Chapter 6 The Morning After #2
“Beautiful,” Doc growled. “Think of this as my knot, holding all my cum inside.”
Ottis came again, helplessly. Doc rubbed his back and nuzzled his hair. Then he left Ottis on the bed and stepped out of the room.
When he could think again, Ottis picked up his phone. A ton of messages were waiting for him.
“Oh, Mother Moon,” he whined.
Gavric
We should send out a search party
Bond
We should split up
Crush
I’ll sniff around in Cartfalls
Titan
It’s been, what, two hours since we found him missing? Give him some time to respond
Vigil
But what if he’s in trouble?
Titan
Was there any sign of a struggle in his cabin?
Crush
No, but we can’t know for sure.
Vigil
I managed to follow his scent. It disappeared in the middle of the highway.
Crush
Yeah, that sounds like a kidnapping
Gavric
Fuck, search party now
Bond
Search party yesterday
Vigil
Let me see if I can track his phone
Titan
Have y’all tried calling him first?
Ottis
IM FINE YALL
Taking a vacation. Please don’t worry about me
And please don’t go looking for me
Gavric
That sounds sus
Is this a kidnapper who has stolen O’s phone?
Vigil
We should demand a video chat just to make sure
Ottis
You’re all freaking out!!! I’m fine
F I N E
Crush
Yeah, but you also said you were fine when you came back limping and bruised
Titan
You have to admit, that does not set a great precedent
Ottis
... Stop it with your lawyer stuff, you’re not a lawyer anymore
Vigil
Maybe give us a video call to prove that you’re safe
Ottis
SIGH. Fine.
He remained lying in bed, thumbing the call button on the pack chat. In moments, his family answered, tiny faces popping up all over his phone screen.
“Wow, that’s a fancy room,” Gavric said, his voice tinny. He had leaned in to scrutinize Ottis’ background; Ottis turned so the fancy guestroom wallpaper and carved headboard were no longer visible behind him.
Crush frowned. “Are you sleeping naked? Is that safe?”
Ottis rolled his eyes. “All you can see are my shoulders.”
“Where are you?” Papa asked with a frown. “You were here just last night.”
“I’m in a safe place,” Ottis said.
“Where?”
Ottis hesitated. “If I tell you, are you all going to check on me?”
“Yes,” his brothers chorused.
“Then I’m not telling you.”
“But how did you get such a fancy room?” Gavric asked. “Everything looks nice in there. Those sheets are a thousand thread count, aren’t they?”
Ottis didn’t know how anyone could tell that through a video chat, but now that he was more awake to notice, the sheets felt amazing. Soft and silky like he was lying on a cloud.
“I’m staying with a friend,” Ottis said, wriggling against the sheets. He tried not to moan.
Everyone looked suspicious immediately.
“You’ve never mentioned any rich friends,” Dad said mildly, eyebrows raised.
“I don’t need to. Crush is the one who knows all the rich people. And the rest of you too.” Ottis tried not to accuse his dad of jumping ship back to his brothers’ side—Dad sometimes sought out harmless excitement since his life was so calm now.
“Wait. I just had a thought,” Crush said. “Are you with a friend, or did someone kidnap you and put you in some fancy hotel?”
Someone coughed downstairs, in the kitchen. Ottis narrowed his eyes. Of course Doc was listening in.
“No one kidnapped me,” Ottis said. They couldn’t hear the skip of his heart over the phone.
“You look shifty,” Vigil said. “Like you’re covering up for someone.”
And now everyone was peering at Ottis, trying to read his secrets from his face.
Ottis scowled. “I promise that I’m safe. You’re all being overprotective. Leave me alone!”
His brothers looked at him. The ones in the same room looked at each other. Then a few disappeared from the chat.
Ottis sighed. “Please tell me you’re not up to something.”
“We’re not,” Gavric said innocently. Then he too signed off. Presumably to plan some kind of intervention.
Ottis sighed, staring at the remaining people on his phone: his dads and Titan.
“You’re safe, though?” Titan asked.
“Yes. I’m staying with someone safe. You trust him.”
Titan’s eyebrows shot up; he was definitely going through his contact list now.
“It’s not a kidnap,” Ottis said, but maybe something gave him away, because his dads frowned. “There’s a Butler Brother here. We’re fine.”
Titan raised his eyebrows even higher; they were going to fall off his face. “Well, keep that information away from the rest. They’re going to hunt you down like sharks. Or wolves.”
“I love and hate you all in equal measure,” Ottis muttered.
