He glanced around nervously. “All right. Um... When I think of moss, I think of caves. How about in here?” he asked, pointing his nose towards the cavern.
Cobalt mentioned the Chromatimaeus river snails used the moss for breeding, so it must be somewhere wet. Didn’t most caves contain some water? Poppy’s idea was a good one, but since I wasn’t supposed to help, I didn’t share my thoughts.
I shrugged. “Hey, don’t ask me. I’m just along for the ride. Wherever you go, I go.”
“Okay.”
The two of us padded into the yawning mouth of the cavern. It was dark and damp inside. The rich smell of earth surrounded us, along with the scent and sound of water coming from deeper within. That lifted my hopes. Could Poppy find the rare moss after all?
Poppy raised his head to sniff the air, then set off towards the water. Along the way, he asked, “So, how’s it going with Cobalt?”
I grinned. “Awesome. He’s the best.”
“Is he nice? He seems nice,” Poppy said wistfully.
“’Course he’s nice! I wouldn’t be fated to some douchebag.”
“That’s good.” He sighed in relief. “Oh Muzo, I’m so happy for you. I was really worried what would happen if you had to leave the island and go back to nothing...”
I headbutted his shoulder. “Hey, I wouldn’t havenothing.I’d have you.”
He smiled, gently thumping his tail against me. “I know. But with my earnings, I couldn’t feed you and put a roof over your head forever. That’s why I’m glad Cobalt is your mate. He’ll always take care of you.”
Warmth filled my chest. Cobalt had said the same thing to me. I’d never felt as safe and secure as I did with him—not just in terms of money, buteverything. He was my home.
But I felt a twinge of guilt, too. Taylor found his mate in Crimson, and now I’d found my mate in Cobalt. It wasn’t fair that our sweet Poppy was still alone.
I licked my friend’s cheek. “You’ll find your mate, Pops, I promise. And he’s gonna be the nicest, gracious-est, most pleasant and respectable guy you ever did meet!”
“W-what are you talking about?” Poppy huffed. “Enough about me. I want to know more about you two.” He dropped into a whisper. “Did you... you know...”
“Did we what? Oh. Have sex? Yeah, a bunch of times.”
If Poppy was in human form, a blush would’ve lit up his whole face. Instead his fur fluffed out around his neck. “Y-you did? Wait, Muzo. Are you pregnant?”
I blanked.WasI pregnant? I didn’t know. We talked about breeding and never used protection, so it wasn’t impossible.
“Uh,” I said. “Maybe?”
Poppy’s tail wagged vigorously. “Muzo! I can’t believe you’re going to be a parent. Oh, that’s so wonderful.”
It hadn’t struck me until now that—yeah, Iwasgoing to be a parent.
And Poppy was right. Itwaswonderful.
I couldn’t help wagging my tail, too. “Yeah. It’s early, but I’m pretty excited about it. I can’t wait for my kid to meet Uncle Tay and Uncle Pops.”
Poppy beamed, looking absolutely elated. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a sneering voice.
“I fucking knew it. Look, the jackal’s leading him right to the prize!”
We spun around to see a trio of contestants behind us. There were two wolves, one brown and one gray, and a coyote. Since I was a jackal and Poppy was a relatively small wolf, all three of them outmatched us in size.
I felt a zap of recognition. Their forms were different, but there was no mistaking their voices and foreboding attitudes. These were the same bullies harassing Poppy earlier.
My hackles rose into furry spikes. “What do you want?” I demanded.
“We want the prize,” the brown wolf growled. “Tell us where the moss is.”
