3. Galent Has Some Surprises

3

GALENT HAS SOME SURPRISES

Pinks froze. Did I say anything he shouldn't have heard?

He couldn't remember. Why hadn't he heard Galent sneaking up? He was the most terrible wolf in his pack's history.

Not that his pack would care anymore.

He tucked Zarrie against his side, turning his body to shield her. "What do you want?"

Galent flicked his gaze to Zarrie. "She's what I'm looking for."

"No."

The giant pushed away from the wall, unfolding his arms. He looked bigger like this, broad and muscular, and he prowled through Pinks' doorway straight into his bedroom.

"You're not allowed inside," Pinks yelped.

Galent's mouth pulled into an aggravating smirk. "Oh? Inside where?"

The giant wriggled his thick fingers, and Pinks had the sudden thought of them wriggling inside him.

He grew hot between his legs.

"You're not allowed inside anywhere, " Pinks growled, his face burning.

Galent didn't attempt to leave. Instead, his gaze flickered around the bedroom, from the bare walls to the single window, to the wall beside Pinks' bed, which he'd decorated with colorful pictures salvaged from magazines and food packaging. "Where's home?"

In Colorado, before he was kidnapped and transported to Utah. Griff and Quinlan had found him and brought him with them to southern California. Here. Where he was safe, but he wasn't home.

"None of your business," he told Galent.

The giant hummed, continuing his inspection of Pinks' open closet, the clean clothes tumbling out of it, and the pile of baby clothes on the desk. "I can get you home."

Pinks froze. Home was... He hadn't even thought going home was an option. "How? What if you turn into a statue in the car and crash?"

Galent smirked, turning to face Pinks fully. His gaze dropped to Zarrie. "Lift my curse, and I'll get you home."

"I'm not sacrificing her for it!"

The giant rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask you to. But it might be helpful if I could borrow her."

Pinks clutched Zarrie to himself and shook his head. "You won't lay a finger on her."

Galent shrugged, but he took a step toward Pinks, his nostrils flaring. "She smells clean. Pure. Like nothing I've ever smelled."

Crap. With every step Pinks took backward, Galent prowled forward and pressed even closer.

"What is she?" Galent asked, backing Pinks and Zarrie up against a wall.

Pinks bared his teeth. "I'm not telling you."

Except Zarrie had stopped her hungry whimpering. Instead, she watched Galent quietly, reaching out for him.

"Zee, no!"

For a long moment, all three of them stared at her tiny fingers straining for Galent's shirt, mere inches of air separating them.

"Huh," Galent murmured, stepping sideways.

Zarrie's fingers followed him; she kept leaning toward him, and she would've fallen out of Pinks' arms had he not been holding her steady.

Pinks scowled and backed away from the giant, who had a knowing look in his eye.

"Looks like I won't have to try too hard," Galent murmured. "She wants to connect with me."

"She doesn't," Pinks growled.

Galent moved to Pinks' other side, only for Zarrie to track him with her burnt-orange eyes.

Galent's smile grew. Then he cocked his head as though listening to something outside. "Our friends may be leaving."

He turned and left his back unguarded, heading for the door.

Zarrie hiccupped.

A single white feather popped into the air between her and Pinks.

When Galent began to look back, Pinks panicked. He grabbed the feather and shoved it into his mouth, only for Zarrie to stick her fingers between his lips.

The feather was ticklish and dry. Pinks clapped his hand over his mouth, meeting Galent's eyes.

Then he sneezed violently. The feather stuck to the back of Pinks' teeth, and he pushed it to the inside of his cheek. "Fuck."

"You shouldn't curse in front of a baby," Galent said mildly.

"You can't tell me how to parent. She's not yours!"

Galent raised an eyebrow. And said, "Fuck bitch asswipe dickhead jerkoff jackass motherfucking asshole—"

"What the hell are you doing?" Pinks squawked, hurriedly covering Zarrie's ears with his palm and the side of his arm. Then he realized his mouth was uncovered—was the feather stuck to the roof of his mouth? —and slammed his lips shut.

Galent shrugged. "You seemed to be okay with swear words."

"Fuck you!"

Galent gave Pinks a pointed look. "Would you really?"

"Argh!" Pinks snarled, his teeth more pointy than before. Only for Galent to give a sharp smile and turn away.

"I'll tell our friends that you're appreciative of their help," Galent said over his shoulder.

Not that he needed to. Most of the men outside had already heard them. Pinks flipped Galent off and waited for him to disappear, before hurrying to the bathroom. He flushed the saliva-soaked feather, then went to the kitchen and grabbed the little containers of food he'd left in the fridge.

Wren came in a few moments later, scurrying over to Pinks. "Will you be okay?"

Pinks narrowed his eyes. "You literally just made me live with him."

Wren winced. "Sorry. It's just... Fang and the rest trust him. And there's a lot more dangerous people out there than Galent. We ran into thirty people hunting a Naira, Pinks. Thirty. And there were another thirty after us because of Steffie."

"I can't lose my baby," Pinks growled.

Wren stood straighter and met his eyes. "If anything goes wrong because of Galent, I'll fix it myself."

Pinks swallowed. If Galent could be trusted, Pinks and Zarrie would have a greater chance of surviving a thirty-person attack with him here. "Fine."

"It might help if you're friends with him."

Pinks wrinkled his nose. "We'll see."

Wren gave him a quick hug. Slowly, the rescuers filed into their cars and drove off.

Galent lumbered around outside, his large feet crunching on dried leaves and grass. Pinks focused, listening to the neighbors he recognized, the cars along the surrounding roads. There wasn't anyone else that he could hear—which meant he had to feed Zarrie now, and scramble back into his bedroom.

