“Uh-huh.”
Danger starts to bark. I turn around and let out a yelp when I see that monstrous seagull peering into the house like it’s got us on radar.
“That’s Sully, isn’t it?” Sofia asks.
“Yes, that’s Sully,” Grandpa says with a shrug of his shoulders. “He’s a big bastard.”
“I knew it had to be him.”
“Had to be him?” Elijah asks in confusion, and I’m glad I’m not the only one.
“Now, I’m going to open the window. I don’t want anyone to react, just sit still and don’t move.”
Sofia slides open the window really carefully. Sully pauses and then steps one webbed red foot over the barrier and comes into the house in a move that I have never seen a wild bird do.
He wanders around, then hops up on the table, glaring at us curiously before he goes to the pile of recovered items and snatches up a gold ring in his beak. He takes off, spreading those massive wings and soaring out of the house.
I cannot believe what I’m even seeing.
“The seagull did it?” I ask faintly, still staring as he disappears. “The flippin’ seagull did it?” I shout.
Sofia grins. “Bet you didn’t have that on your bingo board.”
Chapter 30
Sofia
“What are we going to do about it?” My mum asks as she adjusts her jacket. She looks like she’s ready for war.
The omegas, betas, and alphas of Sunshine Cove have gathered at my mum’s house to discuss the thief issue and find a permanent solution to Sully. Everyone has a biscuit and a cup of secret recipe cocoa. Harry is sitting next to Marla and his beta. Yolanda is standing politely in the corner. The room is full of people and mixed scents that even my mum's scent-nullifying potpourri can’t erase.
Danger barks happily, talking to everyone who will look at him. He’s become a favourite in town, that’s for sure. Even Marla is taken with him.
The conversation starts off positive but rapidly turns into two camps of thought, while my stomach twists with a heavy weight. I ignore the way Elijah is stroking my back in soothing circles. Danger goes quiet, too, as if he could sense the direness of the conversation.
“We could trap him and relocate him far away from here,” my mother suggests, and I hate it. With every fiber of my being, I hate it.
In a sick kind of way, I kind of feel like Sully and I are the same. I don’t want to send him away; that’s not what we do.
But it’s much better than Betty’s solution of sending him on to his second life gently.
I cringe, watching as they argue back and forth. Every comment feels like they are talking about me. Should I stay or should I go? If they want Sully gone, well, what will they think about me?
Two camps, and both are getting more and more worked up and determined to make the other see that their plan is the right one.
No one is okay with him stealing, though.
“We can’t let this continue,” Harry says. “My wedding ring could have been lost forever. I never would have forgiven myself.”
“I say we vote on it.”
I chew my lip unhappily, counting. By my count, Sully will be making a long journey to a new home.
I don’t want that.
I stand up, unsure of what I’m going to say, but I know I have to say something.
“Come on, this is Sunshine Cove. There’s room for a strange bird here,” I say loudly.
