Chapter 19 #2
This time, Killian managed to keep his mouth shut. Maybe he could ask Crush later? Or maybe he could become friends with Ottis, and Ottis might tell him.
“May I hug you?” Ottis said suddenly. When Killian nodded, Ottis threw his arms around him, rubbing their faces together. “I’m so glad you’re here. These animals stink up the place with their alpha pheromones.”
“Hey!” Crush and his other brothers said.
The hug felt good, though. Just like the one Crush’s parents had given him.
“You could leave,” Killian said quietly. “If it’s too much for you.”
Ottis glared at everyone else. “I would if they let me.”
Titan growled. “The last time you left...”
The other alpha brothers growled, too.
What was it like, having so many people protective over you?
Ottis narrowed his eyes. “I know it’s dangerous out there, okay? I’ll be careful!”
“I’ve been kidnapped twice,” Killian said quietly.
Ottis froze. “Twice? But you’re a rabbit. Didn’t you hear them coming?”
“The first time, I was too young to know better. The second time, we were overpowered.”
Crush turned to Killian, his forehead crinkled. “That’s something I don’t understand. You could’ve gotten out of there, the second time. You didn’t need us to save you.”
“There were too many babies on the line,” Killian admitted.
“Too many unknowns. I managed to set off the explosion that allowed Pinks to escape, and he convinced you guys to help. It was better for him to be the one running; I stayed behind to make sure everyone else was safe. But I thought about escaping, every day after that. I was biding my time just in case.”
Crush smiled, slow and appreciative. Killian’s face grew hot.
“That sounds scary,” Ottis said slowly, but he didn’t look afraid. He turned to Crush. “Why are you here, anyway? You just got together with Killian. You should be boning the hell out of each other.”
Killian flushed and cringed. “It’s my fault. There are people coming after me, dangerous people. I can leave if it’s too much—”
“No,” Crush growled, along with the rest of the pack.
“But they’re dangerous,” Killian cried. “I don’t want them to hurt you!”
Why didn’t Crush’s family understand the risk? There were homes and children here, people who could get caught in the crossfire. Killian should elaborate on the ways things could go wrong, but it would send him into a panic attack.
“That’s why I’m here,” Uriel said, stepping up to them. He slipped a small envelope into Killian’s hand. “Spells and tracker in there. I’ve deactivated the tracker temporarily. I was here earlier to strengthen the territory wards.”
The other wards failed earlier, Killian thought but kept his mouth shut.
Uriel must’ve seen through him; he set his hand on Killian’s shoulder. “These are stronger, more elaborate wards, with a lot more blood magic and my own. The pack will be safe.”
Killian wanted to believe him, but too many things had gone wrong today for him to.
Crush wrapped his arm around Killian’s shoulders. “It’s going to be fine.”
“I’ll believe you when it’s over,” Killian muttered.
“I like him,” Ottis said to Crush. “You better keep him, or else.”
Crush huffed. “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
“Seducing me with carrots,” Killian began to say, except a yawn interrupted him.
“Crap, it’s late.” Crush turned Killian to face his family. “Thanks for the welcome, all of you. It’s been the longest fucking day. I need to get Kil and Naddie to bed.”
“Me, me! Tuck me into bed too!” Hansel crowed.
Several wolf whistles rang out.
Crush flipped them off. “Shut up.”
He was opening the car’s back door to retrieve Naddie when Uriel said, “Bruiser and a few others are patrolling the area right now.”
Killian and Crush exchanged a look. Killian was willing to bet they were thinking the same thing—Uriel was actually saying Bruiser’s name?
Out loud, Killian blurted, “Bruiser is here?”
Uriel rolled his eyes. “Self-righteous prick wanted to get in on the action. Doc says he’ll come by in the morning to check things out.”
Hansel swooped down to land next to the car, shifting from his falcon shape into a human. From the trunk, he retrieved a silky black robe—with a white shirt and blue tie printed on it to resemble a suit—and dressed himself. “I’ll get the bags.”
Scarcely had he taken two steps with the bulky bags, when a seam ripped loudly.
Instead of clothes or baby toys, what spilled out was a lot more embarrassing: flesh-colored dildos, neon pink plugs, vibrators of all shapes and sizes.
The largest of them—a bright purple dildo with realistic veins—bounced and rolled across the ground to land at Joe’s feet.
These were toys that Killian had bought with his allowance post-kidnapping, after he had moved into the Cartfalls safe house with his friends. Up until this morning, these had all been safely tucked into his bedside drawer.
“H-how did that get here?!” he squeaked.
Because it was better than looking Crush’s dad in the eye.
“Oh! I stopped by the safe house before I made the trip here,” Hansel explained with a dismissive wave. “Mathlin helped me pack some of your things so you wouldn’t feel homesick.”
Killian gaped. “How is this supposed to help make me feel less homesick?”
He leaped forward to snatch the dildo off the ground, away from Crush’s entire family. It was too big to hide with his hands; he hugged it to his chest and felt too exposed, so he stuffed it under his shirt. The big, thick outline just made everything more awkward.
Hansel’s eyebrows reached his hairline. “Howl Consort, would you like me to describe how an adult toy can help to distract you?”
“Noooo!” Horrified, Killian turned to Crush and shoved the dildo at him. “Help me hide this!”
Crush looked extremely amused. “Where?”
