by Zoe Chant
She felt happier than she remembered being in a long time. Still, a worry gnawed at the back of her mind. She knew that being with Jackson was the right decision. She just wasn’t sure her uncle, or the other shifters, would feel the same.
*Are you in today?* she asked Bob.
*Work? No. This bloody cold. I’m giving myself one day in bed. Not that you need me around with the hellhounds on board.*
They arrived at the Puppy Express. Jackson cut the snowmobile’s engine and frowned. “Quiet today,” he said. “Where are the dogs?”
Olly passed the question on to Bob—but without saying who had originally asked it.
*Dogs? Mother of… if those hellhounds have stolen the dogs again…*
*I’ll look after it,* Olly reassured him. *You get some sleep.*
And give me some time to figure out how I’m going to explain this to you, she added silently. Any ideas? she asked her owl.
There was no reply. Just a shuffling sensation as though her owl was rustling its feathers.
“I guess I’d better leave you to your work,” Jackson said. He reached for her and hesitated.
She folded herself into his arms. “Why? Do you think you might have a negative effect on my productivity?”
He grinned bashfully. “About as bad as you used to have on mine.”
“I thought you did a great job keeping the Puppy Express a crime-free zone.”
“Until last year.” Jackson’s expression turned serious. “We haven’t talked about the hellhounds yet. Can you trust them, after what they did?”
“That was a year ago.”
“Yesterday, just one look at that Flea guy made you freeze up.”
“They’re alright, Jackson. And I’m alright.” How could she explain? “It’s like getting sick off, off tequila, and then never being able to stomach it again. I got hit so hard by their hellfire last year that I still get it worse if I see it now.”
“So why do you have to see them at all?”
“It’s not their fault. Don’t argue, I know how that sounds.” She blew a stray strand of hair off her face. “They’re the most pack-oriented shifters I’ve ever heard of. If their alpha says jump, their heads hit the ceiling. And their last alpha made them all shifters. That’s even more power.”
“You’re telling me I should hate the barman, not the tequila?”
“Something like that.” She grinned. “Anyway, Meaghan is their alpha now. Or Caine is, but since she’s his mate, it’s basically the same thing.”
“Meaghan Markham, who caused trouble since the day she moved into town?”
“I knew you’d remember her.”
“That’s not actually reassuring,” he said seriously, but his eyes were sparkling so much she couldn’t help kissing him.
Eventually, though, she had to tear herself away. “I’m going to have to work again today after all. Bob’s off with the plague. See you tonight?”
“Dinner?”
In front of everyone? Her initial instinct was to balk, but she’d spent twelve months not being brave enough to get what she wanted. And she wanted Jackson. All of him, public and private. “Yes?”
“I’ll pick you up, then.”
“In my two-days-old work uniform? I’m going to go home and change first. I’ll meet you there.” She tipped her head back. “I just need you to tell me where ‘there’ is.”
“Hannah’s? Seven?”
“I think I could manage that.” She kissed him again, to seal the deal.
Olly trailed after Jackson as he got into his car. As he disappeared around the bend, her owl finally raised its head.
It worked! her owl said. You’re happy now, aren’t you?
…Yes, she admitted. Her owl shuffled happily around inside her. But he’s still not my mate, you know.
Her owl ruffled its feathers. True. That’s… hmm.
Hmm what?
Just hmm. Her owl blinked. For now.
“Well that’s not unsettling at all,” Olly muttered. Her owl’s feelings became muted in her mind. Are you hiding something from me?
Don’t worry. I just need to think it through.
Fine. Be like that…
What could her owl be hiding? There clearly wasn’t any point asking it. It wasn’t like it had even told her what it was doing yesterday, before it made her jump into the lake after that ring.
She groaned. The ring! It was still back at the cottage, forgotten on the bedside table. She would have to return it another day. Hopefully the tourists hadn’t cut their vacation short after what happened at the lake.
