Chapter 27

Author's note: My Feral Lady is now available on amazon! I did the same as I did with Fur and Fangs! Just a change in character names. It has 39 chapters. You can go pick it up to read those chapters early, but in the meantime, I will be posting one or two chapters a week. The book is really just for those who have enjoyed and want to support what I have been doing here. I have put a lot of energy and love into this story, and getting a couple of extra bucks through publishing the book means a lot, and helps ensure that I can continue writing like this! Link is on my tumblr : hopefulbadgerjunara of course.

Story Time

Returning Cat to her family was an emotionally trying endeavor at best. Watching as Emelia broke down, crying over her mother's cold corpse nearly broke Lena. It was one thing to see the woman die protecting her and saving her best friend, another to see the lifeless dead-eyed body get shoveled into the trunk of Kara's car, but… seeing that child weep for her lost mother, only a handful of months after losing her stepfather. Lena knew that Raymond was a sack of shit, that he was barely a father and far from a husband. Given that all she knew about him were posthumous stories about his douchery, she knew that he must have been much worse than even what she had been told. But beyond shitty stepfather or not, Raymond would have been something. It wasn't just seeing Emelia break like that, it was knowing that these kids were all orphaned. Not a single one of them had their mother or father to turn to after everything that had happened.

It was of some minimal comfort to Lena when Kara assured that the pack would pitch in to ensure they would all be taken care of. She had on some level also been thoroughly concerned for Adam, Emelia and the rest of the children's financial wellbeing and general security, but that concern seemed less immediate than the grieving sixteen-year-old in front of her.

"I'm so sorry. I… She loved you so much." Lena tried with a gentle hand landing on heaving shoulders. Before Lena even knew what had happened, Emelia was sobbing into her chest, clinging to the omega like she was her final lifeline out at a turbulent sea. Lena's expression alone conveyed to Kara that she had no idea what to do or say.

Kara shrugged with terrified eyes, not exactly sure how to help either.

"There there. It's going to be alright." Lena patted Emelia on the back and eventually wrapped her arms around her in a warm comforting hug.

"W… wait?" Emelia paused and pulled away. "What about Adam? Where is he? Mom was supposed to be going out of town to get him."

Kara's struck grimace from above and past Emelia's shoulder relayed no meaningful guidance once more.

"I, Adam will be ok. He is still out of town and grieving everything." Well, at least that got Kara's face to give some hint of advice. Was the advice that lying was almost certainly a mistake? Most certainly.

"Oh, ok. That makes sense. I!" Emelia sniffled as she struggled to pull herself together and pry herself out of the comfort of the omega. "He needs to be back in time for the funeral."

Kara's head shook back and forth as she mouthed a stern warning. "Don't!"

"Yeah. Of course. When, when do you want to hold the service?"

"The full moon. It is tradition to bury fallen wolves after the moon has risen."

Kara's head landed in her palm with a belabored sigh.

"Oh! Yeah! Of course, night of the full moon. Day after Christmas. Boxing day right?" Lena controlled her anxious voice as best as she could to hide the terror.

"We should have the funeral the day of, and then we can shift and bury her. That's what she would have wanted. It's what we did for Raymond. What she did for me and Adam's Ama, our other mother. The alpha." Emelia trembled. "When he and I were younger she showed us a clearing in the woods where she buried the alpha before Raymond, our mother. I… I think I still remember where it was. But I will need Adam to help confirm it for me."

Kara was about ready to begin

"We will talk to him when we can. Alex and Sam are still up in Boston trying to help him out with everything." Lena was roughly sure that she and Kara had formed some new discovery of mated alpha omega telepathy because she could certainly hear Kara telling her that she had just fucked up and that lying to the teen who had just lost her mother about whether or not her brother was ok would lead to absolutely nothing good. She was also rather certain that Kara could hear back as well when she spotted Kara's overly dramatic eye roll at her attempts to convey that she simply couldn't break Emelia's heart any further, that losing her mother was more than enough.

"Thank you Lena." Emelia squeezed the omega in between sniffles.

"You got a place to keep her for the couple of days till then?"

"Yeah." Emelia turned around wiping her face clean. "There's a freezer in the garage. We keep it for in case one of the kids gets a dear right before sunrise and doesn't finish it… and I guess it works for issues like this too."

"Just in the garage?"

"Yeah, huge white thing, built to handle like two bucks. Kinda impossible to miss." The teen chuckled troubled before breaking down into tears again.

"I'm sorry. Your mother was a wonderful woman. She gave all she had to her family and her pack. She meant a lot to me too; saved my life. Twice now. I want you to know that her sacrifice for our family, our pack, it will not be forgotten."

"Thank you." Emelia's voice cracked in pain.

"If you want, we can go in and tell the kids with or for you, alternatively, we could hold a pack meeting and tell the kids there. It might be easier and then we would have the whole pack there to comfort them all; reassure them that they are not alone, that their family is still this pack." Kara offered with a refrained calm that soothed both Lena and Emelia.

"Yeah, I, I think it might be better to wait. Having everyone around might be for the best."