He wrapped her in her food-catching bib, sat her in her high chair, and scooped out tiny portions of boiled egg, mashed potatoes, and boiled pasta, before handing her a spoon.

Zarrie smiled. And threw the spoon onto the floor, as hard as she could. Pinks sighed.

"One of those days, huh?" He sat on the floor and placed the spoon back on her tray, because bending down to grab the spoon countless times was just too exhausting.

Zarrie smeared food into her mouth and dropped more food onto her bib. She threw the spoon several more times, even after Pinks had showed her how to feed herself.

By the time she was done eating, the food had migrated from her plate to the high chair tray, bib, and floor. Pinks sighed and handed over her sippy cup, slumping against the table leg.

The thought of cleaning up felt soul-sucking.

"I'll clean," Galent rumbled.

Pinks jumped. Galent was standing on the other side of the room. How long had he been watching?

The giant raised his eyebrow, looking unfairly hot.

Pinks scowled. "I'll clean. It's my mess, anyway."

"You look like you're about to fall over. And you have dark circles under your eyes." Galent wandered closer, watching Pinks—not Zarrie. "Do you sleep?"

"Not enough," Pinks muttered.

"Why not?"

"Well, you try being kidnapped and having your baby snatched away," Pinks snapped. "And your friends are all still captured with their status unknown."

Not to mention, having no more family. No more pack.

Pinks swallowed roughly, his eyes burning.

Galent froze. For a moment, Pinks thought he would turn into a statue again. Except Galent walked over and knelt in front of him, carefully grasping Pinks' shoulder. "I'm sorry," Galent said quietly. "I didn't know."

"So no, I'm not lending you my baby because I have nightmares every night thinking someone's going to take her away from me again," Pinks growled.

Galent winced. "I won't try to borrow her again, I promise."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart."

Pinks watched the giant until he thought maybe he could trust him. He grew increasingly aware of Galent's hand on his shoulder, its warmth soaking through his shirt. Galent hadn't taken his eyes off Pinks.

"Is it okay if I hug you?" Galent murmured.

Pinks couldn't remember the last time an alpha-type had touched him with intent. He swallowed hard, and finally nodded. "Fine."

Galent raked his gaze over Pinks' face. Then he scooted closer and spread his legs, pulling Pinks between them, enveloping Pinks in a big, strong hug.

"I'll clean up," Galent said into his hair. "You should get some rest."

Pinks held himself taut, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But nothing happened. Galent kept holding him, rubbing his back. Ever so slowly, the tension seeped out of Pinks. He slumped against Galent's sturdy chest, shivering when warm breath puffed against his ear, then down his neck.

"Are you sniffing me?" Pinks muttered.

"You smell good. Like forest and damp earth." Galent buried his nose in Pinks' hair and inhaled again.

It was a lot more intimate than Pinks was prepared for. He squirmed, then stopped when he realized he was rubbing himself against Galent's front. Including the places between Galent's legs.

"Do you need help relaxing?" Galent's voice was lower, more intimate now.

Pinks couldn't help but shiver. "What kind of help?"

"A massage."

Pinks blinked rapidly. Who offered massages for free? More importantly, who said no to them? A full-body massage was a hundred and fifty dollars at the mall, and Pinks always stared longingly at the massage place. "This is a trick, isn't it?"

"It's not a trick to put my cock in you," Galent said in his ear. Pinks' hole squeezed. Then there came a wet sound, like Galent was licking his lips. "But I can't promise not to think about it."

"Are you going to burst if you don't?"

"Would you like to see me explode?" Galent whispered.

Pinks' breath hitched. He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, torn between staying mad at Galent, and letting the giant touch him. Pinks hadn't come his brains out in a long time, either. Maybe that would help him sleep?

If he could trust Galent enough to sleep in his presence.

"Maybe when Zarrie's asleep," Pinks mumbled.

"Is her name really Zarrie?" Galent leaned back to look Pinks in the eye.

"It's a nickname."

"What's her real name?"

"I don't trust you enough for that yet."

"Yet." Galent's smile was warm, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "At some point, I will learn it."

"Maybe."

"Good enough." Galent gave Pinks another squeeze. Pinks shuffled a little; his ass was starting to hurt from sitting on the floor. Without warning, Galent hauled Pinks to his feet—except this broke his embrace. Pinks felt suddenly bereft. "There. Do whatever you want with Zarrie. I'll wash the dishes and clean the floor."

Galent would probably break his word. Pinks wasn't going to hold him to it; they were practically strangers.

He took off Zarrie's bib and brought her to the bathroom to clean up. By the time she was asleep, Pinks was so tired that he just stared into space. He left his bedroom door unlocked and kicked off his jeans, flopping face-down on his bed.

The thing about exhaustion was, it didn't promise sleep.

Pinks stared blearily at the wall, his mind buzzing through all the things he was worried about.

"Sleep," he told himself.

But there was a stranger in his house. Galent was moving things around in the kitchen, and his heartbeat rang like a drum in Pinks' ears—slow, steady thumps that were so different from Pinks and Zarrie's faster pulses. He heard Galent's breathing, too. Like his heartbeat, it was slow, almost calming.

The dishes clinked. Something dragged back and forth across the floorboards. Footsteps thudded. The fridge door opened and closed. Pinks listened to Galent eating and drinking things out of his fridge.

Just as he thought the giant had forgotten about him, footsteps drew closer to his room. They stopped outside his door, and Pinks' heart quickened.

Galent knocked. "Still want your massage?"