He and Nix talked about it a few times—whether in passing or as a joke, but always honestly.
Does he want a child with Nix? Of-fucking-course—it’s the dream. Just thinking about it makes his heart glow inside his chest, and his cock kick in his jeans.
It will happen someday—when they’ve talked about it, planned for it, and when Nix wants it.
When they both do.
Besides, any child Nix has will be a pack-baby, regardless of who donatesthe genetic material. They will have eight parents who love them, care for them, and protect them from all the scary things.
Scary things like Tsuki dragging something big out of the woods.
If Tsuki wanted to indulge her hunting instincts, Jay would expect the puppy to bring back a squirrel or some other appropriately sized woodland creature. Then Jay would just have to quickly hide the poor thing before Luca caught sight of it.
But this is three times her size.
What the ever-loving fuck?
Jogging over, it’s not hard to see that it’s a body—a big dude in black.
There is a huge, very long sniper rifle trailing behind him as Tsuki drags him by his pant leg onto the driveway and sits, looking pleased with herself. There’s no scent coming from the body, and Jay isn’t sure if that’s because he’s dead or because he’s wearing military-grade blocker patches.
Jay could only hazard a guess about the blockers because Dead Dude’s throat is an enormous gaping hole.
There’s no need to check for a pulse, then.
The front door swings wide open, and Leo and Gideon are beside him in a flash. They must have been watching for them. Finn drags Rowan back toward the house, where the others are stuck in the doorway, staying well out of the potential danger.
Gideon gets there first—smelling like a thunderstorm but looking calm—bumping his arm.
“You do that?”
“Ha, ha. No. She just brought him out.” Jay nods toward the woods, and thank the Goddess she did, too.
That rifle was intended for someone in the house—maybe more than just one person.
Tsuki heads over to Leo, trying to woo him with her proximity instead of the usual tried-and-true offer of shared kibble.
“Good girl,” Leo whispers, roughly patting her head. “You think she did that?”
Gideon calls Tsuki to him. “Open.”
She huffs but obeys, baring her clean teeth.
“Thank you, girl. Sorry, I doubted you.”
“It’s an animal bite, though, for sure,” Gideon says, crouching down and using a pair of tongs he’s pulled from somewhere to hold the collar of Dead Dude’s coat back. “Part of a neck tattoo.”
He must recognize it because he looks at Jay and gives him a minuscule nod.
Carnell’s organization.
Well, now at least the police can consider thissomething.
“Let’s call it in. They’ll be pissed Tsuki relocated the remains, but at least we’re already on their radar. Everyone, get back inside—blinds closed and away from windows. I’ll worry about getting us moved.”
“Moved?” Leo says. “But we just got here!”
Jay pats his shoulder before gently pushing him inside.
