Page 10 of Ruffled Feathers

Sonny was there in the foyer, inexplicably holding Doodles in his arms. The scrawny little dog was wiggling like a worm on a hook, trying to lick the inside of Sonny’s mouth. Sometimes I could relate to that impulse.

Smiling at me, Sonny put the dog back on the ground. “Hey, Tillie. It appears that Noah’s Ark exploded in here, and you seem to have a mismatched parade of weird animals?” He came over and kissed my cheek, and I tried not to flush. He was just being friendly. Familial, even.

Don’t make it fucking weird, Otillie-James Baler.

“They’re just boarding here for a bit while I find them homes.” A lie. Fifty percent of these animals were unhouseable, so until someone found a better place, they’d live here permanently. But I wasn’t about to tell Sonny that. Or Truett.

He put his hands on my shoulders, holding me away a little so he could take me in. “You’re okay? Truett said you’d been picked up by the cops.” His eyes ran over me, like he was searching for injuries, both physical and emotional.

I glared over at Truett, because of course he’d made it sound worse than it was. “Just a little misunderstanding. It’ll be fine once I get a good lawyer.”

Sonny snorted, used to my bickering with his best friend. “Truett’s the best, and we both know it.” He looked past me to Lancelot. “New friend?”

Sonny was an Alpha, but unlike Truett, he didn’t try to beat you over the head with it. No, there was a steady confidence to his aura; you knew that Sonny had your back. Need a snack? Sonny had one. A Band-Aid or a tampon? Sonny had a special pouch in his rucksack filled with supplies, no matter where youwere bleeding from. Need a shovel to bury a body? Sonny had one in the back of the truck and would even help you dig.

He might have a more congenial nature, but he was still an Alpha, and I knew he’d side with Truett on principle, especially when it came to threats to the people he considered family.

I sighed. “Yes. This is Lancelot. He’s also living here for the moment. Can we have breakfast now? Some of us have been sitting in lockup all night. I’m starving.”

I stomped out of the entryway and further into the house, a small trail of animals behind me. Looking over my shoulder at Doodles, Honkers the Lab, and Kevin the pig trotting behind me, I couldn’t help but smile. I might be impulsive, maybe even a little irresponsible, but I was changing their lives, and that brought me joy. I didn’t really care what Truett said, or Sonny, or my dad and Citrine. I was doing what was right.

I decided on a pastrami sandwich, because it was more brunch time than breakfast, and besides, it felt like a faux pas to eat a BLT with Kevin in the room. Now that Spartacus the rooster was around, maybe I’d have to cut out the chicken for a little while too. As long as I didn’t rescue a cow, we were fine.

Surprisingly, the guys didn’t follow me into the kitchen, but Akio did, coming to sit by my feet, on alert. Akio was a strange dog, both flighty and well trained. Terrified of the thunderstorm we’d had earlier in the week, yet had stood between me and… the situation I’d been in when I first met him and his owner.

He didn’t mind the other animals always bouncing around him, especially Doodles, but it was almost like he didn’t know how to play. He tolerated them all, even the kittens, but he was more like an old soul than an animal.

Despite that, he was sweet and loyal, and I sometimes wished there were more people with those traits. Grabbing ingredients from the fridge, I gave everyone a small treat. Doodles didn’t know how to sit, and Honkers physically couldn’t sit yet, buthe was losing weight every day on his special diet, so I hoped he might get back more mobility soon. I’d take him out for physiotherapy in Citrine’s heated pool later. I was going to have to get a pool guy in to clean out the filters before the parents came home, because I was pretty sure they were clogged with Labrador fur.

I even gave some pastrami to Kevin, who had no qualms about eating another beast of burden.

Washing my hands, I started constructing sandwiches for me and Lancelot. If I didn’t make him food, or insist he ate the stuff in the fridge, he wouldn’t eat. It was like he was waiting for me to yell at him for taking more than was explicitly offered—which was why I wasn’t worried about the things Truett had mentioned.

Huffing a sigh, I also made a sandwich for the asshole in question, and Sonny too.

Ridiculously loyal assholes.

Four

Edison

Getting a text from Truett that he was collecting Otillie-James from the police station had been surprisingly unsurprising. Tillie was disturbingly unfazed about breaking the law in pursuit of what she thought was right. It was something I’d always admired about her.

Years ago, when she’d finally settled into society, she could have played the game all debutantes played, being demure and charming while trying to catch a rich husband. As an Unshown, though, her options would be limited to other undesignated society members, or maybe a Beta. Even undesignated, she would have had a good match, because she was beautiful, sweet, and smart. She drew your gaze with her looks, but kept it with her personality.

And her body was made for sin, though that wasn’t something I should be thinking about at all. Her father would murder me, and my mom would probably help him hide my body. I stuffed the thought down and met my Packmate’s eyes, trying to judge the seriousness of the situation.

Truett looked exasperated and a little pissed, which was actually reassuring. He didn’t like that this guy was here, but he hadn’t immediately set off his instincts. A good sign.

I’d come over after my shift, as promised, but this other guy in the house was a surprise. He looked forty? Or twenty? Maybe sixty? Who fucking knew? He had more facial hair than I could ever dream of growing, and his hair was a pale ash color, which could’ve been gray or could’ve been blond. He was a Beta, but he was only an inch or two shorter than me, and had solid shoulders. He held my eyes, but eventually, his gaze slid away.

Strong Beta, then.

Tillie had introduced him as Lancelot, but I doubted that was his real name, unless his parents hated him.

My instincts also weren’t screaming at me that this guy was a threat, but I’d reserve judgment for now. I reached out my hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you. I’m Edison Chalmers, Tillie’s stepbrother. I’m going to assume your name isn’t really Lancelot.”

He eyed me with an expression that was disconcerting, but eventually, he gripped my palm. “Lance Alcott. When I met Otillie, she must have misheard, and I haven’t corrected her.”

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