Page 36 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
“Yeah,” he murmured, blushing. “That’s great. Do you want me to come over tomorrow?”
“Of course I do. I always want you to come over, Toby,” I responded.
“And those are your… brothers?” he asked.
I could tell he would drop it if I didn’t want to answer questions. While I couldn’t tell him everything, at least not yet, I certainly wanted him to have some details.
“Yeah,” I answered. “We were all raised by a guy named Wilder. Some of us had family but didn’t fit in, and some of us lost our parents, but we formed a… family, I guess, and we’ve been close since we were kids.”
I almost told Toby we’d formed a pack, but that wasn’t human-speak.
“They seem nice,” Toby said.
“Jude seems nice, and Corbin is weird,” I responded.
Toby chuckled at that. “Yeah, although I think he was distracted by all the birds. I swear we don’t usually have so many crows around. It’s kind of cool.”
I smiled. I was glad Toby thought so, because they weren’t going anywhere with Corbin around. He had an affinity for corvids, and Toby would see that before too long. I almost couldn’t wait to eavesdrop on his next conversation with his friends to see what supernatural story he came up with for Corbin.
Speaking of stories… “You going to go do some writing today? Or do you need to run errands?” I asked.
“Writing for me,” Toby sighed. “And I really do need to get to it. I’m on a deadline, and I got a little derailed by those emails. Is one of your brothers the one who is looking into it?”
“Yeah, Liam is, but he isn’t here. He’ll do what he can, though, and I’ll let you know. What scene are you working on now?” I asked. If Toby needed more inspiration, I was sure I could provide some.
He blushed, though, mumbling something about his MCs reuniting. I figured that might mean a sex scene, so I leaned down and kissed him again. By the time I pulled back we were both breathing heavily. I gave him a wink, hopped off the porch, and sauntered over to my place to go inside.
I heard him mutter, “So sexy,” and I tried not to strut too much when I walked inside.
I barely had time to get a glass of water before Jude and Corbin were coming in. Corbin, of course, had a fucking crow on his shoulder.
“He better not shit in my house,” I grumbled.
Corbin smiled. “They only shit on your stuff at the compound because you kept eating the peanuts I left out for them. I told you they hold grudges.”
Yeah, they sure as fuck did. Jude got pretty stones and baubles dropped at his feet and I got shit on for a week until I made it up to them. Vindictive little fuckers. It sort of made me respect them more.
New crows, new opportunities, though. I’d have to start leaving treats out and make nice with Corbin’s new friends. I also realized they’d be a great warning sign for Toby.
“They’ll let us know if anyone is coming, right? An early alarm system?” I asked.
“Of course,” Corbin replied.
“Liam told us about Toby’s stalker,” Jude answered. “We’ll work together to protect him for you.”
“This is a good place,” Corbin reiterated. Jude and I both looked at him. Corbin was… odd, even by hellhound standards.His mother had been a witch, and he’d obviously gotten a lot of her traits. What he said also carried weight because of it.
“We checked out the house,” Jude added. “The current owner is a sweet old lady who was happy to let us look around. She’s already in the process of organizing her stuff to move. She’s going to hire people to clean it all out and asked if we wanted to keep furniture or anything. She thinks she can be out in a month. She’s excited to move.”
“You think this will work for a new pack central location?” I asked.
“Yes,” Corbin answered.
“You’re right—it feels good here,” Jude added. “And we didn’t smell any rot in town, but there’s plenty of cities nearby to go hunting. Of course we won’t all always stay here, either, but it’ll be a good home base. I think we should run the perimeter of town anyway, though. I think you probably need to get out, too.”
I knew Jude meant in our hellhound form, which we rarely did, but he was right—I did need to let my hellhound out. It would be good to run with pack, too.
I showed Jude and Corbin up to two of the guest bedrooms and let them get settled in, and the afternoon passed with us catching up and exchanging stories. They both rolled their eyes when I told them my stray human story, but thankfully I didn’t get any lectures like I had from Liam. Jude had apparently been traveling around and doing city sweeps, and Corbin had been hunting down outliers in smaller villages and urban areas. He had a gift for sensing where to go beyond even just scenting a rotting soul.
