(Anubis’ PoV)
I find myself in front of a pile of bodies and I feel my stomach drop when Rose tells us just how close they were to us. “Weapons and all, I am assuming if Rose hadn’t made that mess. They would have been ready to move within weeks.” I hear Orchid through the mind link. I feel queasy as the bodies go up in flames, and my heart shatter as they chant about dead mutts. How many times had they heard that? “You really fucked up Bibi. But I’m glad you did or we’d be dead.” James says through the mind link. I knew I fucked up, but I didn’t mean to… I’ve never seen someone be so brutal or deadly.
I turn to try and catch Rose as they walk by, and I watch as Rose quickens her pace. I take off after her as James handles the pack, I lose sight of Rose when she gets past the gates. “We’re in my dungeon.” I hear Poppy, so I immediately head there. When I walk in I am greeted by a shocking sight, Rose is tied to a chair. She has duct tape over her mouth and has smoke billowing from her nose and what I can only describe as chair jousting is going on. I watch as Dahlia being pushed by Orchid, and Anti getting pushed by Poppy meet in the middle of an open area. Dahlia and Anti crash into each other and the others laugh, Rose rolls her eyes and grunts.
I wasn’t sure what to say so I turn my attention to Rose, I walk over and touch her cheek gently ready to gently remove the tape. “I wouldn’t do that. She argues and bites.” My fathers voice comes from behind me. “Yea, I’d have to agree with that one.” Anti says. Rose nods slightly like what they were saying was reasonable, she gives an exasperated huff and then looks up at me “But I can still argue mentally, so did you guys really stop anything? Rose says through the mind link. “Yes, because we can just block you out.” Anti says aloud. He rolls the chair to the starting position and Poppy hops on ready for her turn.
I turn back to Rose and slowly take the tape off her mouth “No, this is something you’d want to do in private.” I say through the mind link. Rose's eyes soften slightly and she doesn’t run when I untie her. I offer her my hand, she hesitates for a moment before taking my hand. I see that her clothes are damp, I nod towards the door keeping her hand in mine. “Come on, you're going to catch a cold staying in wet clothes.” I say gently. She stands and lets go of my hand walking over to Anti before he can push Poppy, she jumps on him and bites his shoulder hard. Then she lets go and comes back over to me, I offer her my hand and she returns her hand to mine.
I lead her back to our room and swing the bookcase for the bathroom, “You go get in a warm shower and I’ll make sure you have dry clothes ready.” I say and kiss her forehead softly. Rose stops for a moment and looks up at me, I can see a swirl of emotions in her eyes. I reach up and cup her cheeks in my hands and look into her eyes “I’m sorry, Rose, I didn’t mean to hurt you. A lot has happened in such a short time, stuff I’m not ready for. I’m not afraid of you and I know you’re scared, I know you want to save as many people as possible. I know you hurt and I promise I will always be here for you. I will be your strength when you don’t have any left, I will do what I can to protect you.” I say as I rub my thumb across her cheek. I give her forehead another soft kiss and give her a nudge towards the bathroom.
Rose hugs me tightly and I hug her back holding her in my arms for a moment, before pulling away slightly and nodding towards the bathroom. “Go on, get warmed up so I can kiss your ass some more.” I say. That earns me a soft chuckle and she nods and heads for the shower, I head to the other hidden entrance that is our closet. I swing the bookcase open and pick out a gray hoodie with blue accents, a red undershirt, a pair of gray sweatpants and undergarments for her. I take the clothes into the bathroom and set them down on the empty countertop, and then leave the bathroom giving her some time to warm up.
She walks out fully clothed a few moments later and stops in front of the reading bench I had sat myself on, I turn the tablet screen off and look up at her. “I’m sorry that I ran away and avoided you.” She says quietly. Then she reaches up and touches a strand of my hair. “Would you like some help with this?” She asks. I smile and nod, she offers me her hand and I take it as I stand up. She grabs one of the desk chairs and brings it into the bathroom, she set’s it down then sits me in the chair. I hear her open a few drawers and then she comes to a stand behind me, she gently combs out my overgrown hair. After she gets it all combed out she starts cutting my hair with a pair of scissors, she cuts silently for a few moments.