“Not in me! It touched your dad’s foot; I don’t think I can use it anymore. It’s contaminated.” Killian paused, his mortification growing. “Not that you have germs or anything,” he whimpered to Joe. “I meant that I don’t want to think of you when using it.”
Crush’s face was purple; he was trying so hard not to laugh. “Sweetheart.” He gently grasped Killian’s shoulders, turning him away from the rest of his family. “Shift into a rabbit. I’ll hide you and you can relax.”
Right as Killian was about to shift, he saw Crush stuffing the tip of the dildo into his back pocket. “It’s going to fall out and hit someone else. Crush, you can’t let it fall out. Those dildos are so heavy, they’re going to poke someone’s eye out.”
“Where did Crush find him?” someone whispered, sounding amazed.
“I don’t know, but I want one too,” someone else replied.
“Oh gods,” Killian moaned.
Crush’s tone turned commanding. “Shift, bunny.”
Killian tugged on his animal instincts, letting his clothes swallow him up. And now he was a small rabbit, no longer visible to everyone’s sharp eyes. “Wait, do I smell like food to everyone now?”
“You smell like pack,” Crush said. “But just in case, I’m going to mark you up in private. Make you really smell like mine.”
More wolf whistles.
Crush gathered up Killian and his clothes, before depositing him in Naddie’s car seat, next to his sleeping baby. Crush hauled the car seat out of the car.
“Wait,” Killian blurted. “What about the toys on the ground? Where did Hansel go?”
There was a long pause.
“Hansel... left a trail of crumbs. A trail of toys. To my cabin.”
Killian covered his face with his paws and groaned.
“I’ll pick them up,” Ottis said. “If Crush does it, you’re going to get sick from swinging up and down. And I don’t think you want anyone else’s alpha scent on them.”
“Thanks,” Killian said weakly. “I owe everybody so much, oh gods.”
“Just focus on resting up,” Joe said. “Shoo. Get going, Crush. I’ll help too.”
“Oh gods, your dad is picking up my toys,” Killian whispered, more humiliated than before. He burrowed deeper into his clothes, trying to drown out their voices. “How is this my life?”
“It’ll become a funny memory in the future, sweetheart.” A large hand landed on top of him, stroking him through the layers of clothes. “Don’t worry so much.”
“I can’t believe this. I was an assa—I’ve k—I’ve done crazy things! Many crazy things! But this is my downfall. A big purple dildo.”
Crush laughed. “Life’s like that sometimes. It could be worse.”
It really could. Killian sighed, tugging on his ears to comfort himself.
Crush slowed to a stop moments later. A door squeaked open and shut, and the pack’s sounds grew muffled.
“There,” Crush murmured. “You’re safe now.”
Relief flooded Killian. He sagged into his rumpled clothes and closed his eyes.
Someone knocked on the door. “Let us in!”
Wheels squeaked. Killian twitched, but Crush was faster.
In moments, Crush had Wonder Cart and Hansel in the cabin too.
“Is there space for everyone?” Killian struggled out of the pile of clothes to see for himself.
“Yes. There are two bedrooms. It’s smaller than my cabin; sorry about that.”
The cabin was similar to the one in the mountains, with wood walls and rafters, but everything was much smaller here. Killian almost found it more comforting to be in such a tiny space. It was just like a rabbit burrow.
Crush turned to Hansel. “What was that about, with the toys?”
Hansel had the grace to look sheepish. “I didn’t realize the bag would break. But I wasn’t going to provide Howl Consort with fewer options. Can you imagine going somewhere and having all these toys, but not your favorite one? I didn’t know his favorite, so I brought them all.”
“And now they’ve all been dropped on the ground.” Crush muttered.
Hansel flapped his hand dismissively. “You can buy replacements, maybe even commission someone to make better ones. You can even make a replica of yourself. Don’t pretend you don’t want that.”
Crush continued to stare at his butler, but his narrowed eyes now looked thoughtful. He turned to Killian, his gaze sharp. “What do you think, sweetheart?”
Killian tugged his ears over his eyes. “Maybe.”
His traitorous heart skipped and revealed the lie for what it was. Crush huffed. “Alright. Let’s get Naddie into an actual crib, and get you into bed.”
“There’s a crib?” Killian raised his head.
Through the doorway to one of the bedrooms, he spied a wooden crib with howling wolves carved into its side.
“My pack has a few,” Crush said. “My parents kept the ones they raised us in.”
“They’re lending it to us?”
“They have a few spares, yeah.” Crush glanced at Killian. “We can borrow more for your next ones.”
Killian blushed under his fur. He couldn’t feel how many babies he had in his belly—surely there wasn’t just one? Anticipation quivered through his bones. “That’s very generous of them.”
“Pups are always important to the pack. Everyone’s excited about them.” Crush grinned. “I can’t wait to see how many we have.”
Somehow, those words made Killian grow hot all over.
“W-we should sleep,” he mumbled, his entire body fluttering under Crush’s attention.
He shifted back into a human and scooped Naddie into his arms, making his way to the crib.
Halfway there, Crush began following him, large hands snagging on Killian’s hips.
“I know I’ve only offered to help with the expenses so far. I hadn’t asked my other question because I wanted to give you time,” Crush murmured into Killian’s hair.
“What question?”
“Would you let me raise the pups with you?”