Taggart brushed a fingertip along his cheek, wiping some tears away.
“I-I hid in a dried-up mudhole in the wallow, for days, until I was sure no one was going to come back. Even after it was silent and the fires died out, I stayed tucked as far to the back as I could, with my head under my wing, wishing I could fall through a hole and be anywhere else but there.”
“Is that when you headed this way?” Arlo asked gently. He’d come around the table to kneel beside Soren’s chair and hold him.
“No, no, I went home, but half the house was a burned-out shell, so I waited to see if any of my family came back,” Soren admitted. “But no one ever did. I flew out searching, but all I ever found were a few scattered remains and depressions in the earth from the mass graves that were dug to dispose of them. To hide what they did to everyone. I didn’t know what to do, so I loaded what I could salvage into the one car that was still working, and I drove with no actual destination. I was too afraid to go near people, so I camped out, and I tried to listen for newsof others who might have gotten away. Then I remembered what my brother had said about Cookietown, except by then the car’s engine had started smoking whenever I drove it more than a couple of miles. I left it behind and rented one to get me the rest of the way here, but I still messed up the route a couple of times before you found me on the road.”
“And I am so glad I did,” Arlo declared. “You’re safe here. The people who harmed your family, as well as the giraffes and rhinos, are the ones we’re hunting so we can stop them once and for all. That’s the project Taggart and I are working on. Now you’ve added another piece to the puzzle for us.”
“D-does that mean I helped?” It eased a little of the pain as the hope came with his mate's words.
“It sure does,” Arlo replied. “Now I want you to help just a little more and eat your food.”
“Y-you don’t think I was bad for hiding and not trying to do anything to help when they attacked us?”
“No, darlin’, I think you were smart, because now you can tell the story of what happened, so they’ll never become forgotten,” Arlo explained, frowning. “This is the first I’m hearing about the owls being used against other avians. That means that there are more of them than we thought. You just helped us prepare for what could still come our way. That’s extremely important. It takes just as much bravery to stay alive in the middle of chaos as it does to step out into it and risk getting yourself killed. You did good. But I am going to need to tell my crash alpha and the other alphas that have banded with us what you’ve told me, okay?”
Nodding, Soren met his gaze, seeing no judgment. “Okay.”
For a moment, Soren simply sat, held securely between Arlo and Taggart as they stroked his hair and squeezed him gently. For the first time since Taggart had hollered and brought him running, Soren felt like he could breathe without worrying about his heart busting out of his chest.
“I will allow no one to hurt or scare you, never again,” Arlo promised. “I’m going to arm this place with cameras and a high-tech security system, with Taggart’s permission, of course. I’ll feel better about you two being here when I have to work if there is some kind of warning system in place if someone should come sniffing around.”
“It’s okay with me.” Taggart nodded, wearing a thoughtful expression. “I have a doorbell camera, but that’s it for right now. I keep to myself, and I’m always careful that the people I do work for don’t know how to find or even contact me unless I want them to.”
“Then I’ll arrange for it,” Arlo said, giving them one last squeeze before returning to his seat.
“I-I can rewarm everything if your plates are cold,” Soren suggested, needing a little normalcy. “I should have waited for another time to say something.”
“No,” Arlo said as he forked a meatball. “I’m glad you trusted us enough to tell us now. I never want you to withhold anything from us for any reason. Mates have to be able to rely on each other, which always means being honest, even about the hard things.”
Soren attempted a smile, and couldn’t manage it, though he was able to wipe away the rest of his tears before picking up the small piece of garlic bread he’d taken. The last bit of information… that would wait until he didn’t feel so hollowed out. Hopefully, Arlington wouldn’t be cross with him, or feel he was holding out.
“Daddy is going to take care of the dishes while you and Taggart take your showers together,” Arlo declared after several bites. “And afterward, we’re going to put on a movie and have that cuddle pile we talked about.”
“Yay!” Taggart said. “I still definitely want cuddles.”
“So do I,” Soren admitted.
“Good, because I would truly enjoy some time with the two of you in my arms as well,” Arlo added. “I see you’ve already cleaned up everything else that you used. That’s more than enough work for the day, especially with all the energy we expended last night. Mate bonding is a process and not one that can be accomplished in a single night. In the beginning, it needs constant reinforcement. I want the two of you back in my arms. After what you just shared, that’s the only place you need to be.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” Soren said, relieved about more than just the dishes.
His mates hadn’t called him a coward or chastised him for not doing more. They’d listened to his story and just been grateful that he’d stayed alive to make it to them. That, along with the feel of their arms around him, was the best feeling in the world.
Chapter Nine
Arlo
With his boys in the shower and the water running, Arlo took a moment to scrub his hands over his face and curb some of the fury that surged through him. It wasn’t lost on him that he could have missed out on the opportunity to know one of his mates. Would it have always left an ache and a desperate yearning inside of him and Taggart, to feel that there was someone out there for them but never be able to locate them? The dread of such a destiny he tucked away, grateful that fate had sparedhim that, but losing so many saddened him, and added to his fury. The rogue council member and anyone working with him needed to be stopped and brought to justice, and any remaining owls needed to be wiped off the map, whether they’d had any choice in the matter or not. They’d caused too much harm at this point to earn forgiveness or the right to be spared.
Once one side of the double-sided sink had been filled with warm, soapy water, Arlo gave the dishes a few minutes to soak while he put in a call to Bash to get his take on everything he’d learned. The mass graves Soren told him about would need to be exhumed, the remains combed through for evidence, in the hopes that the giraffes, rhinos and oxpeckers had dragged some of their attackers into the underworld with them. There was a chance that more recording devices existed and that they had captured images of those involved. Images that could trap and exterminate them, too.
“Shocked to hear from you after the text you sent,” Bash said by way of a greeting. “Figured you would still be wrapped up in your mates.” Bash’s amused chuckle came through the speaker. “Congratulations on finding them. I hope they make you as happy as my Little Bumper has made me.”
Arlo leaned against the counter, his light-hearted chuckle came at memories of the way a small, rare rhino had turned one of the toughest enforcers he knew into a devoted mate. One who doted on his boy and enjoyed spending time at home and around the crash grounds with him. Seeing how content Bash was splashing around in the wallow with Romy, left Arlo with thoughts of digging a wallow of his own in Taggart’s big backyard.
An image popped into his head, of a meerkat perched on his back, disgruntled at being splattered with mud and trying to keep dry while an oxpecker perched on the top of his head, tweeting at the sun while tickling Arlo’s ears with his feathers. Itwas the picture of contentment, and yet anger burned just as hot in him the moment his thoughts returned to what Soren had told him.
