Kade watched the faces of the adult wolves at the table as they all fell at Romans words. Apparently they didn't like the thought of the wolf cub being under the porch at all. She learned the little guy had just showed up on the packs territory a few days ago, and this had been the first time he was brave enough to get close to the door of the pack house. No one had seen him in his human form, and they didn't like that the little guy was camping out under the porch rather then coming into the pack house. They weren't sure if he was eating anything they left out for him or if something or someone else was, and she started when a red headed man placed a plate full of sausage, bacon, ham, and steaks in front of her, smiling at her.
"Thank you." She mumbled her eyes widening at the amount of food on the plate. Surely they didn't expect her to eat all of that did they? It looked like they did as a plate was placed in front of everyone at the table and Kade shook her head at realizing that what was on her plate was almost double that of what was on every other plate.
"Thanks Shaemus." Dean said as the red headed wolf placed his plate next to the one he had given to Kade.
"Aye, no problem Sir." Shaemus smiled before taking his own seat at the table.
"There's no way I can eat all this." Kade said quietly and then laughed when Seth nudged her elbow with his nose, laid his head in her lap and whined.
"Ok ok I get it." She giggled taking a piece of the sausage off the plate and feeding it to the wolf, shaking her head at how he took everything she offered to him from her gently, but insisted on licking her fingers after every bite. After he had gobbled more then half of what was on the plate, he nudged her hand that was holding a piece of sausage for him toward her own mouth and whined.
"Ohh alright, but I'm not very hungry." She told him taking the bite of sausage. She glanced over at Roman and found him staring out the door looking stormy, and she knew he was worried about the little orphan cub.
"Dean? Do you think I can finish outside? It's a beautiful day and I usually eat breakfast outside." She asked quietly.
"Sure. Do you want a blanket to sit in the sun or would you rather sit on the chairs on the porch?" Dean asked her, standing with her in his arms and nodding toward the plate, waiting until she had picked it up.
"Um…in the sun please." She said admiring the way Dean moved so effortlessly with her in his arms, out the door and down the steps of the porch.
"Here is fine." She said quickly as soon as he had gotten off the steps, and she saw him frown but he didn't say anything as he set her on her feet, before disappearing back into the house.
Kade looked around noting a small hole in the boards around the porch and figured that was where the little cub had slipped under, and she moved a little closer to it, taking the blanket from Dean once he had reappeared, and spread it out on the ground before settling down on her side with the plate in front of her.
She laid back, making herself as small as possible and tossed a small piece of bacon in front of the little hole and settled back to wait, eating a slice of the bacon herself. She stilled when she heard a soft rustling sound, and watched as a little black nose poked out from under the porch and gobbled up the piece of bacon before disappearing back underneath.
"There's more of that out here, if you want it sweetie." Kade called softly, tossing another small piece of the bacon close to the hole and waiting until the small cub poked its head out and snatched the bite again, his fearful eyes landing on her before slipping back under the porch until just his nose and eyes stuck out. She smiled at the fact that he hadn't retreated fully under the porch this time and continued to throw small bites toward him, making it so he had to come out farther from the porch each time.
"You're going to have to come here and take it now little guy." She said softly, holding her palm out on the ground with a little bite of sausage in it. She held her breath not moving at all as the little cub crept closer to her uncertainly. He wanted the sausage, but he was clearly scared of her yelling at him or something worse. His want of the sausage finally won over his fear and he crept close enough to stretch his neck out and tongue the bite off her palm before scurrying away quickly, cowering near the porch but he didn't disappear under it.
"I've still got more." Kade said softly holding her hand out again waiting as the little pup came back over a little faster then before and took the bite from her without looking like he was turning into a giraffe this time, and take only a few steps backward.
"Still hungry?" Kade asked holding another bite in her fingers but not extending her hand, smiling as the cub came back over to her with little hesitation and stayed sitting next to her legs. She didn't notice the large black wolf up on the porch until it jumped down and blocked the hole the cub was using with its massive body, and she stiffed a scream at the sight of it.
She started with the little cub when he yelped and started shaking, looking undecided if it wanted to try and get past the large wolf and back under the porch, run for the woods a few hundred yards from the house, or hid itself under Kade's body. She moved slowly, rising up to her knees, opening her arms slowly, and the little cub wasted no time in crawling into her embrace, and hiding his face in her chest. Kade held the trembling little body against her, watching the large black wolf warily. Her heart leapt to her throat, and her own body started trembling as the wolf lowered its head and stared at them intently. She screamed for Roman and rolled into a small ball, covering the small furry body with her own, when the huge black animal stood up and started stalking toward them.
"It's me Kade, easy." Roman said kneeling next to her in his human form running a hand over her trembling back. He was still in shock at her not only calling for him when she thought she was in danger but also the fact that she had covered the cubs' body with her own to protect him.
"T-that wolf?" She stuttered out, still shaking herself at the thought of being mauled by the large black animal that was probably bigger then she was.
"Was me." Roman told her, still running his hands over her back gently, smiling when Seth and Dean, both in wolf form moved next to her. He watched as Seth crept up next to Kade and laid down, licking her arm that was holding onto the trembling cub.
"You scared the crap out of me!" She huffed sitting up, cradling the cub on her lap and stroking his back gently, crooning softly to him.
"Sorry." Roman chuckled sitting down fully on the ground and pulling Kade into his lap, shaking his head when she went stiff against him, his arms coming up under hers, his hands stroking over the cub also.
"Relax I wont hurt you." He whispered into her ear so the cub couldn't hear him, before looking down at it.
"I'm Roman, one of the Alphas of The Shield pack." He spoke softly to the little cub, still gently stroking its fur.
"This is Dean my partner, Kadien our mate, and Seth, our Beta." He continued, motioning to Seth and Dean when the wolves laid their heads on Kade's thighs, and the little cub looked at him, very aware of the fact that the woman in his arms had gone ridged again. He watched the little wolf look at him unsure, before shifting into human form, turning into a little boy not more then 6 years old. He had shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a tattered shirt and pants and no shoes, his little face smeared with dirt. Roman, Dean, and Seth all let out quiet growls at the sight of an abundance of finger shaped bruises on the little boys' arms.
"I-I'm Alex." The little boy said timidly, hiding his face in Kade's shoulder and Seth shifted back to his human form also.
"Hi Alex, my name is Seth. You mind me asking where you came from?" Seth asked the little shifter softly, looking at Roman and Dean, all of them wondering why the little boy was in such bad shape. Juveniles would heal major trauma on shifting but they would retain scars and bruises , having to let them fade away naturally until they reached maturity.
"I-I ran away. F-from the Authority Pack. T-the new Alphas'…aren't nice. T-t-they killed my m-mommy and d-daddy." The little boy sobbed his small arms clutching tighter to Kade's shoulders as she whispered soothingly to him.