She didn’t do a full circuit of the building before she went inside, but she did catch sight of Flea through the window. He was standing morosely behind the desk.
She pushed the door open and Flea looked up. There was no hint of hellfire in his eyes and Olly changed course. Instead of finding a perch behind one of the postcard or plushie displays, she walked over to the counter.
“Olly!” Flea cried out. “You’re back!”
“Sure am.” And hoping to avoid questions about where she’d been, so she quickly changed the subject. “I hope the tourists aren’t planning to sue us.”
“No problems there! We got the doctor to check them out, and Manu sorted them a free dinner at Hannah’s. The ring’s still missing, though, which is their own fault for not obeying the—er, um, I mean which is really a shame.” He glowered at nothing, which Olly knew extremely well was the only option people like them had when they wanted to glare at a creature that only existed inside their own heads.
“They haven’t left, then?”
“Oh, no. They’re staying in town until the day after Christmas.”
That was good news for her plan to return the ring, at least. “What about the dogs—”
“Oh, God! Sorry!” Flea spun around and faced the far wall, covering his eyes.
Olly fought her owl’s urge to duck down behind the counter. It’s just like a bad hangover, she told herself. The hellfire can’t hurt you and look, he’s not even looking at you.
The hellhounds had powers that shouldn’t exist. but once you got past the fact that they did exist, she found that she could handle their magic, after all. At least while his back was turned. Her shoulders straightened.
“Right. Flea, where are the dogs?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you!” He paused. “Well if someone stopped going freaking psycho every ten minutes—!” He looked up, saw Olly staring at him, and went bright red. “Sorry. My hellhound…”
“Sounds a lot like my owl,” Olly said understandingly. “I told Bob I’d go get them. I’m guessing they’re over at Meaghan and Caine’s, same as usual?”
Flea nodded morosely.
She raced up the stairs to the staff changing room and flung the window open. Cold air wrapped around her limbs as she quickly undressed and shifted.
She leaped from the windowsill and her owl swooped upwards, catching the warm air from the Puppy Express chimney and soaring over the trees. The sight stopped Olly’s worries dead in their tracks. Winter had always been her favorite time of year—her plumage blended in so well—wait, was that her thought, or her owl’s?
Questions were still tumbling through Olly’s mind when the sound of dogs barking filled the air. The trees gave way to a small clearing with a house in the middle of it. The “lost” Puppy Express dogs were leaping around the building. One of them jumped up at the front door, trying to scratch its way in. When they caught sight of the owl, they turned as one and barked at it.
So loud, her owl sniffed. What do they have to bark about? It’s only us. They should see that before they decide to bark. Also, they should hide. Don’t they know they’re in trouble?
It’s not their fault, Olly reminded her.
True. It’s their fault.
Manu and another of the pack, Ryan, appeared at the door. They were both in human form. The dog who’d been jumping up slipped past them into the house and Olly’s owl
tutted. Did they really not see that coming?
One of the hellhound boys waved at her. *Hi Olly!* He yelped as the other one smacked him on the side of the head. *Er, sorry about the dogs…*
Olly sent them a brief don’t-worry reassurance and circled overhead. She’d been to Meaghan and Caine’s dozens of time since they moved in together, but she still wanted to get her bearings before she landed.
Or maybe her owl did. Or maybe her owl did but only because it wanted her to feel safe that it, and therefore she, knew what they were getting themselves into.
Either way, her head hurt.
Meaghan and Caine lived a short distance out of town. It made a lot of sense. Human visitors wouldn’t bat an eye at seeing an owl swooping around the edge of town, like with Olly and her apartment, but a pack of fire-eyed hellhounds needed a bit of privacy. Just as the Heartwells had their lodge further up the mountain, here, the Guinnesses had their camp.
The camp had started off life as one of several luxury cabins a decent drive from what in Pine Valley counted as the bustle of town. The original architect, who had designed a modern, fashionable construction, all angles and glass would probably not approve of the renovations they’d made.
