Page 63 of Ruffled Feathers

Nudging his arm with mine, I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I didn’t think I’d have this.”

“A cookout?”

“No, a Pack. I thought I’d meet a nice Unshown guy, bring him around on the holidays, and try to convince myself that you guys were shit and I wasn’t missing out on anything.”

Chuckling softly, he kissed me, tilting my chin up so I felt properly claimed. When he eventually drew back, my cheeks felt flushed. “We would’ve been the ones missing out. And wedefinitelywould have run the guy off.” He didn’t even look remotely remorseful about chasing away my imaginary boyfriend. “Now let’s go and greet our guests, yeah?”

We stepped up to the front door just as Lance reappeared. The two men with him weren’t what I’d imagined. I’d thought they’d be huge and burly, but the one on the left looked about seventeen, tall but lithe, like he’d never quite grown into his body. The other guy was much more how I pictured a military Alpha: broad shoulders, close-cropped hair, and straight, dark brows that made his expression seem severe. He was still maybe an inch shorter than Lance.

But all three moved with the kind of grace that told me they’d been trained to walk quietly. Stealthy or dead.

I stepped forward, putting my hand out. “Hi, I’m Otillie-James. I’m excited to meet some of Lance’s friends.”

The Beta smelled like cookies, which matched with his completely innocuous appearance. He was the first one to take my hand. “Hi, I’m Max. Man, Lance didn’t tell us how pretty you are.” Lance glared, and the guy just grinned, clearly ribbing his friend.

The Alpha put out his hand, shaking mine delicately. “I’m Rio.”

I looked up into his eyes, and was immediately swamped by his sadness. I’d thought Lance was traumatized by his time in the military, but whatever had happened to this guy must’ve been bad. It was tingeing his scent, turning the edges of his citrus scent into something bitter. I couldn’t pinpoint how I knew that the darkness inside his soul was eating him alive, but I did.

My face softened, and I gave him a warm smile. “Hello, Rio. Welcome.” I drew my hand away as Truett introduced himself, then I waved them inside, through the house and out the back.

Lance caught me around the waist, and I looked up at my wounded Beta mate. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

“He’s so sad, Lance.” It was breaking my heart.

He kissed the top of my head. “I know, Angel. But he’s healing. One day, he’ll get lucky, and his own angel will appear, but he isn’t ready for that yet.”

Nodding, I grabbed some appetizers, and Lance carried them outside. Sonny was already grilling, but he’d stopped to introduce himself and Strat to the newcomers. Strat was looking at them with what I liked to call his lawyer gaze, like he was trying to find weaknesses in their facade.

As Lance placed the food down in the middle of the large picnic table, the smell of food dragged over Doodles and Honkers, who stared up at us with big, sad eyes, like they were being starved. No one who ever saw the fat Lab would think he’d been starved a day in his life.

Kevin the Pig had his own stall down in the barn now, so at least that was one less creature watching us eat. He’d been pissed, but he could go out into the run and roll in the mud all day, and that made him happier.

“You fucking cocksucker, give me my money!”

I flushed as Rufio screamed at us through the newly converted screened porch. I’d turned it into an aviary with parrot-proof mesh, and the birds had all been much happier.

Our guests looked around, startled, and I winced. “Sorry, that’s one of the rescue parrots. He was found in a crack den.”

Laughing, Max walked over to the new aviary. “Holy shit, that’s the best thing ever. What kind of parrot?”

“Uh, an African Gray. He has quite the repertoire.”

As if he knew we were talking about him, Rufio went off on a tangent. “Who ate the last of the fucking Cheerios? Bitch, shut up. God, you’re a noisy fucker. Where’s mymoney?”

By the end, Max was laughing so hard, he could hardly breathe. “We had parrots growing up. Mainly cockatoos and macaws, though. Never had an African Gray. And none with his conversational prowess.”

I perked up. “Oh, so you know how hard they are to care for, then?”

He nodded. “Yeah. They need a lot of enrichment. Especially the bigger parrots.”

I grinned, a plan forming as I led Max back to the picnic table. “Lance said you and Rio are Pack?” Opening the cooler, I offered him a drink. He took a Coke, not a beer. Thank goodness, because he didn’t look old enough to drink.

“We do. We have a house on the east side.”

I smiled widely.Perfect.

Truett chuckled beside us, his lips near my ear. “I know that look.”

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