42. Rune
Chapter 42
Rune
S unny wanted to get out of the house, and I had the perfect distraction. She had obviously been stressed out the previous night when we got back from our twenty-four-hour shift. She had acted cool, brushing it off, but I knew stress baking when I saw it, and there were over ten varieties of cookies sprawled over the kitchen counters when we got home.
“Where are we going?” Sunny asked with a frown as she got into the car.
Looking behind me, I checked once more that Luka was securely in his car seat before turning to Sunny. “It's a surprise,” I repeated.
She groaned, throwing her head back. “I know you only told me we're going somewhere two minutes ago, but this is already driving me crazy!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Not a fan of surprises, are we?”
Sunny pouted. “I am when it’s a surprise, but knowing it’s a surprise kind of negates it being a surprise, and then that irritates me for some reason. I know I am painfully impatient. It's a problem. I need to work on it.”
I bit back a smile. “You don't need to work on it. You are absolutely perfect as you are, Cher,” I said as we pulled out of the drive. “We are going to go see my friend Melody.”
Sunny’s eyes narrowed, and I turned to look at the road, resisting the urge to laugh, because it was obvious she was feeling a little jealous at the mention of another woman.
“Melody?” she asked in a tight voice.
I shouldn't have enjoyed her jealousy so much, but it was nice knowing that she had laid claim to me in such a way that, if another woman was interested in me, she would be angry. Even though I knew Sunny was now all in with us, it was never really an active choice for her, so the reassurance that she saw us as hers was nice.
Yes, my logic was fucked up, but I was an alpha, and sometimes we had fucked-up logic.
“Melody is a friend who runs an animal shelter. She's the one we hand over any cats and dogs we find during fires to. She takes care of them, tries to find their families, or tries to rehome them if they need new families.”
Sunny’s eyes widened. “Oh…”
“Now that we finally have a house, I think it's time we look for a friend for Sooty. I thought you and Luka would enjoy coming along.”
“That sounds lovely.”
“Feeling a little possessive, are we?” I asked playfully.
Sunny shrugged. “How would you like it if I was talking about my male friends you know nothing about?”
I most certainly wouldn’t like that. I wasn't a complete controlling asshole. She was allowed to be friends with whoever she wanted, but sometimes it was hard to deny my nature, that I wanted no other man to look at my omega because she was perfection, and she was mine.
“You want to go look at buns, little man?” I asked Luka, looking at him in the rearview mirror.
“Buns!” Luka cried excitedly.
Sunny chuckled. “You know he's going to fall in love with every single one there?”
“In that case, I guess we're going to have to get multiple bunnies,” I said as I took one hand off the steering wheel, holding her thigh gently with it. I was skilled enough at driving that I could do so one-handed. If not for our son in the back seat, I would have been tempted to trail my hand up the skirt of her powder blue dress, but alas, I had to behave.
Plenty of time for that later.
The shelter was a short drive away from our house, which I liked, considering Melody was well versed in animal care. When I had first taken in Sooty, I had popped in to see her numerous times to make sure I was doing everything correctly.
The first time that rabbit had flopped, I called her in a panic, and she had gently calmed me down, insisting that it was very normal. Rabbits sure knew how to give their humans a heart attack, because when they were happy, they flopped over on their sides and looked surprisingly dead.
Sunny frowned as we pulled into the parking lot. “This place doesn’t look open.”
“It usually isn’t on a Sunday, but Melody is a friend and she owes me. Last year, one of her rescues escaped and got onto the roof of her animal center. We needed three trucks to come and coax the dog back down.”
A chuckle escaped Sunny’s chest. “What kind of dog was it?”
“A husky. He was shouting and screaming louder than the sirens. Walker had a headache for days after, and Blaze was begging him to let us have a firehouse husky. Thankfully, the rule is only one pet at the firehouse, so Sooty was it.”
“Are there many rabbits at the rescue?”
“Usually, there’s only one or two. There are a lot more cats and dogs, but in my opinion, the bunny is the superior pet.”
Sunny bit her lip. “Well, I won't argue with you there. I quite like having her hop around while I'm baking. She's got such a good nose on her. Do you know I decided to cut up some apples for an apple crumble, and she ran straight over, begging for some scraps?”
I chuckled. “Apples and carrots are basically bunny crack.”
“If only humans were so easy to bribe.”
“Rune, as I live and breathe! How are you?” Melody cried as she bounded out of the office upon seeing my car pull up. “Are you here with another dog from Blaze? I have told him to call ahead so I can have a kennel ready.”
