nodded. “Probably the medical equipment Shaelan wants and clothes and such for the trip down.”
“Who is Benny Giles?” There had been a lot of names mentioned. It made her think that all of his talk about the Alliance was very real.
“Alpha of a lion clan.”
Her eyes widened. “There is a lion clan here?”
He shook his head. “A few hours from here.”
She pulled her jacket together. It was getting darker, and the temperatures dropped at night. “What does this Kaid cleanup?” She hadn’t understood some of what was said.
“He has a team that goes in and erases any evidence of the people we take into custody.”
She nodded. That was smart. “Kenric is not being taken into custody. I can handle a rifle. You don’t need any others.” The only target she wanted to see through a scope was Kenric. His death was justified by the body count he left behind.
He stood there looking at her, there was compassion and understanding in his eyes. As much as it was a relief to see that after this long, it also annoyed her because she didn’t want anyone to try to dissuade her from her objective. She’d promised those kids justice and that was one promise she wasn’t going to break.
“We’ll worry about all of that and Kenric once we get the kids safely on the road.” He jerked his chin toward the building. “Why don’t you go lie down and grab a nap? I’ll keep watch out here.” He tipped his head toward his shoulder. “I might have an out-of-commission wing, but my eyes can spot a mouse a half mile away.”
She smiled at that. “There’s a rifle inside the door behind it. If it’s bigger than a mouse, you might need it.” She looked at the building. She did want to spend more time with the kids before they left. “I’ll come back out in a few hours so you can rest before you go to the clearing.”
He nodded. “A nap would be good. Just grab my pack and set it inside the door too. A snack on more than a protein bar might be required.”
He didn’t even look tired. That irked her a bit. The hours she’d rested since all of this began wouldn’t add up to much. “Come and get me if you get too tired to keep watch.”
“I will.”
His dark eyes held her for a moment before she turned and went into the building. Something about this wasn’t adding up. She was too many days with hardly any sleep to try to figure it out. Once the kids were safe, she’d worry about figuring out what was so different about Uri.