Chapter 2
HANDPLANT ON A PEEN
PRESENT DAY
“I want ice cream,” Mathlin said, sticking his head in the freezer. “There’s no more ice cream.”
Killian snorted. “Two weeks at the safe house, and you have become so spoiled.”
“Can you blame me?” the other omega whined. “This place is amazing! All I have to do is ask for food, and it shows up on our doorstep.”
Killian knew the feeling. Before the safe house, before he and his friends had been kidnapped for their babies, luxury items like ice cream had been extremely hard to come by.
He, Walren, and the others had worked their tails off just so they could afford rent, food, and baby supplies back at their cramped apartment in Colorado.
That was expired food, too, priced to clear at the expiring food store.
But that was back then, and this was now.
“We just received the latest delivery two days ago,” Killian said dryly. “We won’t get another for five days. You knew that. And yet you ate all the ice cream anyway.”
Mathlin gave him the most pathetic puppy eyes.
“You and Walren, I swear,” Killian muttered. “You see your favorite food and suddenly it’s disappearing into your stomach like Cthulhu has sucked it into the abyss.”
“How do I get more ice cream?” Mathlin whimpered. “It’s so warm in here.”
“Lower the A/C. At least neither of us is in heat. Especially not the rabbits’ mythical heat. That would just suck big time.”
Mathlin shook his head. “Ice cream. Sweet and creamy on my tongue. Look, Naddie wants it too.”
Killian looked down at his eleven-month-old daughter, who was crawling on the kitchen floor and stuffing a forgotten pea into her mouth. Killian yelped and plucked it out of her mouth. She scrunched her face unhappily.
“We don’t eat peas that have been sitting around on the floor, hon,” Killian said gently. “That will probably make you sick.”
She whimpered and tried to grab the pea; Killian held her face to his chest instead, to distract her with his milk.
Mathlin gave him another pathetic look.
Killian sighed. “You could buy some ice cream. You have an allowance now. But I would have to come with you; we can’t go out alone.”
Neither of them had to be reminded of the kidnapping threat—human traffickers were on the lookout for dual-species babies. That meant both their children.
“Thank you, thank you!” Mathlin perked up, already grabbing his bundle of money and strapping his baby to his chest.
“The things we do for food,” Killian said dryly.
“Food is love. I would marry a tub of ice cream if I could.”
“You would be jailed for neglect when your ice cream melts.”
“Good thing I can eat up all the evidence.”
“Then you would be jailed for murder.” Killian snorted, but he was smiling.
They left the apartment together, Killian with Naddie in her chest carrier, both of them tucked into an oversized hoodie to hide her from view.
On their way to the nearest convenience store, Killian reached out with his hearing, his grip tight on his phone. No one showed any interest in them.
Not that it helped; he would only relax once they were back at the safe house in one piece.
Mathlin took way too long to choose his ice cream. Killian stood with him anxiously, his back to the coolers so he could keep an eye on the store entrances.
Then Mathlin finally paid, and they stepped out.
Something pricked at the edge of Killian’s senses. He gripped Mathlin’s arm in warning. “Math.”
Mathlin froze at the sudden chill in his tone.
“Keep walking. Don’t show any sign that you’ve noticed something wrong,” Killian said under his breath.
His mind raced. This bad feeling... It was familiar.
It wasn’t like the times he’d gotten kidnapped. Those had been a low warning buzz, a mild foreboding that grew in intensity until he had been taken by surprise.
This prickle was high and sharp right away, as though the danger was just as potent from a distance.
Like when someone had a gun trained on him.
Fuck fuck fuck!
The warning exploded into several screeching alarms.
Killian grabbed Mathlin and yanked him down a side alley, a second before a gunshot rang out. A bullet lodged into the wall where they’d been standing a second ago.
“Why’s someone shooting at us?!” Mathlin yelped, holding his ice cream protectively around his baby.
Kidnappers didn’t shoot at babies. They wanted the babies alive.
But some people had shot at Killian for fun, a long time ago. A sick feeling rooted in his gut.
I’m not thinking about that right now.
Straining his ears for danger, Killian dragged Mathlin through the alley. He cupped Naddie’s head protectively with his other hand, hoping like hell that nothing bad would happen to her.
A part of him, long buried, rose to the surface. This was the part that took charge.
“Ditch the ice cream,” Killian said. “I need you to call for help.”
“But my ice cream!”
“I’ll pay you back! We need help!”
The danger was growing closer. The alarm bells in Killian’s head were starting to screech again.
I need a gun, his other instincts said.
