In Safe Hands

UNKNOWN

Max’s shirt was taken from her the first night she slept there.

They used a fancy word to justify it, but when she asked what it meant, they just handed her a pair of secondhand pajamas that were too big and didn’t explain anything.

If they were going to give her ill-fitting clothes, they might as well have let her sleep in something she was comfortable in.

She didn’t sleep well that first night. In fact, she hadn’t slept well any night she’d been there. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there, but it felt like an eternity.

No one had come to see her, and she started to wonder if it was all in her head. Maybe she’d never met any of them.

Maybe she’d always been an orphan and never had a family. Maybe it was all a dream. But she remembered everyone too clearly for it to be a dream.

Especially Max.

She was mad at him for not being there that last morning. They wouldn’t have dared to take her from a loving home to this terrible place if he’d been there. He would have stopped them.

She wasn’t happy here. She didn’t have friends. She shared her room with seven other kids, but they didn’t talk much.

They were too tired and sad to talk to each other for long—to play with each other.

It was odd that so many kids were together but not playing. They worked all day and had three meals that weren’t good at all.

Nothing tasted like Leslie’s food, so she didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. But she noticed that not many kids were eating much. That meant the food was bad.

She didn’t want to stay in this place any longer. It smelled bad and didn’t feel like her home or Max’s home. No one cared for her here. No one kissed her goodnight.

It was small comfort that it was like that for all the kids who lived with her.

They were all alone, and she knew that even the bigger and meaner kids cried every night before they went to sleep, just like her.

They were all the same here.

MAX

I’ve been trying to get in touch with Estella for the past two weeks. The only response I get from the orphanage’s receptionist is that she’s busy with creative activities and can’t talk to me.

I even had my mom and Eva call, but they didn’t have any better luck, despite being women.

Something didn’t feel right about that. At first, I thought something might have happened to Estella, but my mom said I would have felt something, even if we weren’t mated.

Instead, all I felt was sadness and discomfort. I didn’t know if it was mine or hers, but it was there, and it shouldn’t be.

I decided to call Officer Palmer and the social worker who had visited Estella while she was staying with us.

Patrick was more than happy to give me their contact numbers when I told him the little human was practically unreachable.

I explained the situation to the social worker, and she agreed it seemed suspicious. She also said she was sorry she hadn’t checked up on Estella and promised to do so right away.

After she called and got the same excuse I did, we agreed to go to the orphanage together with Officer Palmer.

The plan was for Mrs. Stone (the social worker’s name) to go to the front desk and demand to see Estella, while I would go to the back, where the supposed playground was, to look around.

Officer Palmer would stay outside with three other cops, waiting for either one of us to call.

When I got to the back, my heart sank.

The playground was nothing more than broken swings and slides missing some of their steps. There was no way a child could play in that grim and unhealthy place.

The ground was littered with trash, and guess who was picking it up?

Twenty kids from five to twelve years old, dressed in rags, were trying to clean up the place under the watch of a fifty-year-old woman.

She didn’t even blink when one of the kids fell forward under the weight of a garbage bag and started crying his heart out over his hurt knee.

She just yelled at the kid to get up and stop slacking off.

I texted Officer Palmer right away while my eyes searched for Estella. I heard my wolf howling inside my head but shut him out.

I was angry enough without his distress, and with this place reeking of foul smells, picking up her scent wasn’t easy.

When I finally spotted her at the far corner of the playground, wearing dirty clothes that were too big for her, I felt both relief and rage.

I should have never let them take her. Mate or not, I should have never allowed a child to be dragged into a place like this.

After a few moments, she saw me too. She squinted her big eyes, trying to see if it was really me.

When she realized it was indeed me, she started running toward me, only to stop dead a few yards before reaching the fence.

She stared at me, and her eyes were full of accusations. I hung my head, ashamed.

“Max,” she said, but she didn’t manage to continue as Mrs. Stone and Officer Palmer, along with his policemen, made their way into the backyard.

The cop went straight for the supervisor while Mrs. Stone came and squatted down in front of Estella.

“Hello, Estella,” she said softly. “Do you remember me?”

The child took a step back.

“You made me come here,” she said, frowning.

“I know, honey. It was a mistake, and I’m very sorry. We’re here to take you back.”

Estella took a few more steps back, shaking her head.

“Don’t be scared, honey. You see, your friend Max is here. You’re going to stay with him again. You won’t have to go to a place like this again. I promise,” Mrs. Stone tried again.

“No. Max is mean. He’s not my friend. He let you take me. He didn’t say goodbye to me. He let you take me.”

I felt my eyes stinging suddenly. I rarely cried, but her angry tone and the pain in her eyes were too much for me to handle. She thought I had betrayed her.

She hated me, and I suddenly found it hard to breathe. My ears started buzzing as I saw Mrs. Stone through blurry vision, trying to approach and calm Estella down.

~“See what you’ve done,”~ my wolf chided. ~“Our mate doesn’t trust us now.”~

~“Enough,”~ I shot back through our link.

I shook my head, trying to clear the foggy edges of my vision, and pulled myself together. I motioned for Mrs. Stone to stop talking to Estella and made my way over to her.

She backed away, but I didn’t let that deter me. In one fluid motion, I scooped her up into my arms. She squirmed, but there was no escaping my hold.

“Don’t be difficult, Estella,” I murmured. “Take me to your room so we can grab your stuff and leave.”

“I don’t have anything. Let’s just go,” she retorted stubbornly.

“My mom packed two bags for you,” I countered.

“They took it all.” She shrugged. “Why, Max?”

I could pretend I didn’t know what she was talking about, but she was already hurting. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Mrs. Stone was busy rounding up the other kids.

She’d told me that if necessary, they’d either evacuate the orphanage or put it under heavy surveillance for a while.

I told her I didn’t care what happened to the place as long as I could take Estella home with me.

She was welcome to visit every day if she wanted, but she wasn’t taking Estella away from me until they found that elusive uncle of hers in Australia.

When I felt her tugging on my shirt, I knew I had to answer her.

“I had to,” I whispered carefully. “Your world is different from mine. We don’t do things the same way. I had no right to keep you. They wouldn’t let me.”

“And now?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Now I’m keeping you until they find someone in your family to take care of you. And if they can’t find anyone, I’ll keep you until you’re old enough to leave.”

“I won’t leave,” she vowed.

“It’s too soon to make that decision, sweetheart.” I smiled.

After a bit more persuasion, she led me to her room.

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her when she said they’d taken her things. I just wanted to see how she’d been living, and I instantly regretted my curiosity when I saw the dismal room.

Damn humans! How hard is it to keep their institutions in order?

After a quick chat with Mrs. Stone, I led Estella to my jeep. She gave me a puzzled look, and I smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“I can’t shift here. But as soon as we get home, we’ll go for a long run, okay?”

She nodded and returned my smile shyly.

She wasn’t mad at me anymore.

EVA

When I saw Max bringing Estella back with him, I couldn’t help but grin. I hadn’t allowed myself to hope when he’d left that morning to visit the orphanage.

“What are you staring at?” Patrick asked.

“He brought her back,” I declared.

“Oh, right.” He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and peering outside over my shoulder. “He mind-linked me when they were on their way here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I chided.

“I thought he would’ve texted you or something.”

“He didn’t,” I said. “He was probably too overjoyed to think of it, I guess.”

“He sounded relieved. He didn’t say why, but I got the impression the place was awful.”

“Places like that usually are.”

“I’m happy for him, you know,” he said sincerely. “At least all this drama will end now that he’s bringing her here.”

As he started kissing my neck, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the drama was far from over. In fact, it was just getting started.

But for now, Estella was safe with us.