“I met my first fated at that facility we attacked. Well, when I met him it wasn’t a facility yet, it was a grizzly den. I had been sent to do some recon on the area and report back when I accidentally found him. After so many failed attempts to get me to conceive before, I didn’t think it was possible. But one night with my fated was all it took, I pleaded with him and his people to run and leave. I tried to protect them.” She pauses and for a few seconds all that I can hear is the scissors.
“When I hadn’t reported back, Gen took that personally and sent another team to come find me. They reported back what they had found and he showed up, that night my fated tried to protect me. He was turned into a rug and the rest of his people were either slaughtered or collared. I had to help with the construction of the facility as further punishment, and then I brought it all down.” She says as she works on my hair. “Do you want it off the ears?” She asks. “Yes please.” I say.
“Anyways, I thought for the longest time that losing him was my punishment for all the bad I had done. When I had given birth, they took the baby from me as another punishment and I haven’t seen him since they took him that day. I had named Ryan after his father, but I’m sure they just gave him another serial number. For a while Gen was able to keep me in line by feeding me pictures of the boy, but that only lasted so long.” She pauses again and I feel her brush hair off of me, before continuing.
“When your father found us we already had a pretty good system of freeing people. Besides Dahlia we didn’t have very many mess ups.” She comes around to the front of me and continues cutting. “He was a breath of fresh air and we remembered what it was like to feel again. That’s one of the reasons I always bicker with the old man, for the first time in a long time I felt weakened. Then, I meet you and I realize I was gifted a second chance, a chance I still don’t think I deserve.” She swallows hard.
“As it stands, I shouldn’t have been affected by you and I should have rejected you immediately, but that stubborn old man had a few years to chip away at me. He made me soft, but you made me weak and that made me feel fear for the first time in a long time. But I couldn’t let my family down because I was scared, so I sucked it up and I did what I had to. When I met Sammi I felt shocked, she looked sorta like me. But it wasn’t until I had met Sevrin that I knew because we look a lot alike. So I had Poppy run the DNA test and it confirmed my suspicion.” She pauses again and grabs my chin softly.
She lifts my chin up and she looks me over, she walks behind me again and I can feel her finishing up my hair. “Would you like me to do your beard?” She asks. “Yes I’d like that very much thank you.” She stays quiet while she looks for the utensils. “Do you trust me with a straight razor? I can use a regular one but I’m better with a blade.” She says, and I just nod leaning my head back. She lathers my face with shaving cream and gets to work. “Through the process of elimination I am sure I know where Anti and I come from. I haven’t told Anti yet, but I believe you guys are cousins, I think Anti’s dad is your Uncle. Your uncle's kid went missing the same year as another shifter child disappeared, I think that’s why your father wants us to go there.” She says.
She styles my beard in a ducktail fashion like my fathers, and steps back to admire her work. “You know I could be a barber if I wasn’t a killer. Go on, take a look.” She encourages me. I get up and look in the mirror, my hair was brought down and I could run a finger through my hair. My head felt lighter and I looked good, Rose did a really good job. “Thank you, I appreciate the help. I was starting to feel scruffy.” I say, causing Rose to laugh.
“So Anti is my cousin huh? Your logic is hard to argue, but I don’t think that’s the only reason he wants us to go.” I say and turn to face her. I reach up and put my hand on her face and feel my heart melt, when she closes her eyes and leans into the touch. I smile softly and kiss her forehead “Tell you what, while I shower, you decide if we find my mother first or if we go talk to my uncle first.” I say. She opens her eyes and looks at me for a moment before nodding, she turns and heads for the door.
“I’ll bring you clothes and clean up this mess while I think.” She says and exits the bathroom. I start the shower and get undressed, while I let the water warm up. I get in and let out a soft groan, the warm water feeling good on my aching muscles. I hear Rose come back in and put my clothes down, then I listen as she sweeps the floor. When I hear her sing softly to herself my heart stops, she had such a beautiful singing voice. I actually debated turning the shower off to hear her better, but decided I didn’t want to embarrass her.