Not that he could aim a gun; they were sitting ducks right now, with two babies too many.
Mathlin fumbled with his ice cream. There was no fucking time. Killian would’ve made the call himself if he wasn’t searching for somewhere to hide.
The thing was, there was no shelter. The alley opened into a large parking lot behind the convenience store. Depending on what powers their assailants had, this detour might not even buy them time.
Think think think!
Killian raised his nose, sniffing. He didn’t have the sharp nose of a wolf, but when it came to danger, it still worked better than his hearing. Quiet places weren’t necessarily safe places.
He thought he caught a whiff of forest and wild animal—
His senses screamed. He yanked Mathlin to the side, and Mathlin dropped his ice cream.
“Call someone!” Killian snapped.
Another gunshot rang out. A flash of fire skimmed his arm, too close to Naddie’s head.
He dragged Mathlin to the largest car. They weren’t too far from the safe house. If they managed to get out of here, if they could run all the way home...
Someone stepped in front of them, tall and broad. An alpha.
Fucking hell crap shit, Killian thought, before glancing up.
Green eyes. Chestnut hair. An expanse of scars down half his face.
Crush.
The alpha wolf who had rescued him from the kidnappers.
“Help,” Killian cried.
Crush glanced past Killian’s shoulder. In the same breath, he sized up Killian and Mathlin, and swept Mathlin off his feet.
Killian ignored the growl of... something in his chest. Crush was right. Mathlin was the slowest, and they needed to get out of here.
Mathlin screeched and kicked. “Let me go! Help! He’s kidnapping me!”
“He’s—” Killian didn’t have time to explain. Crush yanked open a car’s back door and threw Mathlin into the back seat.
“Get in,” Crush barked at Killian, his eyes flashing gold.
He didn’t wait for Killian to obey. Crush was already leaping over the car hood, reaching for the driver’s side door.
Killian made a split-second decision. He shut the back door on Mathlin, and threw himself into the front passenger seat.
Crush spared him a glance and floored the gas.
“We’re being kidnapped,” Mathlin wailed in the back seat.
“We’re not,” Killian tried to tell him.
Mathlin wasn’t listening.
Gunshots rang out. The car jerked forward, tires squealing. Killian could only clutch at the door handle as Crush drove them out of the parking lot, merging into traffic in front of a wave of honking cars.
“Damn,” Crush rumbled. “What’s going on?”
Killian shook his head. He didn’t want to jinx himself.
“Do you have a gun?” he blurted instead.
Maybe it was the way he said it. Crush shot him a sharp look.
Before Killian could explain himself, Mathlin announced, “I’m gonna text for help! We’re being kidnapped and I want a lawyer!”
Killian groaned. “Math—”
Mathlin was already typing furiously into his phone.
Then the car swerved, narrowly avoiding another bullet. Killian hurriedly put on his seat belt.
“I’ve got this,” Crush said, shifting gears with his large, paw-like hand on the gear stick. He slid his car between two other cars, so smoothly that Killian gulped. “I’ll get you both somewhere safe.”
Crush sounded calm and confident. Like he had the situation under control.
The last thing Killian wanted was for Mathlin to call over all of Crush’s friends, when this seemed to be a problem on a smaller scale.
He pulled out his phone, scrolling to the latest messages.
MathlinHatesMath
Umm. I don’t want to say we got kidnapped, but I think we just got kidnapped?
NotAWalrus
?? What?? How???
Aren’t you at the safe house with Killian?
KillianKillsDreams
... No, we have not been kidnapped.
MathlinHatesMath
But this guy just grabbed us and threw us into his car!
KillianKillsDreams
His name is Crush
MathlinHatesMath
So?? Are you all over him just because he has a big bulge and a cool name?
Killian froze. He hadn’t gotten a good look at Crush’s human shape. But now that he was stuck in a car with the alpha...
How big was Crush’s bulge?
Killian made himself stare at the traffic lights zooming past. They probably shouldn’t be driving this fast. I shouldn’t look at his bulge first. I like him as a person! He deserves more respect. More... something. Just more.
His eyes went straight to the bulge between Crush’s thick thighs.
Crush was wearing gray sweatpants. With no underwear. And like all the internet memes promised, Killian could see the edge of his tip pressing against the gray fabric.
The sweatpants left nothing to the imagination.
Crush’s bulge was big.
Killian swallowed dryly, yanking his gaze back up. Only to see Crush’s large hands gripping the steering wheel, his thick fingers curled around the luxurious leather.
Do his hands look like that when he touches himself?
