Reaching him, Carter knelt and peeled the edge of a soft blanket down so he could see the three little pups from the dream. “They really exist.”
Aaron hugged the blanket tighter. “They do.”
“Are they okay?” Carter asked softly. Aaron seemed upset. He still had dark circles under his eyes but there was something more.
“I think so.” He sighed. “I found what I think was their mama dog and some siblings.”
Carter winced. “Not good?” What was a litter even doing out this far? Had some asshole dropped them off in the middle of the state park? Where natural predators were all about?
“They were killed.” Aaron swallowed hard. “I think the mama dog managed to hide these three. The others…” He shook his head.
“I’m sorry that you saw that,” Carter said sincerely, placing his hand on Aaron’s shoulder.
“At least we found them finally,” Aaron said.
One brave little one poked his entire head out of the blanket. Carter gave the pup a gentle stroke. “I brought food and water.”
Aaron gave him a small smile. “Cool. I was so panicked when I woke up that I just borrowed a blanket from Bryce and ran to find them.”
Carter brought his backpack around to set it on the ground beside him. Aaron placed the blanket gently between them before unwrapping the three little ones.
“Wow,” Carter drawled. “A dragon blanket? That’s a tall order for such little ones to live up to.”
Aaron rolled his eyes, but the smile Carter received this time was much more natural. “I borrowed it from Bryce.”
He said those words like they should make sense to Carter.
“Bryce is mated to Axel. A dragon shifter,” Aaron said.
“A…yeah…you told me that yesterday.” Carter nearly spilt the water he was pouring into a small plastic bowl he’d packed. Had it only been yesterday morning that he’d stumbled into this giant secret? Fuck! It seemed like so much had happened already.
“And you didn’t believe us,” Aaron accused.
That wasn’t true. Well, maybe a little. Carter sighed as he finished pouring a small amount of water into the bowl. He set the bowl close to the pups.
The brave one, Carter was starting to see the differences between the three now, was the first to sniff the water before he began to drink. This boy had a white spot on his right ear that distinguished him from the other two.
The smallest one, a quick look revealed a girl, had a white spot on top of her head. And the middle was pure black, even under a coat covered in dirt except for one back paw. That was also a boy.
Two small boys and a girl.
Three precious little pups that had been through more in their very young lives than should have happened.
Carter had never had a pet before. He’d been too busy in Boston, trying to work his way up the ranks of the Boston PD. Now he wondered if he had been missing out. Would a dog have helped Carter feel more settled? Not that it would have been fair with the long hours he’d worked.
He’d been almost certain they’d have a cat when Hudson had first found Bas. The feline version, not the boyfriend. Although now Carter knew they were one of the same.
Digging out the jerky he’d brought, Carter didn’t look at Aaron as he asked, “What are you going to do with them?”
“Get them out of here for sure,” Aaron said. “They’re not safe here.”
“Are you going to take them home?” Carter questioned.
Aaron nodded. “Unless you know a better place for them?”
A better place? Carter broke the jerky into small pieces before glancing over at Aaron, who looked back at him with a grin. “What?” Carter asked, suspicious.
“You have a very nice big house,” Aaron said.
