Page 7 of Siren in the Rain

—MEOW Squad Group Text Thread

Griffin

“We’ve got a rescue to pick up!” Dallas bellows as the door to my bedroom slams open.

It’s been reinforced so it doesn’t shatter or get yanked off its hinges.

After a few too many of those events when we first moved in, we had to fortify parts of the house to make them Dallas-proof.

His unexpected wake-up call jolts me out of a deep sleep and a rather nice dream about participating in a seriously epic corn dog eating competition. I nearly fall out of bed, my heart hammering double time.

Holy crap!

I wipe the sleep drool from my chin—I blame it on those fantasy corn dogs, dammit!—and blink up at the man towering in my doorway.

Dallas isn’t exactly a soft-spoken guy, even less so when he’s on a mission or amped up about something.

I’ve never met a Bearkin more… bear-like than him.

I grin up at him. My captain’s so freaking cool.

“Up and at ’em, kid!” he barks out jovially before heading down the hall and doing the same wake-up call for the rest of our team.

I don’t need an alarm when I’ve got a Dallas, that’s for sure.

Yanking on clothes, I glance at my phone and frown. 4:30 a.m.? That can’t be good. Early calls like this are usually serious cases.

Damn. I won’t be able to get any early morning surfing in today.

Hurrying to my bathroom, I wash my face and brush my teeth in record time. Then, brimming with energy, I bound downstairs to find everyone gathering in the kitchen.

“What’s the story, Cap?” I ask, bouncing on my feet and raring to go.

“Simmer down, Sunshine Boy,” Ruby says around a wide, open-mouthed yawn. “Not all of us are annoyingly chipper morning people.”

Ruby’s an elemental witch with amazing healing powers and the only woman on our team at the moment. Her name happens to match the stunning color of her curly mane of hair, and she’s got a full, curvy figure that she tends to clothe in long, flowy skirts and peasant tops; it’s what she calls her boho witchy aesthetic. She has a ring on every finger and jangly bracelets on each wrist.

Ruby’s as talented as she is gorgeous, and her skills have saved our asses more times than I can count.

I beam at her and my tail swishes happily, thumping against the side of the kitchen island.

Dallas hands me a thermos full of coffee exactly the way I like it, with a ton of sugar and cream, then repeats the gesture for the other members of our team. He goes through the same attentive process as he passes out bagels with cream cheese.

Well, he skips Harper, but that’s to be expected since he’s a vampire and therefore on a specific kind of liquid diet.

I can’t hold back a huge grin. Our not-so-secret nickname for Dallas, Papa Bear, is spot on. He’s a total caregiver, always making sure we’re fed and healthy. A lot of folks are intimidated the first time they meet him. I know I was in total awe. Even for a Bearkin, he’s huge, easily seven feet tall, and thickly padded with muscle. His dark brown hair falls to his shoulders in wild, thick waves, and his bushy beard is pretty damn amazing in my opinion.

I suppose I could see where some might find his exterior a smidge scary at first glance. After all, his hands are about the size of actual bear paws. But his eyes tell another story. They’re genuinely warm and kind, just like Dallas.

Big, dangerous bear on the outside, warm, gooey cinnamon roll on the inside.

He also has the cutest rounded fuzzy bear ears on the top of his head that soften his appearance and make you just want to cuddle with him like he’s a giant teddy bear. I speak from experience; he gives the best hugs.

That said, don’t fuck with anyone or anything that Dallas cares about, especially us, his team of misfits, since we’re all basically family at this point. Dallas always has tight control over his Bearkin abilities, but with the right provocation, he can be truly deadly. He’s even got these epic retractable bear claws that would give Wolverine a run for his money.

Like I said, so freaking cool!

“God, I’d kill for a cigarette right about now,” Cal mutters as he gulps down his black coffee like it’s precious fuel keeping his body running.

---