Melody was a ball of bright energy and sweetness, with a tiny stature and delicate features. Her hair was styled in a short, wavy bob, and she was wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with the rescue’s logo on it.
“Lovely to see you, Melody.” I smiled. “No dogs for you today.”
Her eyes widened as she noticed Sunny, who was taking Luka out of his car seat. “And who is this beauty? She's much too pretty for you.”
“This is my omega, Sunny,” I declared, beaming with pride. “And this little man is Luka.” I wrapped my arm around Sunny and pulled her into my side.
“Buns!” Luka declared in excitement.
Melody’s smile widened. “Are you a fan of buns? Are you Sooty’s friend?”
“He adores her,” Sunny said, brushing a little hair out of her eye before holding a hand out to Melody. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
“It’s my pleasure! What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“We recently bought a pack house and moved in last week, so I was thinking it was about time.”
Melody clapped her hands together excitedly. “A second bunny?” I nodded. “Oh, goody! I have the perfect bunny for that.”
Without a second thought, she grabbed Sunny's hand and dragged her into the building. Sunny looked back at me with an amused smile as I trailed after them. Melody led us into one of the buildings, where several large runs were situated.
“So, what made you decide to go for Rune here?” Melody asked Sunny as she dragged her through a corridor. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s sweet, but my word, he can be annoying!”
“Hey!” I laughed as I trailed behind us.
Sunny giggled. “He just swept me off my feet,” she said in that sugary voice of hers.
Melody nodded thoughtfully, before laughing. “How do I get me one of those?”
“Well, my home burned down, so I don’t recommend that route.”
Her eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s not ideal. Why is it so hard to find fun, caring guys? They’re all far too serious for my liking.”
“There’s some good ones out there!” I insisted.
Melody turned back to me with a frown. “Then, why do my parents keep shoving boring, corporate beta buttheads my way?”
“That sounds like a parent issue, not a man issue,” Sunny pointed out. “Why are they trying to set you up with betas?”
“Oh, that.” Melody waved her off. “I have a really sweet scent, so people sometimes confuse me for an omega, but I’m just a run-of-the-mill beta, so I’m looking for a beta to settle down with… unfortunately, all the good ones seem to be taken.”
She sighed, pouting before opening a door. “This is the bunny room. At the moment, we just have this sweet, chubby little blob, and I love him,” she said.
Sunny stood by the gate, looking at the bunny with rapt attention. “Oh, look at him!” she cooed. “Look at the bun, Luka!”
The bunny in question was round, white and tiny, even smaller than Sooty was when I got her. He had little lop ears and red eyes. At the sight of us, he hopped over, curious.
“He seems friendly,” I noted.
“He is! Red-eyed white rabbits have some of the best natures. They’re also some of the hardest to home because people think they look evil. This sweet boy is just a cuddle bug—like your Sooty.”
Sunny reached down, petting his ears as the little fluff ran toward her for attention. “Oh, he’s so sweet,” she cooed. “What’s his name?”
“I’ve been calling him Snowball.” Melody beamed. “I think the reason why is obvious.”
It certainly was. The bunny was pure white and round.
I turned to Melody. “How old is he?” I had known Melody for years. I knew that the moment we turned up, she was plotting, but I couldn’t be mad at her—she was doing it to help animals.
“I think around two years old. He was found on the side of the road, skinny and terrified. He’s been here three months, and he’s getting nice and chubby!”
“He is!” Sunny agreed. “How did you get into rescuing animals?”
Melody cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. “I always preferred animals to humans growing up. Now that I'm an adult, and I can choose the people I'm around, I can tolerate humans a lot more. Plus, I saw the way animals were mistreated, and I just couldn't not step in, you know?”
“That’s lovely. How long have you had this place?” Sunny asked.
Melody laughed. “About four years. I never really intended to open an animal shelter, but several of your pack mates kept bringing me stray dogs who needed homes after fires, and I needed space to put them, so… this place was built,” she said, waving her hand, gesturing around the room.
“We knew you would take good care of them.” I shrugged. “Cher, the first time I met Melody, it was for a cat-stuck-in-a-tree call.”
Melody huffed. “You are never going to let me live that down, are you? It was a pregnant cat who was stressed had run up into a tree and got stuck. I wasn't going to leave her there!”
I nodded. “Of course not, but the sight of you stomping around at the base of the tree, insisting that we do our job, was quite amusing.”
Sunny laughed as she watched us, kneeling with Luka and fussing with the bunny. “This place is amazing, and this little guy is the sweetest! Rune, what do you think?”
“If you like him, Cher, we are bringing him home.”
Melody clapped her hands excitedly, well aware that there was no way we were leaving without adopting the bunny now.