"Of course." Kara nodded. "Whatever you need. When do you think would be best? Do you want it tonight? Tomorrow?"

"Maybe give it a couple days? I… Christmas eve maybe?" Emelia suggested.

"Course. We can make a whole thing of it if you wish? Pack Christmas eve?"

"Yeah. I like that idea. Plus it will give Adam a chance to get back. I, I can't handle it all without him. He is better with managing the kids."

"Yup. Totally. Not gonna be a problem at all." Kara's eyes threw daggers at her mate.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate the help."

"Don't worry about it." Kara assured.

"We are here for you.

"Thanks."

"How about this. I'll take her to the freezer, you two go say hi to the kids and keep them busy, preferably out of the garage. Then when everything is done and the kids are a little calmer, Lena, Ruby, and I can head home."

"You two are welcome to stay for a while if you like? The kids like having Ruby around, and I'm sure it'd be a treat for them to have an alpha and omega around, even if it is just for an hour or so." Emelia welcomed as she strived to clean herself up to present some form of togetherness for her siblings.

"We'd love that." Lena agreed.

"Sure, why not." Kara smiled, a mite frustrated with Lena making these decisions without her, but holding it down with a restraint that she hadn't shown in quite a while.

Kara was swift but gentle as she layed Cat down to rest. She shed a sparing few tears, nestling the body down as gingerly as she could. When she was done, she took special care to lock up the freezer when it was done. It wouldn't be good if one of the little pups ended up stumbling upon it while trying to grab an otter pop or something of the sort. After she had cleaned herself back up once more, she headed inside to see the whole miniature pack. It had been less than three minutes, but they already had Lena with a book in her hand, reading something for the youngins. The youngest four Were all sat down on the carpet listening, one of the girls with a significant amount more excitement than the rest. She had clearly been the one who asked Lena to read to them given how she was closest to the omega and nearly bouncing down on the back of her heels while kneeling. Even some of the early and pre-teens seem to have dropped their gaming controllers to listen to whatever story Lena had been supplied with to read them. Her omega had the attention of all the children save for Carter and Emelia. The second and third eldest seemed to be off over in Cat's kitchen, talking quietly with serious faces. It wasn't hard to figure out what they were talking about. Kara had not spent much time with Carter, but she knew he was a smart kid, smart enough to know when something was off. She just hoped that Carter was also smart enough to keep his mouth shut, or at least avoid causing a panic amongst the youngsters when there wasn't the rest of the pack around to help and counsel them through.

"Kara!" Ruby cheered, diverting roughly half the room's attention away from the book being read and over to the alpha.

"Hey there kiddos! Alex and Sam are out of town till tonight or tomorrow, so Lena and I will take you back to our place tonight, ok?" Kara smiled at the youngster sitting in between two of Cat's kids who seemed to have been playing some game on the tv with her given the pause screen and the controllers sitting idle in each of their laps.

"Everything ok? Mom said mama wasn't feeling great and that she was going out of town to pick her up."

"Your moms are just fine Ruby. Alex wasn't feeling well, but just a little after Sam got there, she cheered right back up." Kara smiled and leaned in like she was telling a secret. "You know what, I betcha she was just missing you and Sam."

"Well then, tell her to get back here already!" Ruby giggled light-heartedly, mimicking the alpha's tone. "Cause I miss them too!"

"Aww, Well, I certainly feel you there. But they have some work to finish. They will be heading back just as soon as they can, but I'm sure of it."

Ruby pouted slightly and sighed. "Ok."

"I know Ruby. But hey! On the bright side, if we ask real nice maybe Lena will cook us up something real good for dinner. If you thought she was a good cook before, wait till you see what she can do with food she can actually taste!"

Ruby giggled again at the levity in Kara's voice.

Lena loudly cleared her throat with the turn of a page for dramatic effect. "I won't be cooking anything for you if you two keep interrupting." Lena flexed to look stern. "But thanks love, I try."

"Very sorry. Please continue." Kara bowed politely before plopping down onto the couch to listen.

Lena was quick to resume her story, smiling wide as the youngest of Cat's legacy sat in front of her eager to take in everything. Kara found herself cracking an overly adoring smile to see the children all but circled around her mate in such an adorable tableau. It made her yearn desperately to wrap her mate up in her arms, take her home, and get right down to work on starting a little mini pack of their own. Lena would make such a delightful mother. She was so patient, she had all of the kids' attention in a matter of minutes. The alpha stayed like that, gawking at Lena's motherly capabilities until the story had been finished and the kids were already complaining about how it was too short and Lena should tell another.

"Aww, you all are adorable, and I would love to read you another, but I think my alpha over there is giving me the it's time to go home look." Lena smiled politely and placed down the book to a small symphony of disheartened whines.

"To Lena's?" Ruby asked Kara with a slight frown at the idea of leaving her friends.

"Umm, yeah, maybe?" An idea formulated in Kara's mind.

"Thank you two for coming over. I appreciate having someone else keep these little rugrats busy, even if it is just for a little bit." Emelia thanked sincerely.

"Hey, Lena? Sweetheart? Can I talk with you off to the side for a sec?"

