Crush flipped them off. “Shut up.”
He was opening the car’s back door to retrieve Naddie when Uriel said, “Bruiser and a few others are patrolling the area right now.”
Killian and Crush exchanged a look. Killian was willing to bet they were thinking the same thing—Uriel was actually saying Bruiser’s name?
Out loud, Killian blurted, “Bruiser is here?”
Uriel rolled his eyes. “Self-righteous prick wanted to get in on the action. Doc says he’ll come by in the morning to check things out.”
Hansel swooped down to land next to the car, shifting from his falcon shape into a human. From the trunk, he retrieved a silky black robe—with a white shirt and blue tie printed on it to resemble a suit—and dressed himself. “I’ll get the bags.”
Scarcely had he taken two steps with the bulky bags, when a seam ripped loudly.
Instead of clothes or baby toys, what spilled out was a lot more embarrassing: flesh-colored dildos, neon pink plugs, vibrators of all shapes and sizes.
The largest of them—a bright purple dildo with realistic veins—bounced and rolled across the ground to land at Joe’s feet.
These were toys that Killian had bought with his allowance post-kidnapping, after he had moved into the Cartfalls safe housewith his friends. Up until this morning, these had all been safely tucked into his bedside drawer.
“H-how did that get here?!” he squeaked.
Because it was better than looking Crush’s dad in the eye.
“Oh! I stopped by the safe house before I made the trip here,” Hansel explained with a dismissive wave. “Mathlin helped me pack some of your things so you wouldn’t feel homesick.”
Killian gaped. “How isthissupposed to help make me feel less homesick?”
He leaped forward to snatch the dildo off the ground, away from Crush’sentire family.It was too big to hide with his hands; he hugged it to his chest and felt too exposed, so he stuffed it under his shirt. The big, thick outline just made everything more awkward.
Hansel’s eyebrows reached his hairline. “Howl Consort, would you like me to describe how an adult toy can help to distract you?”
“Noooo!” Horrified, Killian turned to Crush and shoved the dildo at him. “Help me hide this!”
Crush looked extremely amused. “Where?”
“Not in me! It touched your dad’s foot; I don’t think I can use it anymore. It’s contaminated.” Killian paused, his mortification growing. “Not that you have germs or anything,” he whimpered to Joe. “I meant that I don’t want to think of you when using it.”
Crush’s face was purple; he was trying so hard not to laugh. “Sweetheart.” He gently grasped Killian’s shoulders, turning himaway from the rest of his family. “Shift into a rabbit. I’ll hideyouand you can relax.”
Right as Killian was about to shift, he saw Crush stuffing the tip of the dildo into his back pocket. “It’s going to fall out and hit someone else. Crush, you can’t let it fall out. Those dildos are so heavy, they’re going to poke someone’s eye out.”
“Where did Crush find him?” someone whispered, sounding amazed.
“I don’t know, but I want one too,” someone else replied.
“Oh gods,” Killian moaned.
Crush’s tone turned commanding. “Shift, bunny.”
Killian tugged on his animal instincts, letting his clothes swallow him up. And now he was a small rabbit, no longer visible to everyone’s sharp eyes. “Wait, do I smell like food to everyone now?”
“You smell like pack,” Crush said. “But just in case, I’m going to mark you up in private. Make you really smell like mine.”
More wolf whistles.
Crush gathered up Killian and his clothes, before depositing him in Naddie’s car seat, next to his sleeping baby. Crush hauled the car seat out of the car.
“Wait,” Killian blurted. “What about the toys on the ground? Where did Hansel go?”
