“Nope. It’s exactly what it sounds like.” I catch her wandering hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. “I live above a refuge, and I volunteer there, in exchange for room and board.”
“So, youdohave a job.” She pulls away to trace the scar on my face, up over my cheekbone and around the edge of my swollen eye. It still throbs like a motherfucker, but her gentle touch is the perfect distraction. “You’re the puppy wrangler.”
I snort. “I’m the puppy slave.”
“Well, it sounds like it’s important you’re there. The puppies need you for their survival, and all that.”
It’s true. Puppies are lucky they’re so cute, because they’re a lot of work and needy as hell. “Sure, but I don’t have to live there to help out.”
It’s not as simple as that, but it earns me another smile and she lets go of Wings, stepping fully into my arms. I’m well aware of the gift she’s giving me, especially with her other mates looking on. “I want us together, Bluff. However that works, that’s the only thing I really want.”
“Then you’re looking at the newest prospect of the Iron Flyers.” I drop a kiss on her nose. “Assuming someone is prepared to sponsor me.”
Abbie hums, but I catch Pitt’s eye, and I’m guessing his smile is a little feral for a reason. “That’ll be a fun afternoon at church.”
Finding Ark isn’t as easy as I thought it’d be. I was half-expecting him to have worn a groove in the floorboards outside our bedroom door, but a cute omega with pink hair informs me that he’s gone on a club ride. Seems Ark emptied out the clubhouse not long after Abbie went into heat, and most of the members aren’t expected back for another couple of days.
Since Abbie is happily back in bed, sleeping off her heat between her mates, I decide to duck home while I have the chance. Given that my driver’s license lapsed while I was in recovery, I’m in the process of calling a cab when the same helpful omega appears beside me on the front steps. She tips her face up to mine, blue eyes curious as she takes in the app on my phone. “You need a ride, big guy?” It sounds flirty, but there’s only friendly interest in her gaze. “Abbie would kill me if you got kidnapped by some psycho rideshare driver.”
“Yeah, those kind of guys don’t tend to pick me up.” And if they do, they try to break the speed limit to get me out of their car again. “I think I have a kind of fuck off or find out vibe.”
“Well, I’m not scared of you,” she tells me, bouncing down the stairs. “But are you gonna freak out at my pretty little cage?”
She’s headed towards a classic VW in buttercup yellow with pink and purple decals on the sides. “Well, since I’m banned from bikes for another six months, I can’t exactly be picky.”
She raises her brows at me but then sticks out her hand. “I’m Tricks. Trixie to my folks, who also happen to have birthed Wings. Although you can’t hold that against me.”
“You must be the older, more sensible sibling,” I tell her as I stuff myself into her miniature car.
“Exactly,” she says, plucking a pair of white, cat-eye sunglasses off her dash. “Although, technically, he’s been alive longer, but that just means I’m way more interesting.”
I know better than to question her logic, and she chats happily as we leave the compound and head across town to the refuge. She fills me in on all the clubhouse gossip, and while the number of names she drops is dizzying, I have a pretty clear idea of the lay of the land by the time we reach the refuge.
“Oh, my hairball!” she exclaims when she claps eyes on the refuge. “Do you live withpuppies?”
“I live above them, but I help out where I can.”
Her mouth is a wide, delighted O as she follows me up to the door and I let us in. I can hear Jake puttering around in the kitchen, and a moment later he maneuvers his wheelchair down the hallway, coming to an abrupt stop at the sight of Tricks. “Oh. Sorry.” He gestures at his bare chest, which is ripped with muscle from having to lug fifty-pound bags of dog chow around. “Lulu just piddled on me, and I was in the middle of baking some dog treats, so…”
“Sounds like Lulu is the one who should be apologizing.” Tricks’ voice is an octave higher, and even my fucked-up receptors can smell her interest in the air. “Want me to take her out back and beat some manners into her?”
Jake’s mouth drops open, almost as wide as Tricks’ when she realized I live in a puppy refuge. He runs a hand through his overgrown crewcut, his throat working as he drags his gaze from her pink hair, over her leather cut, and down to her knee-high red leather boots. “Ah, no. Thanks, but Lulu is a golden retriever puppy, so piddling is kinda on brand for her.”
“Oh.” Tricks is now as pink as her hair. “Then can I have a cuddle? Of Lulu, I mean. Although, if you’re ever taking passengers, I really like your ride.”
I stifle a laugh at the look on Jake’s face, then wave a hand at the staircase. “I need to run upstairs and grab a few things. You kids gonna be okay without me?”
“Sure.” Jake swallows hard, his eyes flicking between us. “I can look after your omega for a few minutes.”
“Not his, except by bonding,” Tricks explains, sinking gracefully to her knees in front of him. If he looked starstruck before, now his eyes are bugging out of his head. “Although that’s not technically true, since Wings and Bluff haven’t actually got all bitey yet. But they share Abbie, who’s great, even if she’s with my brother. Which is completely ick if I think about it, but also strangely adorable…”
I leave her prattling away as I take the stairs, grabbing a duffel bag out of my closet and emptying my drawers in it. I don’t have a lot of clothes, but I figure I can fix that now I’ve got someone to dress for. I’m in the process of grabbing things off my nightstand when I hear a familiar voice rumbling from down below.
I grab the bag, hefting it onto my shoulder as Ark appears at the bottom of the stairs, his arms folded across his thick chest.He glares up at me, his face an unhealthy shade of red. “You left her? In the middle of her heat?”
“She’s well taken care of.” I saunter downstairs, even though my knees want to lock up at the dominance coming off him in waves. “Did you introduce yourself before you started barking at Jake?”
My housemate, landlord, and best friend, if I don’t count the asshole next to him, clears his throat. “Um, how about some tea?”
