Something flickered across Reese’s face. Approval maybe. Or respect. Sonny couldn’t read him well enough to tell. His mate was a wall of controlled power and barely visible emotion, the kind of shifter who probably never showed what he was thinking.
“A vet lives with me and my team.” Reese was already moving toward the door, his massive frame cutting through the café, customers instinctively making room. “We’ll get the dogs checked out. Get them safe.”
Sonny instantly followed. His feet just moved, carrying him after Reese like they’d been doing it forever. His bunny had settled completely, all the fear and panic from the last two days evaporating in Reese’s presence.
The street outside was cooler than the café had been. Sonny’s thin jacket did nothing against the evening breeze. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to generate warmth that his exhausted body couldn’t quite produce.
His mate noticed, ice-blue eyes sweeping over Sonny again, lingering on the way he slightly shivered.
“My truck is two blocks away.” Reese started walking, long stride eating up the sidewalk. Sonny had to take nearly two steps for every one of his just to keep up. “We’ll get the dogs first.”
Sonny nodded, even though Reese wasn’t looking at him anymore. His mate had priorities that matched his own, which should’ve been reassuring but, instead, only made the whole situation feel more surreal.
Just thirty minutes ago he’d been running for his life. Now he was following a polar bear who was apparently his destined mate to rescue the dogs he’d stolen from a hyena fighting ring.
His life had become a very weird movie.
“They’re good dogs,” Sonny reassured. The words tumbled out with an overwhelming need to explain. “I know they look scary and they’re from a fighting ring, but they’re gentle. The male lets me check his wounds without flinching. The female curls up against my legs when she sleeps. They just need kindness.”
Reese glanced back at him, expression hard to read. “You’ve been taking care of them you said?”
“Someone had to.” Sonny strangled the fabric of his jacket. “The hyenas just saw them as cash cows. As property that could keep the money flowing. They didn’t care that the dogs were suffering.”
They turned a corner, and a truck came into view. It was massive, black, with enough chrome to blind someone in direct sunlight. The kind of vehicle that looked like it could drive through a building and come out the other side unscathed. Sonny’s entire apartment could have fit in the truck bed.
“How long were you at the fighting ring?” Reese unlocked the truck with a chirp that echoed across the quiet street.
“About a month.” Sonny felt nauseous just thinking about it. “They needed someone who could patch up the dogs between fights. Keep them alive long enough to be profitable. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I took the job.”
That was a lie. He’d known exactly what he was getting into. The hyenas hadn’t been subtle about their operation. But Sonny had needed money and a place to hide after his last disaster, and working for criminals had seemed preferable to starving on the street.
He’d been wrong about that.
Reese opened the passenger door and waited. Sonny climbed in, his body protesting every movement. The seat was soft, made of expensive leather that probably cost more than Sonny had made in the last year. The truck smelled like Reese, of something clean and cold and fundamentally safe that made Sonny’s bunny want to curl up and sleep for approximately three days.
“Direct me.” Reese started the engine. The sound was a low purr, controlled power that matched its owner.
Sonny gave him directions in short bursts, tracking the streets they passed. Everything felt different from inside the truck, safer. Like the metal and glass created a barrier between him and the rest of the world. His mate drove with the same controlled power he seemed to do everything else, his large hands steady on the wheel.
The house appeared on their right. Sonny pointed, and Reese pulled into the driveway like he owned the place. Maybe he did. Sonny didn’t know Crimson Hollow yet.
“They’re in the back.” Sonny was already opening his door before the truck had fully stopped. The dogs had been alone for too long. What if they’d gotten scared and run? What if someone had found them?
His feet hit the driveway, and he was running, his muscles screaming in protest. The gate squeaked as he shoved it open. The backyard stretched out ahead of him, shadowed by the setting sun.
The dogs were exactly where he’d left them, pressed together on the concrete patio. Both heads lifted when Sonny appeared. The male’s tail gave a tentative wag. The female struggled to her feet, despite her injured leg, limping toward him with an eagerness that made Sonny’s throat grow tight.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He dropped to his knees on the concrete, ignoring the pain, and let both dogs press against him. Their warmth soaked through his thin jacket. The male licked his face with a tongue that smelled like the water he’d drunk earlier. “I told you I’d come back. I always keep my word.”
Footsteps sounded behind him. Heavy, measured, unmistakably Reese. Sonny glanced up to find his mate standing a few feet away, those ice-blue eyes fixed on the dogs. His expression was stoic, that wall of controlled emotion that Sonny couldn’t crack.
“This is them,” he said unnecessarily. His hands gently slid over both dogs, checking their wounds again even though he’d done it thirty minutes ago. The male’s ribs were still too prominent. The female’s limp was still there.
Nothing had changed except now they had actual help. “The hyenas called them Brutus and Killer, which is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Look at how sweet they are.”
The male had rolled onto his back, exposing his scarred belly in a display of trust that made Sonny want to cry. The female had her head on Sonny’s knee, watching Reese with guarded curiosity.
“Those names don’t fit.” Reese’s voice had grown softer, though it still carried that natural authority. He crouched, making himself smaller, less threatening. The female gave a small wag of her tail.
