2. Galent’s Proposal

2

GALENT'S PROPOSAL

Pinks spluttered, his face burning. "W-what the hell kind of proposal is that? "

"One that makes sense." Galent lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. "That way, we both have a good time, and you have a guarantee that I will return for my child."

"You can't use children as collateral!"

Galent looked at him seriously. "Children are precious. By giving you mine, you can be sure that you have something I hold dear. You can use that child as an equal exchange for yours."

"I'm not letting you take my baby away. I'm not exchanging one baby for another," Pinks hissed. "If I bear them, they are both mine. "

Galent's gaze grew hooded. He rumbled low in his throat, bringing his face close to Pinks'. "Oh, you will be a good mate."

"Not your mate," Pinks snapped.

Galent looked into his eyes for an eternity. Then he pulled away, satisfied somehow. "I suppose I can bide my time."

Pinks scowled. "You are going to leave and never come back."

"I will return."

"No! That's not a suggestion! I'm telling you that you're not welcome here."

"Mm." Galent took a step back, raking his hot stare up and down Pinks like he was slowly undressing Pinks in his mind. His heavy attention swept down Pinks' face, lingering on his lips. Then it dragged over Pinks' chest and hips, before swooping down his legs to his toes, and back up again.

Pinks pressed his hands over the crotch of his pants and scowled.

Galent hefted his sizable bulge—holy hell, was it bigger now?—and glanced off to the side. "Ah. We have company."

How was he more aware of their surroundings than Pinks? When Pinks was the one with sharper senses?

Who exactly was Galent?

Two cars pulled into the driveway of the safehouse, men leaping out of them. Pinks tensed.

Until he recognized the newcomers: friends of his rescuers. Mav, Ace, and Raptor, all broad-shouldered alpha-types. Mav had sand-colored hair, whereas Ace and Raptor had black hair and looked so alike that they might actually be twins.

"Oh, Galent," Ace said in surprise. "Fancy seeing you here."

"You know him?" Pinks squawked.

"Old friend of ours." Raptor scrutinized Galent and Pinks. "We fought in the Eggplant Wars together."

"What eggplant wars?" Pinks had never heard of such a thing.

Galent smiled indulgently. "I would be happy to tell you. You must be young."

"I see how it is," Raptor said, elbowing Ace. They exchanged a look.

Mav strode up to the house. "What's this about a statue?"

Galent's smile disappeared, and he seemed almost sheepish. "About that. I was... cursed. Recently."

Mav sighed impatiently. "Why am I surrounded by idiots? Who cursed you? Wait. Before you begin your sob story, let's move this to the back. No need to attract more attention than we already have."

He led the way. Ace and Raptor followed, not caring that they were exposing their backs to Galent.

When Pinks hesitated, Galent raised an eyebrow.

Pinks bristled. "I'm not walking in front of you. "

"Ah, well." Galent shrugged and headed for the backyard, his shirt pulling at his shoulders. Pinks tried not to stare at Galent's pants hugging his thighs.

In the backyard, Galent turned, only to catch Pinks before he could pretend he wasn't ogling. Pinks flipped him off. Galent grinned.

"So?" Ace turned expectantly to Galent. "I thought you were the sort to keep your snout clean. How did you get cursed?"

Galent had the decency to grimace. "I... did something stupid."

Mav facepalmed. The brothers perked up. "Do share the tale of your stupidity. We'll rate it from zero to ten," Ace said. "The stupider it is, the more points you win."

But Galent glanced at Pinks, and hesitated. "I'm trying to make a good impression here."

Ace smirked. "So we'll wait until—"

Everyone turned when another car rumbled closer, pulling to a screeching halt in front of the house.

Mav listened for a while and heaved a sigh. "I'll meet them."

He frowned as he left. Car doors slammed; there came the sounds of Mav and Telos bickering about something.

Wren hurried into the backyard. He was a small, thin mage, and the moment he saw Pinks, he rushed over. "Where's your baby?"

"In the house, safe." Pinks glanced at the window and tried not to roll his eyes. "I wasn't going to investigate and risk her at the same time."

"You shouldn't have left the house at all," Ace said.

Pinks glowered at Galent. "Forgive me if I didn't know statues could come alive. I was already out of the house when he moved."

"You went to check out a statue that wasn't in your backyard the day before? That is full of horror movie vibes," Raptor said dryly. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"I promise I'm not a serial killer," Galent said, staring intently at Pinks. "But I am under a curse. I turn into a statue at the most inopportune times."

