Most my siblings were out the house, except a few small ones huddled in the living room staring at the TV, vainly hoping Sesame Street would drown out mom as they ate carrots. I tossed the bag of chocolate at them, and they squeaked in their typical mock-fights over it.

"Share or I kick your asses, aye!" That bellow from me was my announcement to Mom that I was home.

Mom was not happy to sense that I brought a wolf with me. Her sensitive nose could smell him in the middle of a session with the twins that head The Warren's bigger gang.

The way I knew that was because she decided to get loudly into the act, thumping the wall, screaming something like "Big Daddy!" in a cross between a breathy voice and outright rabbit's scream. Those two idiots liked that shit, but it was code for us, not a congrats to boning done right.

That damn thing is something even our males do. Nothing like a dude shrieking in the street like a damn banshee just because his left kidney's been shanked twice. God, what I wouldn't do for a good night's rest, back then.

Anyway, I winced while my mate's nose twitched. "Smells like the pack house close to the full moon."

"Shit man, that's a daily occurrence. Come on into the kiddy room and see how many siblings I've been sharing a space with."

It was a depressing place. There was only two bedrooms in this hellhole, and mom kept the bigger one because she didn't want her lovers putting their feet through the wall in exuberance. That meant all of us slept in 1 room. That consisted of a sister who was going to give birth any day and was waiting on federal aid to move out, the two boys Mom couldn't legally kick out until they were 18 if she wanted their welfare check, the twins that were older than me, and the never-ending chain of babies behind me. It was wall-to-wall mattresses, and a floor-to-ceiling cubbyhole system where each kid had one space for all their possessions.

That is why I spent any money I got my hands on on food and not on expanding my wardrobe to have more than a week's worth of clothes. I willingly shared a lot of that with the younger ones, but the others were my competition and I couldn't find myself liking them much.

I plopped down on one of the beds and looked up at this young giant. "So what do you think? More or less suffocating than your pack?"

"Most the pack at least has their own room or home. Exactly how many of you are living here?"

"I try not to count but I'm sure it's more than a clown car can hold."

Harou sighed. "I need you out of here."

"That claustrophobia is setting in that many of you wolves have, right?" I patted the mattress beside me. If he'd sit down, at least the ceiling would be further away.

His laugh was very strained, but he got on my level. "I never thought I'd be next to my mate on a bed and be worried about touching them."

"I bet you didn't think you'd find me at 12, either."

"Alphas can occasionally be...precocious."

I laughed outright—rumors had it at always precocious. Knowing full well what mom was doing, I'm going to be a burden this boy didn't ask for. "You mean they are just like all the males we passed out there."

The look on his face was comical—horrified at the thought. "I hope we have more self-control."

I shrugged. "Well, you put a bunch of people in a tiny space with no escape and chronically tell them that they can't escape their fate, and they will live down to every low expectation thrown at them. That and the self-destruction is part of the curse."

That was a fair warning to Harou, and it would play out that way over the years. I can acknowledge that self-destruction looking back, but I was blind to how I ran my mouth when younger.

I can't remember all the boring shit we talked about while he was trying to get to know me as we killed time, but I didn't have a lot of life experiences that he was looking for. I mean, no regular internet access because what little we had Mom monopolized, and we only caught PBS out here. Food was mostly rabbit food, not even a proper vegan diet—the woman in control of the funds believed in what we were, not who we should be. Music was what was on the bus—horrible speakers. And school? Who really liked school?

I do remember snapping. "Look, dude, I ain't got shit, ain't going to be shit. There is nothing I like enough to live or die for, not even my Mama, so quit asking me about crap I ain't got!"

"Well, at least we know you like chocolate."

"Man, I don't even know if that's true, or if I'm just starving. Feed me until I pop and see if I'll eat chocolate."

One of the middle-youngest bounded into the room at that point. "Mom said to get in the living room so us kids can hide in here."

And that's crazy. Here I was, 12 years old, and the younger ones didn't treat me as another child. But then, I fed them the most and would be likely to give them change of their own, without making them work for it.

I about bounced off the bed and into Mom's trap, but Harou grabbed my belt loops before I got anywhere. So I stilled until he stood up and muttered in my ear that we would go in together.