This architect had heard about insulation and granite countertops but not such complex cold-weather concepts as “needing a garage”. Caine had added one, and then a small outbuilding beyond it, and then, confirming Olly’s suspicion that the cabin was meant as a home for the small pack that was by then sticking to Meaghan and Caine like glue, they had moved the outbuilding several hundred yards to the far end of the section. The result was like a nest built up over seasons and generations, despite the house only being a few years old.
Olly flew down to the window Meaghan and Caine always left open for her on the upper floor. The barking intensified as she approached the house. The “stolen” dogs were all ecstatic to see her, even if they didn’t identify her or Bob as their alpha anymore. Not since Caine came to town.
She shifted and pulled on the spare clothes Meaghan left in a drawer for her, then tiptoed downstairs. She already knew where she would find everyone—she’d spotted them through the windows while she was flying. Downstairs in the living room.
Olly knocked on the living room door to let them know she was there, and Caine opened it. He looked as shamefaced as the dogs outside.
“It’s hard to run a sledding business when all your dogs go missing,” she reminded him, deadpan.
“I am sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced towards Meaghan, who was sitting on the sofa in front of the wood burner. The dog who’d snuck in earlier was draped over her lap, but it was the almost-imperceptible change in Caine’s expression as he looked at his mate that made Olly catch her breath.
Her owl made the special, disdainful hiss it saved for hellhounds. Olly turned around and saw Manu and Ryan try to burst through the door behind her at the same time.
Caine dropped his head into his hands. Meaghan sniggered.
“Come and sit with me,” she called to Olly.
“I really need to get back to work,” Olly protested, already moving to the sofa. She squeezed herself into one corner and tucked her feet up under her. “And the dogs…”
“I’ll take them back.” Caine winced. “It’s my fault they’re here, after all. We got some good news yesterday, and my hellhound…” He paused and exchanged a worried look with Meaghan, who grinned mercilessly back. “Are you going to be upset if I say my hellhound called the whole pack together and that includes the Puppy Express team?”
“If I was going to be upset, I would have been upset the first time it happened,” Olly reminded him. “Bob is upset. Though just about you calling them away. I don’t know if he knows about the whole part-of-your-pack thing.”
“Fair enough.” Caine ducked his head, then looked at Meaghan again and straightened. Something passed between them, communication on a level of intimacy Olly could only dream of. “But this is—we have big news.”
He moved to Meaghan’s side and she squeezed his hand. Her eyes were dancing.
Her owl fluttered its wings. I know this! I know what they’ve been hiding!
Yes, but shh, Olly replied.
But I know! And we didn’t even have to ask!
Caine flushed. “It’s—we—Meaghan…” He looked at her and deflated. “You already know, don’t you?”
“Of course she does.” Meaghan squeezed his hand.
Of course we do! Olly’s owl squawked. Tell them! Tell them I figured it out!
Olly blinked slowly, all innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
What? Yes we do!
“And even if I did—” Olly cleared her throat. She’d spoken more loudly than she intended, as though she was actually trying to speak over her owl. “Even if I did, I’d want to hear it from you both.”
She pulled her knees up and put her arms around them. Her owl was glaring at her from the inside, which was always a strange sensation.
But I know this, her owl insisted. I figured it out!
I know, but… this is a human thing.
It wasn’t that she thought it was wrong. Her owl was seeing the same things she was—the shy pride on Caine’s face, the fact that Olly was Meaghan’s closest friend in Pine Valley and what that meant to humans and how humans communicated good news—and it had seen the same things she’d seen over the past few weeks. All the little clues.
Meaghan pulled Caine down so he was perched on the back of the sofa, and wrapped one arm around his waist. She leaned into him, her head resting against his side.
Her owl ruffled its feathers. She’s preg—
“I’m going to have twins.”
What?
“What?” Olly slapped both hands over her mouth. “Oo mff twins?”
“You didn’t know? Hah! You didn’t know!” Meaghan crowed.
