“You’re allowed to put the clotheson,” I told him.
Rorik pouted, then grudgingly shoved his legs into a pair of shorts.
“Are those Cobalt’s clothes?” Aurum asked. “Anyway, whatever. I just wanted to let you know me and Mylo are going to bed soon, so—”
Suddenly, the door behind him creaked open. Two long furry shadows darted out into the shared living space.
“Hey, you two! Get back here!” Aurum called.
The twin ferret kits chittered with amusement as they dodged their dad’s grabby hands. Aurum nearly fell flat on his face as his girls snaked out of reach and ran right towards Rorik. They stopped at his feet, their wings folded neatly against their long backs, then stood on their haunches and stared up curiously.
Rorik shot me a panicked look. “What are these creatures?”
I realized he must not have seen black-footed ferrets before in the tundra—especially not ones with tiny wings.
I flashed him a reassuring grin. “That’s Kiara and Desiree. They’re twin black-footed ferret shifters, and they’re Aurum’s daughters.”
Rorik’s eyes widened. He was so stunned that he dropped the remaining pile of clothes, burying the girls.
Immediately, he gasped and dropped to his knees. He moved way faster than I expected of a man his size. He frantically threw the clothes aside to free the girls, who squealed with laughter.
“Agin!” Kiara said.
“Agin!” Desiree echoed.
Rorik looked horrified at his actions. “Are they okay? What are they saying?”
I couldn’t help but laugh again. “They’re saying ‘again’. They want you to put clothes on top of them.”
“Why?”
I grinned. “Because it’s fun.”
Rorik frowned, worry and sympathy painted across his face. “I don’t want to hurt them.”
My heart lifted. It was the most honest, straightforward thing I’d heard from his lips.
There he is,I thought, hope bubbling in my chest.The real Rorik, buried underneath the layers of conditioning.
I strode towards Rorik and put my hand on his shoulder, which I could only reach because he kneeled on the floor.
“You won’t hurt them,” I promised. “Ferrets love being buried in piles of clothes. Look.”
I pinched a shirt in my fingers and let it fall on top of Kiara and Desiree. They squealed with joy, squirming like worms beneath the fabric. Their matching masked faces popped out from the shirt collar a second later.
“Agin, agin!”
“See?” I told Rorik. “Here, now you try it.”
Rorik hesitated, then picked up a pair of sweatpants and gingerly dropped them onto the ferrets.
Kiara and Desiree each took a route up separate pant legs. They crawled up the inseam before exiting through the waistband. Then they spun around and went back down the opposite way.
As he watched them, Rorik breathed a sigh of relief. He ran a hand through his short hair. “Hells, I was afraid I’d crushed them…”
Aurum sauntered over to collect his daughters. “Don’t worry, big guy. It takes more than that to hurt ‘em.”
Another wave of relief washed over Rorik’s face. As he watched Aurum and his girls, there was a tenderness in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. It warmed my chest. That was the Rorik I wanted to know better—the one I wanted to protect.