"In bed?" Raptor smirked.

Ace elbowed his brother. "Gives a whole new meaning to ‘rock-hard'."

"Oh, oh!" Raptor perked up. "I don't suppose this is like The Frog Prince. Where you have to kiss Galent's ugly mug to break the curse."

"Better yet. Kiss his rock-hard cock." Ace waggled his eyebrows.

"With what part of your body?" Raptor laughed. "And do you have to kiss it with the outside of your body, or the inside? "

Pinks was definitely not thinking about any of that.

Galent groaned, his ears turning pink. But he glanced at Pinks. "I had not thought to try... touching someone."

"I'm not volunteering," Pinks spluttered, backing away.

He was thinking up more things to yell at Galent, when Wren dragged him over to the safehouse and tested the doorknob. "Could you unlock the door?"

What did Wren have to say, that he couldn't in front of the other men? Curious now, Pinks stroked the lock and whispered to it, "Hey, it's me. Could you let us in?"

The jagged mouth of the keyhole curved into a smile, and Pinks inserted his key.

Wren tugged him deeper into the house—as though Galent couldn't hear them anyway. When they were far enough from the backyard, Wren stopped, peering at Pinks. "Did he hurt you?"

"He was... very nice about everything." Suspiciously nice.

"But your phone's GPS died!"

A blush crept up Pinks' cheeks. "I, uh. I threw my phone at him. It broke."

To Wren's credit, he didn't probe for details. The mage studied Pinks carefully, looking relieved. "I'm glad you're fine."

Pinks grimaced. "I don't trust him, even if everyone else seems to. He wants something from me."

"What does he want?"

"He says Zarrie can lift his curse, and he wants to borrow her."

Wren glanced at the next room, where Zarrie sounded like she was smacking her pillow. "Huh."

"Can you try lifting his curse?" Pinks pleaded. "I don't want him to take her away for any amount of time."

Wren squared his shoulders. "I'll try."

In the backyard, Galent was red-faced, scowling with his arms folded. Ace, Raptor, and Fang—Wren's mate—were all standing in a row, holding up sheets of paper with large numbers on them.

"Ten, ten, and nine for stupidity," Ace announced gleefully. "This is better than our lasagna underwear story."

Galent's scowl deepened. "You're not allowed to repeat it to anyone."

"Of course not." Ace, Raptor, and Fang all zipped their lips.

Pinks froze. How had he missed Galent's explanation? Not that it mattered, because he was not going to see the giant again after today.

Wren went up to Galent. "May I attempt to fix your curse?"

Galent's eyebrows shot up. He glanced at Pinks, then at Wren. "Please do."

Wren wriggled his fingers across Galent's shoulders. He wrote a shimmering spell in midair, silver glittering runes, and sent them flying into Galent's chest.

Galent stumbled back. Everyone stopped breathing.

Pinks clenched his fists. Please say you cured him, please say he doesn't want to take Zarrie away...

"Did it work?" Galent asked when he found his footing. He rubbed his chest and looked down.

Then he froze, and the telltale gray spread from his feet up through his torso, to his head. In moments, he was back to being a statue, except this time his hand was frozen against his heart.

Damn it! Pinks swallowed his disappointment.

Wren sagged, looking at Pinks contritely. "I'm sorry. The curse was cast with a different kind of magic. It doesn't react to mine."

"Holy crap," Ace said.

"Wow." Raptor whacked Galent's stony bicep, then grimaced and shook his hand out. "Ow, fuck. I guess he really wasn't kidding."

"This isn't good." Fang frowned. "He can't be walking around and turning into a statue when he least expects it."

Ace's smile faded. "It won't take much to kill him like this. Stone is hard, but brittle. With enough impact..."

Ace, Raptor, and Fang all looked extremely solemn. Pinks debated telling them about Galent trying to get to Zarrie.

But he remembered the kidnappers snatching Zarrie out of his arms, passing her between themselves while they restrained him. All because he'd been stupid enough to pause when one of them had asked for his help.

He couldn't trust any of these men with his baby. Especially an angel baby that was so rare, he doubted they'd even seen one before.

"What if we put him here for now?" Fang asked, nodding at Pinks' safehouse.

"No," Pinks yelped. "He can go live with you!"

Raptor shook his head. "We're about to head out on the tracking mission. We found some intel on your friends. Galent won't want to stay in our homes with just our butlers for company."

