Chapter 19
KILLIAN MEETS THE WOLF PACK
Crush reached over, squeezing his hand. “They’ll welcome you, sweetheart. Isn’t that right, Dad, Papa?”
“Yes,” two of the older men said.
They were standing right in front of the car, closer to neither Crush nor Killian, as though... they wanted to treat both Crush and Killian equally? At least, that was how Killian chose to interpret their distance.
The larger of Crush’s parents was broad-shouldered and muscular, looking so much like Crush with his chestnut hair and green eyes. Was this how Crush would age, with gray hairs and smile lines on his face? Crush’s omega dad was small and slender, with gray hair and brown eyes; he was also smiling.
They both looked so friendly.
And they were both watching Killian, even though he was cloaked in the car’s shadows.
“Welcome, Killian and Naddie,” Crush’s alpha dad said.
Killian squinted at them. “You won’t steal my baby?”
Crush’s omega dad laughed and spread his arms. “We have plenty of pups here. Why would we steal yours?”
Because Naddie is a mixed breed, Killian didn’t say. They had been kidnapped earlier this year precisely because of her dual species; Killian wasn’t keen on telling anyone who didn’t need to know.
“Kil has been traumatized,” Crush said firmly. “No one is going to steal anyone’s baby. Or I will bite them.”
He stepped out of the car then, walking around to Killian’s door. Killian saw several of the adults flaring their nostrils and smirking.
“Oh gods,” Killian breathed. “They can smell the fuck juices.”
Crush paused for half a second, his face twitching. Then he covered his mouth, but not before Killian saw him grin.
“You’re not supposed to laugh at that,” Killian wailed.
“Bunny, I’ve never smiled so much in one day. This is all because of you.” Crush stopped by Killian’s door, bending to peer through the window. “Ready?”
“No,” Killian mumbled. But he made himself weigh his options, because he owed Crush that much. All things considered, this wasn’t as scary as the crap situations he had been in. “I can do this,” he whispered to himself. “If the pack likes me, then I can grow carrots in Crush’s garden.”
Crush’s shoulders were shaking when he opened the passenger door. “I would tell you not to announce your nefarious intentions, but in the grand scheme of things, using me for your personal carrot gains isn’t a big deal.”
Killian buried his face in his hands, and groaned. “I hate my mouth. Everything just falls out of it. Except for feet. You would think there’s no space left for words to escape, since my feet are permanently stuck in my mouth, but nooooo. I think my pornstar name would be Foot Deepthroater.”
There was a long, pregnant silence.
Killian looked around and realized that all of Crush’s family was staring at him.
“Oh gods,” he whispered, his horror growing. “Crush, I think you need to take me away.”
“You have an incredible talent with words,” Crush said solemnly. “C’mon. No one thinks you should leave. Come on out and meet my pack. Everyone likes you already.”
Killian pouted. “How can you tell?”
Crush swept his arm to the side, gesturing at the shifters around the car. To Killian’s surprise, they were all smiling.
“Like Crush, we think you’re highly amusing,” Crush’s alpha dad said. “Welcome, Killian. My name is Ashton.”
“And I am Joe,” Crush’s omega dad said.
Well, now it would be plain rude if Killian continued to hide. With a wince, he cracked open the door and eased himself out of the car.
Ashton and Joe came up to pull Crush into a hug. Ashton thumped Crush on the back. “Been a while since you came home, pup. We’ve missed you.”
“I’m not a pup anymore,” Crush grumbled. But he hugged his dads tightly, burying his face in their necks.
Over Crush’s shoulder, Ashton met Killian’s eyes. “Has Crush told you about the time he tried to make himself a birthday cake?”
“Papa!” Crush yelped, jerking away and shoving his hand over his father’s mouth. “Not that story! It’s fucking embarrassing!”
Ashton lifted Crush’s hand easily, his eyes sparkling. “Really? You don’t want Killian to know how you poured the entire bottle of red food coloring into the cake batter to make it look like meat, except it got onto you and stained so much of your skin, you looked bloody in the birthday photos?”
Crush buried his face in his hands and groaned, just like Killian had.
Joe grinned. “He was so adorable. He was our little red pup. We asked if he wanted to be red again for Yuletide and he said no, he wanted to be green like Santa’s elves!
Except he didn’t want to wear elf clothes; he wanted to be green.
We managed to help him with some green body paint. There are pictures if you want to see.”
Killian almost bounced on his feet. “I wanna see!”
“Fine,” Crush grumbled, looking so disgruntled that Killian’s heart skipped. He hadn’t known that Crush could look so harmlessly grumpy. “You and Hansel. Hansel tried to give Killian another embarrassing story.”
