Page 62 of Silas's Sweetheart

“I have one, too,” Bowie confessed, so Ziggy shifted his attention to him. “I can’t seem to stop baking or eating cake no matter how many times I get told off by Da—”

“Are you dating?” Frey questioned with interest, before Ziggy could.

Bowie dropped his gaze and stared at the ground intently, his cheeks revealing embarrassment by how they darkened. “Nah… not dating…”

“Then who tells you off for eating cake?” Ziggy enquired in a gentle tone, careful to not act pushy.

“I-I…” He groaned and ran his hands through messy hair that looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in days. “Can we change the subject?”

Ziggy shrugged at the enquiring look Frey shot him. Whatever was going on with Bowie, he’d clearly been keeping it to himself. Judging by how uncomfortable he looked, he obviously wasn’t ready to talk about it yet so Ziggy decided to distract Frey. Placing his hand on the stroller, he gave his friend a pleading look, which made Frey laugh and step aside.

Ziggy caught movement and the man he’d noticed earlier stepped into their path.

“You,” the guy growled, grabbing Frey’s arm in a move that sent alarm through Ziggy. His next words got Ziggy hissing. “How the fuck did you con my son into adopting divergent scum?”

It took but a split second to understand why the dude looked so familiar, despite what he’s said. The dude was a dead ringer for Booker. Ziggy didn’t know Booker’s history other than Lane and Derick Starling had adopted him, same as Jupiter, Laken, Taylin, and Rue.

“Don’t you dare speak aboutourdaughter in that way!” Frey snapped, all teeth.

Ziggy’s snake wanted out, and he was in a mind to let him if the asshole didn’t let go of Frey.

“I can say whatever the fuck I want,” the dude spat. “Thatthingwill never be welcome in our family!”

At Frey’s grimace of pain at the huge fucker shaking him, so hard he almost lost his footing, Ziggy’s fangs dropped.

“Someone call the police, I’m being attacked,” Frey shouted out.

Bowie seemed to gather himself and demanded, in a quivering tone, “You let go of my friend.”

“Fuck off,” the asshole growled, “before I rip your divergent head off!”

It was too much, and Ziggy, who detested violence and abusive dickheads, pushed the stroller at Bowie. “Take Emmy,” he demanded forcefully.

Ziggy waited but a beat for Bowie to do as he requested before he shifted, uncaring how his clothes became nothing more than useless shreds. He receded fully, letting his snake take charge. As big as they were, his snake could move fast.

They chased after the dick, hissing and gathering the scent of their prey while watching others leap out of the way. Ziggy had no concept of time when two deputies appeared, running towards them. The bear headed off in a different direction, one officer continuing on with the chase while the other stopped in front of Ziggy, bringing him to a slithering halt.

“Sir, can you shift for me so we can discuss what’s going on here?”

Ziggy eyed the large, attractive, blond-haired alpha and considered his options. His snake wasn’t ready to recede yet after not getting close enough to give the bear a hard squeeze that would crack a few bones.

“It’s not a request, sir,” the guy stated with authority, but not with a shitty attitude.

Ziggy’s head bobbed from side to side, looking at the audience they had and sighed when his snake decided it didn’t care who got to see him buck ass naked and did what the officer asked.

“Thank you,” the officer murmured, keeping his gaze respectfully up as Ziggy moved his hands to cup his junk. “Can you explain why you chased that man around the lake?”

“Could I do that with my clothes on?”

The alpha coughed, his eyes not straying down Ziggy’s nakedness. “Of course. Let’s go back to my car, I believe I have a jacket that you can use.”

Hours later, everything sorted out and Ziggy assured that Frey, Emmy and Bowie were okay, Ziggy found himself back in the police cruiser heading back to the parking lot to get his car. When Deputy Meres pulled to a stop next to his car after he’d pointed out which one it was, Ziggy peered down at the zipped up jacket to make sure his dick wasn’t hanging out. Bowie had called Kari, who had collected Ziggy’s belongings including his car keys, phone and wallet. Someone had bagged his clothes for him in a trash bag, which was the only place for them.

He clutched the trash bag in front of him protectively as he exited the car.

“Thank you, Deputy Meres,” he said when the man exited the car too.

“It’s Bud, and no stress. We couldn’t have you walking around half naked, causing another stir.”

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