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“Yup, it means you guys are going to be my new Papas,” Wren replied solemnly, before peering up at him, lips pressed between their teeth as they met his gaze. “Right?”
“It sure does,” Roark replied. “Can you tell me what your pronouns are?”
“They and them.”
“Perfect. Your new siblings are only eight months old. Their names are Bowie and Acer, but they have siblings too, named Clover and Anais, who live next door, not that any of us spend much time apart, which means you’ve got three new uncles too.”
“That’s a lot. It’s just been me and Papa mostly, but I’ve gots an Uncle Lysander who’s a wolf. Uncle Tate and Uncle Ridge are owls, but I only get to see them sometimes ‘cause they travel a lot like we do. I always wished we had more people in our family the way the wolves I went to school with did.”
“Now you do,” Roark said. “You’ll get to meet a bunch of them when we get to the house. We have supper together every night.”
“You guys really are raising those pups together, aren’t you?” Logan asked.
“From just a few days after they were given to us,” Roark explained. “None of us had much experience caring for pups, outside of helping with younger siblings or nieces and nephews. We all have jobs but there was no way we were turning down the opportunity to be parents.”
“That’s exactly the way I felt when I found Wren.”
“We put our heads together and came up with a plan that allowed me and Baz to work from home,” Roark explained as the guys went past, carrying the last armload of things that had made up the pile. “He’s in charge of the borderlands expansion project, which entails a lot of moving parts.”
“He’s glued to a screen, isn’t he?”
“Pretty much. So am I these days, unless I’m making a market run for new stock for the sheep farms we run. Now Brooks wants me to work with a pair of brothers to put together a proposal for a goat farm that will mirror the model we used. I’m excited to get to work on it, because it means a wealth of new products for the pack.”
“I’m partial to goat milk soap, myself.”
“Then you’ll be pleased to know that’s all we use at our house, and that goes for lotions and hand soaps too.”
“Nice. Rusty said you just moved into your place?”
“Two months ago. The construction crew just finished building it. We’re going to need to stop at the furniture store, no way is Wren sleeping on a pullout couch on their first night in their new home. They’ll have their own room, too, once they pick the one they like the best.”
Wren immediately piped up. “I get a whole room?”
“You sure do.”
“And I’m a big sibling now…that’s so awesome. I can’t wait to meet them. I’m never going to let anything bad happen to them.”
Roark had to brush a tear away at hearing that, and he wasn’t the only one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cor wiping his cheek too. Even Rusty looked like he needed a minute. The only one who didn’t seem to be moved was Flame, but Roark was convinced that Rusty’s brother had hardened too much that even meeting his mates wasn’t going to soften him. So far, nothing close to that momentous disaster had happened yet, but at the rate the club brothers were beginning to find their fated forevers now that they’d settled back on pack grounds, something told him that Flame’s time was coming, and it wasn’t going to be easy for him to get out of his own way so he didn’t wreck things for himself.
“Everything’s loaded,” Rusty announced, before crouching down and holding out a purple stuffed duck. “I found him tangled up in the blankets.”
“Quackers!” Wren hugged the duck to their chest. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Are you ready to hit the road?”
“Quackers and I are raring to go.”
“Then let’s get you buckled in,” Rusty announced, taking the hand Wren offered and leading them to the SUV.
“Guess we’d better get moving, or Wren and Quackers might leave us in the dust,” Roark said, grinning over at his mate and their new pup.
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Logan replied. “I’ve got to keep the keys hidden because they love climbing behind the wheel and playing like they’re driving NASCAR.”
“Good to know. We’ll need to think of a better place to keep the keys at the house then, because right now they’re just hanging on a rack right out in the open, at a height that I’m sure Wren could reach if they stood on a sturdy stool.”
“Shit, yeah, I usually keep mine in the lock box beside my gun.”
“We’ve got a couple of those ourselves. Sounds like the best option too.”
