“Of course, Jaybird.” Soren gave his sweet friend a quick hug. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Jay grabbed his shoulders, a desperate gleam in his eyes. “Soren. What if no one comes?”
Danny stepped up, pulling Jay back gently while he widened his eyes pointedly at Soren. “Sweetie,” he soothed. “There’re already people here.”
“Right, right.” Jay let himself be pulled away, leaning into Alexei’s body instead, his mate stroking his back comfortingly.
Soren glanced around the yard, catching sight of a refreshments table. “Is there booze?” he asked hopefully.
Alexei cocked a brow at him. “What do you think?”
“There’s coffee and tea,” Jay told him. He immediately began wringing his hands. “Oh my God, should there have been booze?”
“No,” Danny told him, giving Soren another look. “Soren’s just teasing. Isn’t that right?”
Duly noted. Jay was too flustered for teasing today. Soren put away the sass for a bit of sincerity. “It’s perfect, Jaybird. It all looks really lovely.”
“You’ll take a look around?” Jay asked hopefully.
Some of the den had seen the shelter already—like Colin, who was going to be working there occasionally—but for those not involved in the setup, Jay had wanted it to be a surprise.
Although, with how often he’d described every bit of it in full detail at family dinners, Soren wasn’t sure how much of a surprise any of it was going to be.
But he nodded agreeably, grabbing Gabe’s hand. “We’ll look around right now.”
He and Gabe headed back inside, only to see Jamie and Luc arrive as they were leaving, Jamie grinning wide. “All right!” he called out, tugging Lucien toward their friends. “Where’s the booze?”
Soren sped up their steps to avoid dealing with the fallout.
He and Gabe made their way to the canine wing, a large area divided into two hallways, with dog cages along each side. Really, they were more like apartments—Jay had spared no expense, and each individual area opened into a little private yard in the back, separate from the larger fenced area for meet and greets or group play.
Soren walked along, Gabe’s hand in his, noticing that each dog had a placard with an adorable photo and a description of their personality.
He caught sight of Colin, who was about halfway down the hallway with the twins flanking him, busy coaxing out a shy older dog. His method involved telling the dog in a low voice how he was sweet and handsome and perfect.
Soren had never heard Colin speak so nicely to anyone.
Ones of the twins—Fox, Dane, who could remember?—seemed to agree. He was whining at Colin. “How come you never talk to us like that?”
Colin gave him an unimpressed look over his shoulder. “Because dogs are better than people. It’s a scientific fact.”
“We’re not people,” the twin argued. “We’re your mates.”
Colin rolled his eyes, but he tugged the twin closer by his shirt anyway, crooning in fake baby talk, “What a good boy you are. So sweet and handsome and perfect.” He cocked his head, his tone going flat again. “Is that better?”
The twin only stared at him, completely dumbstruck. Colin gave another eye roll and leashed the dog, leading him outside.
The other twin smacked his brother lightly on the back. “Dude. Get it together.”
“Did you hear that though?”
“He was joking.”
“You think if I edged him long enough, he’d say that in bed?”
“I think if you edged him long enough, he’d kick you in the balls.”
Gabe coughed loudly. “Guys. There are, like, children present.”