Olly wrenched her hands away from her face. “How could I?”
“Well, you figured out I was pregnant, right?”
“Yes, but—” Olly gestured randomly. “I couldn’t have figured out you were… Twins!”
“I know!” Meaghan burst out laughing as Olly threw herself across the sofa and hugged her. She smelled like woodsmoke and the herbal tea she’d started drinking instead of coffee. Another thing I should have noticed, Olly thought, letting Meaghan go and hugging Caine.
I noticed, her owl muttered.
“Congratulations,” Olly said, hoping they both understood how heartfelt the sentiment was. Her face hurt from the grin stuck to it. “How long have you known?”
Caine and Meaghan exchanged another of their perfect-understanding looks.
“Two weeks? Two weeks,” Meaghan said. “At least that’s when I started getting suspicious.”
“And my hellhound started acting like every shadow was a potential threat,” Caine mumbled, his cheeks going pink. Meaghan bit her lower lip, which did absolutely nothing to hide her satisfied smirk.
Which must be why the others have been on edge, too, and he keeps accidentally calling our sled dogs over to strengthen the pack, Olly decided.
Caine met her thoughtful gaze and nodded. “…and it hasn’t stopped thinking everything’s a potential threat. Which is why I keep stealing the dogs. Sorry. They must sense that I’m worried about… everything… and—”
The hall door burst open. A sea of huskies flooded through it, yelping urgently. Olly curled herself up in the corner of the sofa, giggling as the dogs leaped up onto the seat and her owl hissed disapprovingly.
“I’m not totally sure how being buried in dogs is meant to protect me, but I’m happy to try it,” Meaghan announced from beneath a wriggling blanket of happy dogs. “Bleh—enough kisses, Loony.”
Loony got one more lick in and then let Meaghan push her off her lap. Another dog immediately took her place.
“I didn’t mean to let them in!” Manu said from the door. “I just—er…”
“Want
ed to come check on me, same as the huskies?” Meaghan deadpanned. She gave Caine a meaningful look and he jumped into action.
“Olly, how would your uncle feel about having a few extra hands around the place today?”
“Er, I guess he—”
“Great. We’ll head straight over. I’ll take the dogs back and deliver a few helpers at the same time.”
“What about Flea?” Olly asked, remembering what he and Manu had said about tipping each other over the edge.
“His hellhound will behave if Caine’s there,” Meaghan reassured her.
Caine ducked to kiss her. When he straightened, every dog in the room—and the human-shaped hellhounds, too—jumped to attention. “I’ll be back for lunch?”
“Come back with lunch,” Meaghan replied, and pulled him down for another kiss.
Olly’s smile half-dropped. Meaghan and Caine were so perfectly in tune with each other. And Caine was in tune with his hellhound. It might think about things differently, and its over-the-top protectiveness clearly left Caine slightly bemused, but it wanted the same things he wanted.
“I should really get back to work too,” she said, starting to stand up.
Meaghan thrust out one foot and kicked her in the back of the knees. Olly sat down with an oof. Her owl fluffed out its feathers in absolute disgust. If she’d been paying more attention, she could have avoided the kick.
“Stay,” Meaghan said plainly. “Or else I’ll be left here alllll alone and then you’ll never get the huskies back to work.”
Olly narrowed her eyes. This feels suspiciously like a pre-arranged plan, she thought as Caine called out to his pack to get in the truck. “You don’t need to send all the guys away,” she said, testing the waters. “I’m sure the other hellhounds can drive themselves. Caine could stay.”
“Nah. It’ll do them all good to run around a bit. Honestly, recently they’re more like hell-sheep than hellhounds. Following me around all the time. Or—you know that thing that cows do? Just standing around watching you? And I suppose it’s only going to get worse.”
“They don’t go hellfire on you?” Even being friends with the hellhounds, and even knowing they didn’t mean it if their hellfire spilled out, Olly didn’t like the idea of them gathering around, staring.