Why am I thinking about this right now? People are shooting at us!
He smacked his cheeks with both hands, only for Crush to glance at him.
“You alright?” Crush murmured.
“I, uh,” Killian squeaked. “I wasn’t looking at your bulge or anything!”
Immediately after, he shoved his hands over his mouth, wishing he could shift into a rabbit and hide under his seat.
“Fuck me,” Killian whispered.
Crush cleared his throat. “I’m sure you don’t mean that literally, right now.”
Killian moaned in abject horror. Of course Crush had heard. He was a wolf. “Oh gods, shut me up. Just stuff something in my mouth. All the way to the back of my throat so I choke on it.”
Mathlin made a strangled sound behind them.
Crush coughed, his hands squeezing around the steering wheel.
This, this was why his captors had hated him so much. Because you could train a person to shoot a gun, but you couldn’t train his mouth to suddenly grow a filter.
To escape the sheer awkwardness he had caused, Killian looked back at his phone, to see what else Mathlin had said about this.
MathlinHatesMath
Meanwhile Killian is just drooling at his big hands. Or his pecs, IDK. His bulge
Kills isn’t even looking at the chat anymore, I think he wants to have this alpha’s babies
KillianKillsDreams
I do not!!!
Killian gaped at the chat in horror. “I do not want his babies!”
Had he... just said that aloud?
He smacked his face against the phone, only for Naddie to giggle.
“Don’t want whose babies?” Crush asked dryly.
“No one,” Killian squeaked. “This chat never happened and you will never see it!”
Crush coughed lightly. “You have to admit, that sounds pretty suspect.”
“I’m pure and innocent and I don’t squint at people’s dicks!” Killian groaned. “Someone please bury me.”
Mathlin shook his head. “You just keep digging your grave deeper and deeper.”
At least he had calmed down about their ‘kidnapping’.
Killian inhaled when the apartment safe house came into view. All they had to do was park and get inside the building...
His danger sense spiked. “Cru—”
A barrage of bullets rained down on them. Crush swore colorfully and jerked the wheel, slamming his foot on the gas. The car leaped forward.
Killian was thrown back into his seat. Then Crush spun the wheel, and the car took a hard turn around a corner.
“Are we doing 80 in a 25mph zone?!” Mathlin cried.
“I could do 100,” Crush replied.
When Killian peeked out the back window, he found two cars gaining on them, both black with tinted windows. “Crush!”
“Yeah. On it,” Crush said, his hand sure and steady on the gearshift.
They were approaching a busy intersection, cross traffic blocking their way through.
“We’re going too fast,” Killian yelped. They were going to crash.
The black cars were not slowing down. In fact, they were still firing. Killian gripped his seat, afraid to watch as they approached an unavoidable collision.
Crush changed gears. Then he yanked the handbrake and cranked the wheel hard.
They spun into the intersection, slotting neatly between two other cars. Without missing a beat, Crush released the brake and sped up to blend their car into the crossway traffic.
Cars honked. Something crashed. When Killian peeked, he found two wrecked black cars in the intersection, and white smoke drifting from Crush’s tires.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed. “I think I just aged ten years.”
Crush smiled a little. “Never been in a car chase?”
“Oh gods, we’re in a car chase,” Mathlin whispered, white as a sheet.
“How did you do... that?” Killian waved vaguely at the intersection, now a speck in the rearview mirror.
Crush opened his mouth. Then he looked sharply to the side, at the same time Killian’s senses screamed again.
“Fuck,” Crush hissed, flooring the gas just in time to avoid more gunshots. “What is with these guys?”
Two new cars slid into the traffic behind them.
“They’re after me,” Killian mumbled, his heart sinking. “We should drop Mathlin off somewhere safe. When we can.”
Mathlin had curled up in the back seat with his baby, whimpering quietly. Killian turned to check on their pursuers again, holding onto the dashboard with one hand.
Just as he was turning back to face the road, Crush made another sharp turn.
Killian flailed, thrown off balance. He shoved his hand down to stop himself from falling onto Crush, except his palm landed on something warm.
Something warm, solid, and shaped like a valley.
There was only one way his hand could go—further down.
His palm slid over fabric, pressing roughly against something soft. Crush yelped loudly inches from Killian’s ear.
What the hell did I just touch? Killian squeezed on instinct, his fingers curling around something squishy and thick.
He looked down. And realized that his hand had gone between Crush’s legs. He was squeezing Crush’s bulge.
Crush looked like he was in pain.
“Did I just squish your balls?” Killian squeaked.