“Well, we love you,” Dad said, watching Ottis shrewdly. “Stay safe, and remember to call or text if you need help.”
“I will,” Ottis said, jerking when Doc stepped into the room with a huge tray of food. “Are you trying to seduce me?”
Doc cleared his throat. He took a breath like he was about to speak, then glanced at Ottis’ phone.
Right. Ottis’ family were wolves. Their ears might be sharp enough to recognize Doc’s voice, especially if he was well-connected.
“Is that someone your dad and I know?” Papa asked. He had been quiet through the conversation, but he preferred to listen to everyone’s sides first before making a decision.
“Um,” Ottis said. “He’s bringing me breakfast.”
He waved Doc over and gestured for him to set the tray on the bed.
Then he turned the phone to show his family the indulgent spread: fluffy omelets, thick Belgian waffles, a variety of muffins and pancakes, and bowls of strawberries and blueberries.
There were even little jugs of maple syrup and sweetened condensed milk, and a platter of shaved ham and cheese.
And in the middle of it all, a huge sausage.
“Holy crap,” Ottis said, drooling. “This looks amazing.”
“That looks like a good spread,” Papa said approvingly. “Who made it?”
Doc’s chest puffed out. He left the room, only to return immediately with a tray of drinks; Hijinks must’ve been standing in the hallway with it.
“You’re not getting answers out of me,” Ottis said. “This is enough proof that I’m not dying in a ditch somewhere, so I’m gonna go now. Have a good morning, all of you. Bye!” He ended the call and tossed aside the phone, blowing out a deep breath. “Gods, that was tense.”
Doc nudged the tray closer. “Sometime soon, I’ll cook something for you myself. When you don’t want five different dishes at the same time.”
“I didn’t need all this,” Ottis pointed out.
“That may be so, but I wanted to impress you.” Doc’s eyes crinkled. “I wanted you to know that I’m able to provide.”
That... That was really nice of him.
“Thank you,” Ottis said quietly. He studied the drinks on the second tray—a large mug full of coffee, two smaller mugs of coffee and tea, along with glasses of milk and OJ.
He picked the smaller mug of coffee and dumped a ton of milk and sugar in it.
“Some other day, I’d love to have vanilla ice cream for my coffee. ”
“Of course,” Doc rumbled, taking the large mug of coffee for himself. He added milk and sugar to it, then popped a bendy straw in the mug—so he could drink with his scarf still on. “That sounds delicious.”
He watched eagerly as Ottis sampled the food.
The omelets were perfectly cooked—one contained sliced ham, the other had sautéed mushrooms. The Belgian waffles came with powdered sugar; Ottis added butter to a corner and crammed it into his mouth.
Then he drizzled maple syrup and condensed milk onto a chocolate chip pancake, stuffing that into his mouth too.
“It’s all so good,” he said with his mouth full. He picked up a sugar-crusted blueberry muffin, then accepted a slice of buttered toast with ham on it.
Doc seemed to grow happier with each bite Ottis took.
“I’m stuffed,” Ottis said at the end, rubbing his stomach. “There isn’t space inside me for anything else.”
“Not even from the other end? I noticed you haven’t touched the sausage.”
Ottis snorted coffee out of his nose. Doc looked horrified, scrambling to hand him a bunch of napkins.
“I’m sorry.” Doc rubbed Ottis’ back and watched anxiously while Ottis dried the inside of his nostrils, trying to blow out the rest of the coffee. “Your lungs sound unharmed. Is there anything I can help with?”
Ottis shook his head and dropped his crumpled napkin. “It’s fine. This is nothing.”
Doc frowned, though. “I’m sorry. I should’ve waited for you to be in a better position before I made the joke.”
Ottis groaned. “In a better position, really?”
Doc paused. Then he laughed quietly. “You thrust my thoughts in a certain direction, sweetheart.”
Ottis froze. “I’m so glad I wasn’t drinking coffee again,” he said, and burst out laughing. Doc’s eyes crinkled. “Anyway, having coffee up my nose isn’t all that bad. I’ve been through worse.”
Doc frowned, his gaze dropping to Ottis’ leg. “I’d like to make it up to you. Since you’re hiding from your pack, and since you came here without much, will you let me buy you some clothes? Marcie too.”
Ottis perked up. “Yeah, of course. I love clothes. And Marcie needs some new things, anyway.”
Doc smiled with his eyes. “Good. Then we’ll get ready to leave in—”
Ottis’ phone buzzed. He picked it up in case there was an emergency.
Titan
There’s a battle plan in place to track you down. Just FYI.