There was a long pause.
“Hansel... left a trail of crumbs. A trail of toys. To my cabin.”
Killian covered his face with his paws and groaned.
“I’ll pick them up,” Ottis said. “If Crush does it, you’re going to get sick from swinging up and down. And I don’t think you want anyone else’s alpha scent on them.”
“Thanks,” Killian said weakly. “I owe everybody so much, oh gods.”
“Just focus on resting up,” Joe said. “Shoo. Get going, Crush. I’ll help too.”
“Oh gods, your dad is picking up my toys,” Killian whispered, more humiliated than before. He burrowed deeper into his clothes, trying to drown out their voices. “How is this my life?”
“It’ll become a funny memory in the future, sweetheart.” A large hand landed on top of him, stroking him through the layers of clothes. “Don’t worry so much.”
“I can’t believe this. I was an assa—I’ve k—I’ve done crazy things! Many crazy things! But this is my downfall. A big purple dildo.”
Crush laughed. “Life’s like that sometimes. It could be worse.”
It really could. Killian sighed, tugging on his ears to comfort himself.
Crush slowed to a stop moments later. A door squeaked open and shut, and the pack’s sounds grew muffled.
“There,” Crush murmured. “You’re safe now.”
Relief flooded Killian. He sagged into his rumpled clothes and closed his eyes.
Someone knocked on the door. “Let us in!”
Wheels squeaked. Killian twitched, but Crush was faster.
In moments, Crush had Wonder Cart and Hansel in the cabin too.
“Is there space for everyone?” Killian struggled out of the pile of clothes to see for himself.
“Yes. There are two bedrooms. It’s smaller than my cabin; sorry about that.”
The cabin was similar to the one in the mountains, with wood walls and rafters, but everything was much smaller here. Killian almost found it more comforting to be in such a tiny space. It was just like a rabbit burrow.
Crush turned to Hansel. “What was that about, with the toys?”
Hansel had the grace to look sheepish. “I didn’t realize the bag would break. But I wasn’t going to provide Howl Consort withfeweroptions. Can you imagine going somewhere and having all these toys, but not your favorite one? I didn’t know his favorite, so I brought them all.”
“And now they’ve all been dropped on the ground.” Crush muttered.
Hansel flapped his hand dismissively. “You can buy replacements, maybe even commission someone to make better ones. You can even makea replica of yourself.Don’t pretend you don’t want that.”
Crush continued to stare at his butler, but his narrowed eyes now looked thoughtful. He turned to Killian, his gaze sharp. “What do you think, sweetheart?”
Killian tugged his ears over his eyes. “Maybe.”
His traitorous heart skipped and revealed the lie for what it was. Crush huffed. “Alright. Let’s get Naddie into an actual crib, and get you into bed.”
“There’s a crib?” Killian raised his head.
Through the doorway to one of the bedrooms, he spied a wooden crib with howling wolves carved into its side.
“My pack has a few,” Crush said. “My parents kept the ones they raised us in.”
