CHAPTER 5
BUCKLE
I’mcozy and warm when hushed voices wake me. I don’t wanna wake up from my nap, I’m much too comfortable. Something tickles my nose. I flip to my other side, hitting a hard wall. I blink a few times, getting the sleep from my eyes.
Where the hell am I?
Light comes from a round hole and shadows dance across as two figures go back and forth somewhere outside.
I’m still in my chipmunk form. It should be easy to get away. I take a few deep breaths and ready myself to run.
There! The humans separate their big heads and I scamper from the nest and down the tree.
“Wait!” someone shouts, but I don’t.
I run as fast as my tiny legs can carry me. Which is pretty damn fast, if I’m honest.
Mate. Mate. Mate.My chipmunk chants in my head.
“You’re dreaming, buddy,”I tell him right back.
I don’t remember much, but something tried to kidnap me, then I passed out.
I jump to the first step of my porch when my chipmunk throws a hissy fit and forces me back into my human form. I tripon the next step and face plant right into my porch. Running naked should be a crime. I cup my dick and curl in on myself.
“Thanks, asshole,” I mumble to my chipmunk. He just laughs, or the chipmunk equivalence of a laugh, anyway.
“Are you okay?” Abel, the beautiful librarian, asks as he races over with someone else.
The squirrel. They look familiar, but I can’t place them. Their cheeks and the rest of them go pink.
I swallow, remembering why I passed the fuck out. “Mates.”
The three of us seem to whisper the word at the same time.
Abel twists his hands together and refuses to look at either me or the squirrel.
The squirrel leans forward with their hand. “I’m Perry. He/him.” I use his offering to pull myself up
“Buckle. He/him also.” I tip my head, taking the man in. Thin and lanky, like a typical Omega, but he’s almost as tall as Abel and I are. Perry has big beautiful brown eyes, curly silver gray hair that swoops into said eyes, and he’s constantly swiping the curls to the side. His olive skin is darker in the shadow of my porch roof.
Goddess, they look beautiful together. Abel’s deep red, almost brown eyes search mine. I knew he was a shifter, but never knew what kind. I’ve never been good at figuring it out.
“Abel. He/him,” the hawk whispers. He still doesn’t look at me, his eyes on the roof of my porch rather than me or Perry.
Perry hesitates to touch my arm. “Are you okay? That had to be terrifying falling from the sky after thinking you were hawk food.”
Abel grimaces and drags both hands down his face. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. My hawk just grabbed you. I thought he wanted a snack, but he said you were our mate and that freaked me out and I dropped you. I never would have?—”
I hold up a hand and can’t stop my grin. “It’s okay.”
Perry whips his head toward me. “What?!” He squawks and faces Abel. He pokes the hawk in the chest. Hard if the grimace is to be believed. “You almostatehim! He’sour mate, and you almostate him.”
My laugh bubbles out before I can stop it.
Perry turns that glare on me. “You could havedied.”
“Thanks for catching me. I couldn’t decide if I should shift or let Fate decide, and I’m glad I chose Fate. I had no idea it would be literally my Fated that saved me, though.”