Mom tried flirting with the wolf immediately, getting close to him. "So my kid told you about me and you had to come see for yourself, young Alpha?"

I swear, any closer and she'd be sticking her tongue down his ear canal. This was the first time I wanted to punch my mom—wouldn't be the last, but this was instinct that I didn't know I had. I felt something more than meal ticket or embarrassment.

"Now, what kind of dumb bunny would tell their mate about a rival, enh? I thought you said my smart-ass ways was a thorn in your side?"

"I should give you lessons on what you'll not be able to do for another handful of years, right here and now!" Mom had turned on me and was already swinging her hand at my head. True rabbit fights give no warning, and psychologically, this was a fight over a breedable male.

I know, dumb of her. Harou was a child and she'd be in deep shit on more than just a legal level to mess with him.

I plopped on my butt as she started to swing, but Harou caught her hand anyway. "I came to bring my mate home, ma'am."

Alphas aren't known for their patience, and we should have been at the age of all hormones and no brains. I actually was awed that he had that much self-control at that moment. If I had been as big as him, I'd have taken her head off her shoulders and gladly sat in a jail cell until it was proven self-defense. Especially at that age, where I trusted the law more.

Of course, I didn't understand the amount of training it took for Harou to be this polite.

Mom did. "Ah, that one costs me a lot, so I will need compensation."

She didn't look his body over—for once she meant money.

"My father said I'm not to spend a dime on paying you off—just report you if you fight me too hard, so you better think of something fair that I can give, ma'am." He still hadn't let go.

Mom jerked her arm out of his grasp and took a step back. I think she understood how deep in shit she was—well, hope. Can't be too sure because she wasn't a very bright bunny. "Fine, get it the fuck out of here. If anyone comes checking to see if it still lives here, it comes home. I keep benefits until it matures, and for fuck's sake, take the rest of these bastards with you!"

Pretty tall order. Harou kind of just looked like his jaw stopped working, it was flapped open so wide. Several kinds of shock electrocuted his face at the same time kind of thing.

That was too much for me—it wasn't my job to rescue her, and rabbits that want out are rare. "He has no obligations towards your other kids—none! No one gives a shit about the money!"

Lies. I very much gave a shit about money. But I knew how loaded the pack was—in general—and could afford to not be petty to get the hell out of here.

"I think dad might agree to a weekend a month, for the rest." Harou obviously had planned for this level of disinterest from Mom to agreee this quickly, so why was he so shocked to see it up close? "It would be unfair to keep Chris from their family."

"Chris?!" Mom sneered. "That child's legal name is X, just like the rest of them. Chris is the name that idiot picked in kindergarten off a sheet it couldn't even read. Don't give me that dumb name."

Oh hell. This was one of the bigger secrets of The Warren. Parents indicated their love for their children by a real name or an X placeholder. Few rabbits had real names, anymore. We all hated each other, even the ones we fucked. If anything, we hated the ones we bred with the most.

That started a tic in my boy's jaw. He couldn't know everything before coming here, but this was a pretty big shock. Probably been doodling our names together while I was drawing zombies and that wasn't even my name.

Shit, if I had been thinking of him as mine for months, I'd be pissed, too. Harou turned out to be Burple or Punana? Ew. A steamy scene of "badly named male" wouldn't help the libido.

It would have stayed frozen like that if I let it be. "Mom, I'm not taking in any older bastards—I will end them, forget the wolves."

Mom pretended to think about it for a bit, but she won more than a fair deal from this arrangement. "Fine. Leave now, don't come back unless I call you."

"You have anything you need to take?" Harou dismissed Mom as soon as she gave in.

I shook my head. "I'd run out of here stark naked. Other kids need my clothes and I've got nothing worth saving. Just let me have a minute with my mom."

Harou looked back and forth for a moment weighing the chances of a fight breaking out before he stepped out on the steps to the trailer. He didn't get that those risk assessments were useless.

He could probably hear me. I didn't give a shit, but I did wait for the door to close before I got back in her face. Well, boobs. So sue me, I was short. "If any of your lovers come after us and I survive, I will make your life my personal mission to ruin. You already know I'm annoying, but that's just fucking around until you pay me off to leave you alone. Do you get me?"

I think she finally figured out that I was not only smarter than her, but I was probably the most insane one she ever birthed, that day.