“I haven’t forgotten that,” Hansel sang, circling above them as a falcon.
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing. I think it’s adorable,” Killian said, reaching out to hold Crush’s hand.
Crush turned, giving Killian a shy smile.
“Awww,” everyone said.
Killian twitched. He had been so distracted by the story that he’d forgotten the many wolves around him.
“Killian,” Joe said before the rest of the pack could step in. “Would you like a hug from us?”
He gestured between himself and Ashton. Killian’s eyes grew wide.
“Y-you want to hug me?”
Crush’s parents nodded. A lump formed in Killian’s throat; he nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
Joe stepped closer first, smelling like wolf and predator. But his scent was similar to Crush’s, more so than other wolves Killian had smelled over the years. So when Joe put his arms around Killian, Killian held still instead of ducking away.
Joe hugged him loosely. When Killian didn’t flinch or tense, Joe pulled him closer. His hug felt warm and kind, and...
“Is this what a dad’s hug feels like?” Killian blurted.
Joe rubbed his back. “Do you have moms instead?”
Killian shook his head. “I have a mom and a dad. But they just... never hugged me. Not that I remember.”
Joe stiffened. Then he hugged Killian a lot more tightly. Ashton came up behind Killian, slowly pulling him and Joe into his embrace.
Killian hugged Joe back. Maybe he cried a little.
For the first time, he felt as though he could have this.
A family.
Someone touched his hand. When Killian cracked his eyes open, he found Crush smiling at him over Joe’s shoulder. “I told you they would want to be your dads,” Crush whispered.
Killian’s eyes watered. He hid his face in Joe’s shoulder; Crush brushed his fingers through Killian’s hair.
“Hey, do we get a turn?” a familiar voice said.
When Killian looked up again, he found Titan grinning at them—Crush’s older brother from the bakery.
“Wait your turn,” Joe said dryly. He rubbed Killian’s back, leaving more of his scent on Killian’s hoodie. Ashton rubbed Killian’s arms, leaving his scent there.
When Crush’s dads pulled away, the rest of his family came closer.
“Hey,” Titan waved, reaching over to ruffle Killian’s hair. “Baby bro’s beau.”
“I’m not the baby,” Crush said dryly. “That’s Gavric.” To Killian, Crush added, “Gav’s from the litter after ours.”
“Everyone’s a baby to me,” Titan said dismissively. “That happens when you’re older than most.”
Another alpha scowled, just as large and broad-shouldered as the rest of his family. “Do I look like a baby to you?”
“It doesn’t matter what you look like, Gav,” Crush said, clutching his chest. “In our hearts, you’ll always be the baby.”
Gavric flipped him off. Then he lifted his chin at Killian in a greeting, as though he was trying to look cool after all his brothers’ teasing.
Killian felt a little sorry for him; in a family that enjoyed teasing each other, it couldn’t possibly be easy to make a good impression.
He smiled and waved at Gavric, who seemed to be appeased.
One by one, Crush’s other siblings came up. There were so many alphas, each of them either shaking Killian’s hand, or touching his arm to leave bits of their scent on him.
“They’re scenting you so everyone knows you’re part of the pack,” Crush explained. “And if you’re comfortable with it, they’ll scent Naddie too.”
Killian’s throat tightened again.
“Hey, hey! Why did no one wake me up?!” A small omega elbowed his way through the crowd, hobbling until he was right in front of Killian.
Killian was surprised by how exhausted the omega looked, all pale with shadows under his eyes.
But the thing that stood out most was the huge jagged scar across his face.
Even then, the omega wore a bright smile.
“Hi, I’m Ottis! It’s so nice to have another omega in the pack! ”
Killian blushed. “Um, I’m just... This is kind of... very new. Crush and I just met today.”
Ottis’ eyebrows shot up. Then he sniffed at Killian, and said knowingly, “But you know you’re right for each other.”
Killian’s blush deepened. He dropped his gaze, only to see wet spots on Ottis’s shirt, in front of his nipples. Killian blinked. When he looked over Ottis’ shoulder, there was no one behind him. “Where’s your alpha?”
Ottis and his brothers stiffened.
“I don’t have an alpha,” Ottis said shortly, eyes narrowed. His teeth looked sharper than they had been seconds ago.
Killian winced. “Crap! I didn’t mean to do that! I stick my foot in my mouth a lot. Like, I have feet breath. You can ask Crush.”
Crush coughed and squeezed Killian’s nape. “You don’t.” To Ottis, he said, “Kils doesn’t have a filter. Most of the time, it’s hilarious.”
“The rest of the time, it gets me into trouble,” Killian said miserably.
“It’s okay.” Ottis shook his head and smiled. “You didn’t know about me. It’s a long story, anyway.”