TACFR 2 - Dirty work

"I'm home!" Sasha announced as soon as she got inside an old wrecked school bus by the foot of the forest.

"You're back!" Five pairs of eyes stared back at her with anticipation. A couple of which were forced out of slumber.

"I'm sorry I'm late. My boss required me to do overtime! It was a good thing that I still found an open bakery when I left work," she said, convinced she was a good liar as she put the bag of almost expired bread on the improvised table.

But the kids, ages four to ten, burst her bubbles.

"Where did you steal these from, Sasha?"

"How much did you earn from getting people's wallets?"

"Weren't you caught?"

Three of her five siblings, not her blood siblings, asked one after the other.

"Who told you I stole these?" she denied, of course, she didn't steal the bread but the money she used to buy them.

Sasha recalled what she had to go through to be able to come home with something to feed the five children waiting for her.

She waited the whole day patiently for an unsuspecting victim to steal from. She was unsuccessful until around eleven that evening when she target locked a handsome, rich looking guy.

She couldn't decide if he was a wolf or a human. Sasha still failed miserably to separate one from the other especially when the former was in human form.

Nonetheless, she had to give it a shot with her quick hands and exceptional pickpocketing skills.

For a few minutes, she thought she'd take home a month's worth of goodies. Until the man she thought was harmless, ran after her like a mad person.

If she didn't trip on her own, she was sure she would suffer worse in his hands. She was glad that her acting talent didn't fail her when she needed it the most. Tears quickly filled her eyes and she didn't miss how his anger melted down.

She returned his wallet like a remorseful thief, hoping he wouldn't count his bills to make sure she didn't take some. Because yes, she already did, a couple or more.

Luckily, she escaped him. And that's when she combed the whole city for any open store at that time of night. She found a twenty-four hour bakery with the single crew almost falling asleep every ten seconds as she carefully chose the cheapest bread she could find in the display.

She even haggled hard when she noticed that the bread was going to expire the very next day. Perhaps, the crew just wanted her to leave so she gave the bread at a discounted price.

Happy with her feat, she walked to where she left her siblings.

It was just a week since they first arrived in Magnificent City. She could still remember how she begged her friend to smuggle them inside. They had no business to be there and she wasn't sure how they could enter the heavily secured city without any help.

And her friend was a businessman who regularly brought barrels of oil to the city. The rest was history.

She wasn't really sure how they easily snuck in. Perhaps, her friend, who said he didn't want anything to do with them once they're inside, already earned the trust of the security.

Sasha was very thankful that they're finally safe. Especially the little children she took with her when she escaped the neighboring city's brutal life.

"Sasha, when are you going to teach me your pickpocketing skill?" Von, the eldest among the five siblings, asked her.

"Shut up!" she yelled. She hated it whenever the boy would ask her to teach him how to steal.

"I'm already ten! I can help you—"

"Von," she warned. Another word and she would lose her temper.

No! No way she would let him take the same path she'd taken. It was not the future she dreamed for him and the rest of the kids.

"Let me help, Sasha," Von continued in a low voice. "My siblings are my responsibility. Not yours… You already helped us so much—"

"Didn't we already agree that you are all under my care? Von, don't you trust me? Didn't you promise to obey me as long as I take you all with me?"

"I did. But I am ten and I can already help."

"You are still a child! I cannot let you work because that's the very same reason why we left your parents, remember? Because they wanted you to work! I can be sued for kidnapping, Von. But I took the risk because I don't want you to stay there to do child labor!"

"You began working when you were much younger," Von insisted.

"And that's different! I didn't have a choice!"

Von's parents were Sasha's adoptive parents. They had her when her biological ones were mercilessly killed by werewolves in front of her. She was six that time. The trauma she got was beyond words.

Then a kind couple adopted her. Well, she thought they were. But only a few months later, they began training her to be a thief. She started stealing at age seven. By the time she was about Von's age now, she was already an expert.

Then the couple had Von, and another baby almost year after another. The money she was earning was no longer enough to feed everyone and to maintain the luxury of their parents. So they decided that Von, Vanessa and Vincent would start stealing for them too.

Sasha didn't agree. She couldn't stomach letting the kids follow the same path. They should grow up to be better people, educated and respected. Not like her.

For a while, they didn't force the issue as long as she'd bring home a lot of money everyday. The pressure began to be too much for her. Especially when the city was suddenly chaotic.

Another pack wanted the territory, declaring war. And humans like them became the bloody collateral. They were sold off to slavery. But those who can afford would buy off their freedom.

And their parents planned to sell off each of their children to escape. How was that? But Sasha wouldn't let them. At a single opportunity that she got, she ran off with the five siblings in tow in a dangerous chance to leave their home.

And now, they're seeking a hopefully permanent refuge in Magnificent City. She had heard a lot about the city before. How it was a haven for humans. So she made it a point to go there whatever it takes.

But life was still hard as they had nothing to start off with. They found an old, empty and abandoned school bus close to the border and that's where Sasha decided they would seek temporary shelter. Until she could already provide a decent roof over their heads.

She thought it would be easy. But her conscience wouldn't let her rob to her heart's content. People there were different from where they came from. They seemed to be just and kind people that even her callous heart couldn't take to do them wrong.

But just as much as she wanted to play the game fair, she had no credentials to get herself a decent job. So she conditioned herself not to allow her conscience to dictate her.

Sasha must do everything for her siblings. They're her family. Someday, they would be better people and she would be proud that she saved them when their parents never cared.

"Let me do the dirty work, Von. I want you to stay here and take care of the little ones. That's your only job as their brother," she gently told the boy. "Do you understand?"

The other kids were already sleeping. She and Von got outside the bus and gazed at the vast sky above them.

There was not a single star in sight. Did they also sleep off the night?

"What about you, Sasha?"

"Don't think about me. I've been in this kind of job for more than half of my life. I can take care of myself," she assured him.

"Aren't you scared? What would happen to us if they catch you? What would become of you?"

"I will not," she chuckled. She got caught earlier that evening. But she escaped. Surely, she could do the same in the future.

"Do you think the rumors are true? That Alpha Magnus is really cruel and ruthless? Do you think he would send us away once he finds out about us?" Von's voice was laced with worry.

She must admit that Von's concerns were valid. But Sasha chose that city because despite the rumored character of the reigning Alpha, it didn't change the fact that humans were well treated in that place.

And that's what mattered most for her. To have a safe place to raise the children that were now her responsibility.

So kind or not, she was just hoping he would allow them in his city.

"I am not exactly sure. But in the few days that I've observed this place, it's different from where we came from," she put an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Don't think too much. Come, let's get you to bed."

"We don't have a bed, Sasha…"

"Of course we don't," she laughed. "But it will not hurt to pretend we have one. Let's go. Let's sleep off the ugly things tonight."

One day, she would make them sleep in the most comfortable bed in the world. For now, the bus' seats would do the job.