Once I have him situated and I’m leaning against the wall, Bee hops up and gently walks around on the bed before laying down behind my mate to be his big spoon in an action that’s both tender and protective.
I’m still not entirely clear on how this dog got here, but I remember what she did at that warehouse and it’s hard to reconcile that with how sweet she’s being with us. I’m grateful, though. For whatever reason, Bee likes us, and I’m good with that.
Stroking Niko’s hair, I lean my head back briefly and let my eyes slide shut but force them open just as quickly. Watching those bastards hurt my soulmate in person was enough horrorfor one lifetime, I don’t need to relive it when I close my eyes, too.
I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
I had nightmares for months after my pack was killed; Emery’s face and the gaping hole, Dante falling against his chest, feeling Jay take his last breath. I lived those moments over and over when I tried to sleep, and while I’m lucky to be able to say Niko survived whatever the hell we went through, neither of us came out unscathed, and I won’t be forgetting one second of it for a very long time.
A noise comes from the dining room, pulling my attention away from my thoughts and when I look in the doorway, I feel my brows raise.
There is another big ass dog in my RV.
Another one of the three big ass dogs who essentially ate the bastards who took my omega and I.
Funnily enough, I’m still not afraid.
It’s hard to be scared of a dog that has a nub for a tail but is so happy to see me his entire ass is wagging instead. And it’s smiling.
Tongue out, mouth open, fangs gleaming, but this dog is smiling at me, and seems to be waiting for some sort of invitation.
What the hell.
They can eat us at any second so if that was what was going to happen, I figure it would have already. Besides, how can I sit here staring at a smiling dog and not pet it?
“Come on.” I pat the bed beside me and the solid black brute jumps right up here on the bed.
It licks Bee’s tail then Niko’s bare foot before this dog tugs the blanket over it, pride beaming on its giant square face as it looks at me before it basically tiptoes over and flops down next to me.
I feel like a goddamn dog whisperer or something. The only other one I’ve been around was when I was a kid and it bit me, so my experience with canines is extremely limited. To have two enormous and obviously deadly dogs laying in my bed, it’s a very new thing for me.
Especially as the solid black one to my right leans its head back against my hip and lets me scratch under its collar while taking a peek at the tag.
Ruson the front, the same phone number on the back.
This is so strange.
“You gonna watch over us now, huh? You and Bee?” Rus gives me an adorable littleahrooh, quiet but happy as shit, as his butt wiggles like crazy. “You’re just a big baby, aren’t you?”
My eyes dart to the doorway again as I hear another noise and this time, not only do I see a massive dog, I see a massive man with it.
A massive man on his knees who is apparently drying off the dog in the kitchen area because I doubt either of them fit very well in the bathroom.
I guess I don’t need to wonder where the third musketeer went. He was just having a bath.
I sayhewith confidence, and without confirming on a tag, because that dog has the biggest set of balls I have ever seen on an animal and they are pointed in my direction. All male, and I’m sure Bee is grateful for it.
I watch curiously as he waits patiently for his owner to finish, thoroughly drying every inch of his glossy brindle-colored coat. He doesn’t even wag his tail while he lets the giant finish but as soon as he does, the dog sits and watches him get to his feet, then his tail starts to wag as he’s given his treat.
I must be in some parallel universe where Niko and I are normal size and everything else is triple extra large. This is so bizarre.
It only gets more so as the dog gives the man a nearly silent bark, waits again, then as soon as the man motions in our direction, the pooch trots over and waits to be invited on the bed the same way Rus did.
Why not? “You too, come on.”
He even does the same thing Rus did. He gives Bee a kiss, licks the blanket covering my mate’s feet, then flops on top of Rus and scoots until he can lick my bare elbow.
This is so weird.