The butlers were weird, but... "You think he'll want to stay with me? "

"He'll be backup in case you decide to investigate more mystery statues on your own," Ace said dryly.

How was Pinks going to hide his baby if Galent shared his space? There was only one bathroom. Hell, how was he going to jerk off in private with someone there? "He won't be much help when he's a statue!"

"Text the group if there's an emergency," Fang said. "I think it's safer for you two to shelter together."

"He's going to steal my baby," Pinks cried.

All three alpha-types looked surprised. "He won't."

"How are you so sure?"

"He wants a mate," Raptor said. "Stealing a baby won't put him in anyone's good graces."

Pinks shut his mouth, meeting Wren's eyes.

"I'll check in with you," Wren said quietly. "When, uh, when you get a new phone."

"Steal Galent's phone," Raptor said. "But I guess you can't hold it up to his rock-hard face to unlock it."

"There's a window of time when he freezes, before he turns into stone," Ace replied thoughtfully, as though discussions of theft were absolutely okay. "Grab his phone at that instant, wave it in front of his frozen face, and you're in."

"I can't believe you guys," Pinks blurted.

"I'll get you a new phone," Fang said. "Try not to destroy it again."

They waited around awkwardly, Pinks itching to retreat into his safehouse and lock it up before they could shove Galent in there with him. But he didn't own the safehouse—his rescuers did. He was living there because of their generosity.

He discreetly took a few steps back. Except the gray faded from Galent's face, and Galent twitched.

"Damn it," Galent growled. "Not again."

"Did you hear what we discussed? You'll be living with Pinks for the foreseeable future," Fang said. "You can't roam the streets until we're sure you won't turn into stone where literally anyone can capture or destroy you. No flying, either."

Galent narrowed his eyes. Then the cogs of his mind turned, and he glanced at Pinks' bright pink hair. "Pinks," he rumbled. "That's your name."

Pinks bit down his cursing. "I'm not welcoming you into the safehouse."

Galent licked his lips. "That's fine. I enjoy a challenge. Especially when you're the prize."

"You just want my baby," Pinks muttered.

"Why aim for one, when I could have both? A baby and a mate?" Aqua eyes pierced him. "Or maybe even a second child?"

Pinks gawked at the giant's sheer audacity. "What the actual hell?"

"You should stick together," Fang said suddenly. "We ran into two groups of kidnappers on our way here. This house may come with several security measures, but we should err on the side of caution. Galent, you'll stay here with Pinks."

Galent's mouth curved.

Pinks looked at Wren, who nodded apologetically, then nodded again more firmly. How could he betray Pinks?!

"Fang is right. We were outnumbered, earlier." Wren winced. "You weren't there, Pinks. There were thirty men in each group. Things seem to be getting worse. Actually, I would like to secure this place with a few barrier spells. Fang?"

Fang left with him to retrieve some supplies.

"Or you could come with me to my home instead," Galent said to Pinks. "I have a big... bed."

Pinks rolled his eyes. "No, thanks."

He retreated into the house, leaving the back door unlocked because there wasn't any point in making things difficult for everyone. He locked himself into his bedroom with Zarrie, who raised her arms, asking to be carried.

"Damn it," Pinks sighed, scooping her into his arms. "What are we going to do? I can't risk him finding out what you are."

She smiled toothily and patted his face with her little hands. This usually calmed him, except his insides were twisted up with worry right now. Pinks sat with Zarrie on the double bed and rocked her in his arms, singing her a song he knew by heart.

" Sing little wolfie, sing to the moon

Daddy's right here and we'll go to bed soon

Tonight's not the night to run out and play

But tomorrow will be such a brand new day"

He was singing really to calm himself down. Zarrie gripped his nostril and tried to pull his nose off his body. Her hands smelled like baby spit, and underneath that, her sweet baby scent that he couldn't get enough of.

"You're my most precious baby girl," Pinks whispered. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

She smiled at him. Then her face scrunched up and she began to make hungry sounds.

"Oh, crap." Pinks bit his lip. He liked feeding her a variety of solid food, now that she had the teeth for it. But with Galent moving in, this was going to be his last chance to duck out of his bedroom without anyone seeing, to feed her all the food he'd prepared. "C'mon, maybe we can get you something real quick."

The moment he opened the door, he froze.

Because Galent was leaning against the wall facing Pinks' door, his arms folded over his chest.