“I’ll never do that again, I really am sorry. Even if I don’t understand or agree with something, I promise we’ll work it out. No more holding back or shutting each other out. That goes for both of us,”I offer, flashing her images of our mates and her with a closed beak. After a moment, she extends her talon-tipped hand for a fist bump, and I brush my small knuckles against hers and feel a massive weight lifted off my chest.
“Alright, Pidge, let’s Paul Bunyan the shit out of this tree and get back before we get caught.”
I shake my head as she excitedly refocuses on what I think is an impossible task. I’m adding that line to the list of shit I’d never thought I’d have to say to someone. These days that list is getting seriously long.
Pigeon flashes me an image of her handing me a beer can, and I crack up. Well, she’ll probably get me killed, but at least I’ll go down laughing. I guess I should find some comfort in that.
* * *
“What the hell?” Zeph shouts as Pigeon hands over the reins of our body so I can explain why she just shoved a massive tree through the roof hole of our cave.
Thanks, Pidge.
I climb down the branches, which is no small feat since I have no fucking clothes on. Again,thank you, Pidge.My feet hit the floor of the cave, and Ryn pulls off his shirt and hands it to me. I don’t have time to thank him or try not to drool over his muscles before Zeph is in my face. I ignore the feel of his body against mine as he invades my personal space with his anger issues.
Shit, we need to stop surprise shifting, because we are running out of clothes. I get now why all of their clothes have ties holding them together on the sides. It’s so the ties break and not the clothes themselves from a shift, but I’m not seeing any more ties around here. The clothes we have now are thanks to a raid on someone’s laundry line, but surprise shifts have resulted in two pairs of pants and a shirt having been ripped apart, and that leaves us with only three pairs of pants and two shirts.
“Why is there a tree sticking out of our roof?” Zeph asks, shoving a branch away from his face as he does and pulling my thoughts away from our clothes issues.
I sigh and pull Ryn’s shirt over my head. “Because Pigeon decided she needed to build a nest.”
“And you’re just letting her?” Zeph demands, his words oozing all kinds of judgement.
“Yes, I am. And guess what? So are you, because your snapping at each other is the reason she decided it needed to happen in the first place. Apparently, she thinks a nest will solve all of your issues.”
He gives an incredulous snort.
I glare at him.
“Don’t worry, I tried to explain to her that there is no cure for your dickish personality, but it seems she takes this whole mate thing a hell of a lot more seriously than any of us do.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he challenges.
“It means exactly what I just said.” We stare each other down, and I pour ice water all over the heat that tries to crawl up my thighs and settle low in my belly.
Yep, Pigeon is back, and she’s returned with a healthy dose of annoying ass hormones. I was really hoping now that we’re all officially mated—ugh—she’d cut that shit out. It seems I’ve seriously underestimated her nympho ways.
“Where the hell were you guys anyway? What kind of mates let their other half just take off when it’s dangerous?”
Ryn scoffs. “Oh, we didn’t, we all tried to go after you, which means we all crashed into each other as we tried to fly out at the same time. By the time we stopped fighting long enough to decide who goes first, you were nowhere to be found.”
I can just picture theThree Stoogesscene in my head, but instead of finding amusement in it, I just feel tired. How the hell are we going to win a war when they can’t even work together long enough to fly out of a fucking hole?
I look around. Well, technically none of us can fly out of the hole now because of the whole tree thing, but hopefully Pigeon can make short work of her nest, and the tree stopper in the roof will be gone in no time.
I press in closer to Zeph and drop my voice. “Can you rein in your hate long enough for us to do what we need to do, or should I rethink who goes on this trip and who doesn’t?”
Zeph’s honey eyes flash with rage, but I don’t let it sting me. I’m not trying to embarrass him by calling him out in front of the others, but his attitude needs to be addressed before we start our search for the Ouphe. If it’s not dealt with, we could have serious problems because of it.
Zeph, Ryn, and Treno can’t spend the whole time bickering. Aside from it grating on my fucking nerves, it makes Pigeon do dumb shit like rip trees from the ground. We can’t afford for them to be too busy arguing to spot a scout or something else dangerous and deadly. I get the impression this place has no shortage of shit we don’t want to run into, and unfortunately, they’re the only ones who know what we are up against. We can’t afford for any of us to be distracted by petty hate.
The fact that I’m the only one who seems to realize that, speaks volumes. These guys aren’t dumb, they’re the leaders of their people. But right now, they can’t seem to shove the hurt and history away long enough to tap into who they need to be so all of us can get shit done.
“Are you questioningme?” Zeph growls low and menacingly.
His tone sends all kinds of pleasurable flashes to my clit, and I roll my eyes.“Pidge, cut that shit out!”She snickers, and I groan internally.
“You bet your asshole-ish ways, I am. I don’t want to die because you can’t behave,” I snap back.