"Course babe. What's up?" Lena waded through the children now getting up from the floor over to Kara and off into a side hallway.

Kara looked over her shoulder, doing her best to ensure none of the younglings were listening or paying them any attention before she spoke. "These kids don't have an actual adult to look after them tonight."

"I know. It's so sad." Lena sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get us caught and waiting for me to finish the book. Just when that kid came up to me all excited! What the hell was I supposed to say? No? She just lost… and she doesn't even know it." Lena shuttered, trying to process the cold cruel world once more after attempting to see it through the innocent child's eyes.

"I am happy you read to them. It was adorable. I can't wait till we have our own that you can read to like that." Kara hugged her mate, kissing her forehead.

"Me neither." Lena blushed and relinquished hesitation, melting into Kara's embrace.

"But, I was thinking that because they don't have anyone to look after them; I mean. They have Emelia. But she isn't even seventeen yet. I just don't feel right leaving her alone to handle all of this especially with what she is going through. I was just thinking, maybe, maybe we can watch them? At least until Alex and Sam get back into town? They need parents."

"I… I know, and I would love to watch over those adorable kids." Lena lit up before remembering how recently Kara had been teetering on the edge of going feral, ready to claw into Jess friend or foe. "I'm just not sure we really can."

"Why not love?" Kara pushed back, not seeing any issue with the plan.

"I…" Lena still wasn't quite ready to tell Kara what was going on, and she certainly wasn't going to do it with those defenseless kids just a room over. "We can't leave Jess alone!" Lena stretched for any excuse.

"Jess is an adult and she can handle herself. These kids need us."

"I know that, but, but Jess could still be being hunted by Eve! After today? Eve must be dying to strike back!" Lena protested.

"Did you see how bad she was hurt? I don't think she will be coming after us for a while. Plus, didn't I see the majority of Eve's voice box on the floor and still caught in Cat's claws? That seemed to be how her blood ties allowed her to control Jess, so she probably can't even do that anymore."

"Kara! I don't feel right leaving her alone." Lena felt more than a smidge guilty. Even though it wasn't technically a lie, it certainly wasn't the real reason that she didn't want her and Kara spending the next couple days around the kids.

"Well fine, we don't have to leave her alone. We can bring her here." Kara scoffed. "It isn't like we don't have our hands full trying to take care of them as it is."

"I, I'm not so sure about that Kara. This place isn't secure like the butchery is!"

"Baby, why don't you want to do this? I saw you in there with them. You were happy."

"Kara, I love you, but there is still stuff going on that you don't know about yet-"

The alpha interrupted with an aggravated snarl.

"Things I don't know how to tell you. Things I am scared to tell you because of your snarls, your anger, and impatience, you're almost losing it this morning back up in Boston after I got hurt."

Kara huffed again, angry and frustrated. "How am I supposed to feel! You, Sam, and even my own damn sister are hiding something! Fuck! Cat was too! Am I not supposed to be aggravated! Because I am terrified! I don't know what it is but I know it is something so terrible that you all don't tell me what the hell is going on!" Kara's anger and fear built until she was far too loud and nearly snarling with each angry exhale.

"Kara! You need to calm down!" Lena ordered in a hushed tone through gritted teeth as she ushered the alpha away from the children.

"Lena I love you, but how do you expect me to feel, to act! When everyone I love is hiding something that must be so important from me?" Kara puffed and panted frustrated and anxious.

"Fine then. Get Jess." Lena was grasping at straws, anything so that she didn't have to hide this secret anymore. She would have just told Kara there, but after what Gayle had said, after how scared she had been of Kara's potential actions, she just couldn't bring herself to tell her mate there, so close to the children.

"No, Lena, you can't just evade this conversation by just giving me what I wanted a minute ago." Kara interrupted in an exasperated and hurting whine.

"You go get Jess, and go to Emma. When you are there, have them call me and I will tell you what is happening. Or at least what I was told was happening, what I think is happening. Fuck Kara! I don't know anymore, and I am just as scared as you are!" Lena finished.

"You promise? I won't have to just be stuck in the dark anymore? Wondering what the hell it is that everyone else knows and I don't?"

"Yeah, and when all that is done, ask them if they want to tag along and help us out with the kids? They will be a handful, and I'm sure Emma would appreciate something to take her mind off of everything going on with Maxwell." Lena suggested before catching sight of the terror in Kara's eyes once more. "Yes. I promise." She leaned in to bury her forehead in Kara's neck while kissing at her chest. "I love you so damn much. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been hiding it from you for so long."

"I love you too baby girl. But if you know it was a mistake to hide it, then why not just tell me now before sending me all over town?" Kara wrapped her arms over Lena's shoulders, pulling the woman in closer to her for the warmth her mate held, and all the solace that warmth could provide.

"I'll tell you when I tell you everything else." Lena nuzzled into Kara gently.

"Ok. I'll go get them and call you when I have them all together. You go reassure those kids that the alpha is alright, just tired and irritable." Kara nuzzled back, not wanting to let go.

"I love you." Lena repeated herself.

"I love you too. I will call as soon as we are ready."

"Ok love. Talk to you soon."

End of Chapter 27

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