Chains

Bonus Chapter 1 - Part III

Lucy POV

After getting the children home, I bathed them both and dressed them in some of Scarlett's pajamas, there being nothing else here they could wear. Once they were all cleaned up, I led them into the kitchen and sat them at the table while I prepared lunch for the both of them; I went with an easy meal, tuna sandwiches and a bowl of soup each, not knowing how much their stomachs could take if I were to fix anything more.

While they were eating their lunch, I called Dolores and asked her if she could pick up some children's clothing for them, (I gave her their sizes) and bring them over. She agreed, clearly excited to meet the children after I explained their situation. After talking to Dolores, I texted Rafe and asked him to call me when he had a chance. I knew that he was going to be in meetings all day and this wasn't critical; it could wait, and we could talk about it later.

I glanced back over at the table, to see that both children had already finished their meals and were sitting there with contented looks on their faces. I was certain then, that it had been a while since they had enjoyed a full meal. I was to learn later, that even when their mother had been alive, their meals had been sporadic, depending on how much she was able to scrape together for the three of them.

I collected their dishes and carried them over to the sink. I washed them, all the while I chatted about little things, like my daughter Scarlett, her school, and my husband, Rafael. Anything I could think of to help them feel comfortable with me. Occasionally, I'd ask a quick question; something that was easily answered without getting into any real depth. I wanted them to feel at ease; a new place can be quite frightening to a small child. I also knew that it would be necessary to notify the local authorities about the children and their situation; I just wanted them to be as comfortable as possible before we started that process; but before that, I did need some information about them.

There was also the issue of their mother's murder. Oliver had told me what happened to her, and that it hadn't been very long ago. I was going to have to contact the police about that as well. We would also need to find out what they had done with her body; a proper burial would give the children a sense of closure that I was sure they needed. Rafe was friends with the Alpha from the nearest pack, and since these two were the children of a werewolf, it would also be critical to let him know what was going on; there was no doubt that he would have to be involved, this couldn't be left entirely to the humans.

When Dolores arrived with clothing, we dressed the two and she drove us over to the school to pick up Scarlett. I explained to her that Oliver and Grace were going to be staying with us for a while, and she was thrilled to have two other children to play with; since we arrived in London, there have been no children for her to play with except when she's at school. We all went shopping where I purchased more clothes, after which we stopped for ice cream. Both of the children had eyes wide with excitement to get the sweet treat. Scarlett and Grace have already become fast friends after only an afternoon together. Oliver is shyer and I've already had to assure him several times that he can stay with us and we're not going to take them back to their cellar.

Rafe POV

Lucy had texted me earlier to call when I had a chance, but I'd been stuck in meetings all day and hadn't had a chance to do it. Archie's sudden passing had caught everyone by surprise and the entire staff was still grieving; he had been well liked by everyone. Aside from being here to run the office, I was also in the process of interviewing candidates to fill the position. There were a few candidates within the company that I felt could fill the position nicely, but I wanted to explore bringing in new blood, there was the possibility that might work out well for everyone.

As a result of all that, it was quite late by the time I had a chance to call Lucy back; I knew it wasn't urgent or she would have mentioned it in her text. Whatever it was, I knew that she had cancelled her luncheon with the ladies from the office and rescheduled it for later. She'd also had Dolores, the executive secretary, leave early to do something; I wasn't sure what. Dolores hadn't returned, so I assumed she was with my mate. Dolores was one of the people in the office I was considering as Archie's replacement. She was extremely competent and knew the operation as well as anybody.

When I left my last meeting, I pulled out my phone and dialed Lucy's number. The phone rang a few times before she picked up.

"Hello?" She answered as though she hadn't checked the caller ID. Her lovely voice on the other end of the line sent tingles down my spine, just like it always did.

"Hey Luce, it's me," I said tiredly, as I leaned back, running my hand through my hair. "Was there something you needed before I head out?"

"Well, Rafe," she sighed, her voice becoming serious. "I need you to contact Alpha Cedric and set up a meeting with him and Luna Violet. The sooner the better. I'll tell you more about it later, but the gist of it is that I found two orphaned children today, and they're wolf pups. They've been living on the streets, and their mother was killed a few weeks ago from what I gathered. We're going to have to get in touch with the local police about her, but I wanted Cedric and Violet involved since he has contacts here in the city. Since the children are wolves, we need to get Cedric involved anyway."

That was certainly not what I had expected to hear. I'd figured that there was probably something to do with Scarlett's school that we still needed to complete. While not exactly an emergency, this was certainly something out of the ordinary. It isn't often that wolf pups are found in the cities, and the probability that their mother had been a rogue was high; that she was killed meant that the local police probably had an investigation open into the killing. To say that my curiosity was piqued would be an understatement.

"Do you know their mother's name?" I inquired. Alpha Cedric was going to want to look into her background before we went to the police.

"Yes," Lucy answered right away. "Her name was Nadine Firth, her mate was named Thomas - though from what I could gather, he died some years ago, according to the oldest, a boy named Oliver. He's about six years old, and the other pup is a girl named Grace; she's about four. If Cedric and Violet can find anything about them that would be great. Oliver didn't know what their original home was called; he said that they had moved around a lot. Neither of them mentioned that their mother was a wolf, though I'm sure she must have shifted around them, her wolf's scent was pretty strong in the cellar they were living in. I expect that she must have told them to never mention it around anyone, and I didn't want to bring it up because it might make them upset."

"Wow!" I couldn't hide my shock when I heard how young the two children were. "That's really young for two kids to be alone in a city like this. Do you know how they managed to survive without their mother?"

"Before she was killed, she had found them a hiding place in the cellar of a fallen-down building." Lucy explained. "Oliver has been scrounging food from dumpsters and trash cans to feed them, though I'm certain that he wasn't able to scrounge very much. The poor things practically inhaled their food faster than I could blink when I fed them lunch and again at dinner. Scarlett has already fallen in love with them, by the way. She's already calling Oliver her big brother and Gracie her little sister. It's so cute!"