Page 11 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Vaughn

From the moment he was born, Vaughn had been destined to be the alpha of his pack. He’d been groomed for it from his first day on earth, but nothing could have prepared him for this moment. His instincts were running wild, both from the abuse he could see of the cubs huddled against him and from the magic still fluctuating wildly in the air.

Then there was Sam. His feelings for Sam were… Vaughn remembered him, vaguely, from his high school days but they’d been several years apart in age. But when he’d seen Sam again a couple years ago, something inside him clicked. He’d never been so foolish in his life, so out of control. He’d not thought with his mind at all.

No, the surge of lust he’d felt when he realized Sam had walked outside because Vaughn had turned him on hadn’t left much room for logic and reason. He’d given in and done what felt right. And Goddess had it felt right.

Reality had sunk in quickly, though, especially when he’d heard his pack members calling for him from the front of the bar. He couldn’t get mixed up with a human. His responsibility was to find a shifter mate, as rare as that was becoming in their world these days. It wasn’t to fuck a hot guy in the back of his truck like he was still a horny teenager.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, but he’d walked away from Sam that night and not looked back. He wouldn’t be able to bring Sam into their world, not without jumping through a lot of hoops that might not even work anyway.

What he hadn’t expected was the surge of… rightness… he felt the moment he had seen Sam holding Ollie in his arms. In order to become pack, whether human or shifter, there was a process. An alpha had to completely accept the petitioner and hold them in his highest trust to allow them into their pack.

But with Sam, Vaughn didn’t need to wait.

He knew.

Sam was supposed to be part of his pack. Sam was supposed to be his. It made no sense, but Vaughn knew it to the very core of his being. He may not have realized the last time they were together, may not have understood then what his loss of control truly signaled, but he knew now.

He glanced up, sending a quick blessing to the goddess for her assistance. Someone’s hand had to have helped Ollie find a safe place, and Vaughn would forever be grateful for her guidance. She’d obviously led Ollie to the safest place, to a place where Vaughn also needed to go. She wanted him to make things right, for both Sam, Ollie, and the other cubs. He turned his attention to Sam, who was pacing around the room, scowling and mumbling at the shabbiness and lack of anything that denoted children actually existed here.

If Sam had claws and fangs, they’d be out right now. The thought comforted Vaughn in a way he didn’t quite understand. An alpha’s mate, Vaughn’s mate, would be just that fierce and strong. Sam was everything he’d ever dreamed of.

“We need to get out of here,” Vaughn said.

His pack members grumbled their agreement.

Sam glanced at him quickly and nodded. Then he walked over to the huddled mass of children surrounding Vaughn and wrapped a comforting arm around Ben. The angry scowl faded from his face as he looked down at them. He smiled confidently to the children, letting them know without words that everything was going to be just fine.

“Okay, munchkins, we have a bit of work to do. I know you’re all tired, but real quick, why don’t we all go get anything that belongs to us that we really, really want to keep and bring it down here. No one will be by themselves, so don’t worry, okay? Your alpha and his pack aren’t going anywhere without you.”

Ben nodded and leaned his head down onto the top of Sam’s head. It was the sweetest gesture of trust Vaughn had ever seen a shifter cub give a non-pack member and it reinforced his notion of belonging with Sam.

“No, we won’t,” Vaughn promised.

Sam then turned his attention to Vaughn. “We’re going to need a place to take them. This house is giving me the creeps, and I really want them out of here. We need vehicles because they shouldn’t have to walk back to my place in this weather, and they clearly need to eat. Do you have—”

“Travis,” Vaughn interrupted, “divide everyone up. We need to get the vehicles from Sam’s and get them here. We’ll take the kids to my place. I’m calling my dad so he can meet us there and help me look them over. Will you call Rachel and see if she can get some food to the house? Sandwich stuff is fine, but lots of meat and fruit. Especially fruit.” Vaughn glanced at Ben, realizing that for a bear, the kid was seriously underweight for his height. It made him fight back yet another growl. “Ben, can you help us? Make sure everyone has everything? We don’t know what to look for, and if we can never come back here that’d be great, right?”

Ben nodded his agreement. “There isn’t much,” he whispered.

“That’s okay. You have a pack now. We’ll get you anything you need.”

Ben sniffed, and his eyes turned glassy with tears before he turned and walked back up the stairs. The younger kids followed and several of his pack members trailed behind to help. None of them wanted to be in this house a second longer than necessary.

Once the kids were upstairs, Sam turned to him with haunted eyes. “I’m sorry I… I just need them out of here. I don’t mean to overstep or… We’ve got to get them out of here, Vaughn.”

“We will. It’s okay, Sam. They’re going to be okay.”

“We need to see if there’s any paperwork or anything,” Sam said. “Will they even have birth certificates? What if they were taken?”

Sam looked horrified at the thought but it was one Vaughn had already had. Shifters were very careful of their young, especially since there were so few of them. For this many cubs to be without a pack, Vaughn had serious concerns about how it had happened.

“Search the woman’s room and see if you can find anything. Brooks will go with you.”

Sam nodded and hurried from the room, with Brooks right behind him. Alone in the room for a moment, Vaughn rolled his shoulders to release some of his pent-up tension and picked up his phone to call his dad. He answered on the first ring.

“What’s wrong?” Stuart asked.