8. Mav Finds Out More Things He Shouldn’t

8

MAV FINDS OUT MORE THINGS HE SHOULDN’T

They hadn’t seen him shift. Telos knew they hadn’t. But his heart still pounded anyway as he disappeared into the sky, half-expecting a bullet to tunnel through his body.

In his throat pouch, Estie babbled and kicked, oblivious to the danger they were in.

When enough time had passed and still no bullets had pierced him, Telos relaxed enough to sing a warbly lullaby to her, with his beak closed. Who knew what words she could recognize? But it was comforting, having her safe in his embrace.

He suddenly realized he didn’t know where he was going. Night had fallen; it was a new moon, and he had zero sense of direction. All he knew was that he had to get Estie away.

It was to Telos’ overwhelming relief, that he spotted a black car on the side of the road some time later.

“Mav?” he said with his beak still closed.

The car door opened, and Mav stepped out.

Yeah, that was definitely relief. And Mav’s worry at the back of his mind.

Telos swooped down, landing with a clatter on the car’s roof. Mav’s forehead was furrowed; he swept a critical gaze over Telos’ body. Telos opened his beak to show Mav his bundle. “Take her out.”

Mav glanced briefly at him. Then he reached into Telos’ throat pouch with exceedingly gentle hands, scooping Estie’s squirming bundle out of there.

It made something jolt in Telos, to see Mav holding his daughter so carefully.

Mav’s gaze flicked up to meet his.

Telos squashed his feelings immediately. He fluttered off the car roof, shifted back into a man, and pulled on some clothes. Then he took Estie back out of Mav’s arms. “Thanks. How did you not get caught?”

Mav rolled his eyes. “Carefully. I heard a gunshot a minute ago.”

Telos winced. “Someone might’ve seen me as a pelican.”

Mav’s expression changed. “Is the mission compromised? Are they coming after us right now?”

Annoyance came through their bond again, followed by worry.

“I doubt it, but we should leave just in case.” Telos didn’t wait for Mav to reply. He brought Estie to the passenger door and climbed in, pulling back the spelled shirt so he could see her face with his human eyes.

She smiled and grabbed at his mouth, looking so innocent that he melted inside. How was she so small in his arms, and yet so important? All his instincts growled to protect her.

Mav cleared his throat. “We’ve booked a new hotel for tonight.”

“Yeah, let’s head over.”

The drive was quiet, filled only with the sound of tires on asphalt, the engine’s purr, and Estie’s babbling. No one turned on the radio. Telos didn’t particularly care, though. Any sound Estie made was a miracle all on its own.

“Have you begun learning to talk?” Telos murmured at her. “I’m your Papa. Say ‘Papa’.”

She stuck her tongue out and pushed her fingers into his nostrils. Telos recoiled; she giggled infectiously.

“Damn,” he said. “You could take over the world just by being cute.”

For a moment, he worried about letting Mav see this side of him. Then again, who could resist a baby? Especially when Telos had his own, and Mav didn’t?

From the corner of his eye, he watched as Mav drove, looking thoughtful.

“Are you jealous?” Telos blurted.

Mav’s jaw twitched. “About what?”

“I have a baby.” Telos grinned.

“So?”

“So I get to hold her and hear her laugh. And you don’t.”

Telos remembered Mav’s crib, the way Mav wanted that crib back.

Maybe Mav did want a baby, only he’d somehow never gotten one. Hell, maybe he was jealous.

In a rush of charitable feelings, Telos said, “I suppose you could hold her if you want. I’d have to use the bathroom at some point.”

Mav narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t give Telos a response. “We’ll see.”

Telos shrugged. “Your loss. She’s an angel.”

They drove into town after a drive full of giggling. Then Estie began to make uncomfortable sounds, and Telos panicked.

“Did you poop? Did you pee? Or are you hungry? Crap, I don’t have any food for you.”

A quick check of her diapers revealed that she was probably hungry. She began nuzzling at his chest, looking for milk.

“Ah, crap.” Telos chewed his lip. If he shifted so his chest had mammary glands, would they produce so she could feed?

He focused and tried to change his pecs. They tingled a little, but otherwise looked the same.

“Here, try it,” Telos said, letting Estie latch onto him. “I don’t know if I’ve got anything. Probably not.”

Mav glanced over, then did a double take. “Really?”

“Well, you tell me what other options we have,” Telos retorted. “I don’t suppose you brought formula.”

“No. I wasn’t expecting you to leave with her.”

“Yeah? What do you suggest I do, then? Leave her there?” Telos bared his teeth.

“Did you find Pinks’ friends?”

“Yeah.”

“They would’ve fed her and kept her safe.”

Telos breathed out deeply. “Yeah. But she’s my baby. You wouldn’t have left her there either, if she were yours.”

Mav’s gaze darkened, and he didn’t say anything for a while. “Omegas don’t usually lactate unless they’ve birthed a child.”

Telos scowled. “Are you saying I should somehow get knocked up so I can feed Estie?”

Mav shrugged. “If you want to feed her that badly.”

Telos thought about it. Then he thought about how he would get pregnant, and his mind helpfully reminded him of last night’s fantasy, the one where Mav grabbed his hair and shoved him face-down against the bed, and bred him thoroughly.

Heat flared through his gut. Mav glanced at him sharply, and Telos’ face burned.

Oh, gods, Mav knew.

Stop telling him, he told his body, but now all he felt was embarrassment.

So much for gaining the upper hand on that alpha. At least Mav didn’t know who Telos wanted his bed partner to be.

When they reached the hotel, Telos couldn’t leap out quickly enough. Duke and the rest had rented rooms at a nice establishment, one with a few stories and—

They’d rented a suite with multiple rooms, instead of a few rooms that were only connected through an exterior hallway.

“All the easier to discuss our findings,” Duke said.

The alphas were all staring at the bundle in Telos’ arms. Unable to help himself, Telos turned her around, showing them her adorable face. “This is Estie, my friends. She will be dino queen of the world someday.”

Estie babbled and kicked her legs, large eyes sweeping over the alphas.

Mav winced. “Dino queen? Seriously?”

“Shut up. She’s going to roar her way into everyone’s hearts. Just you wait.” Telos brought her over to each alpha so she could be properly introduced. “This is Duke. He’s a bossy leader.” Duke snorted but didn’t disagree. “This is Crush. Someday he’ll try to feed you a mountain of hotdogs.”

Crush nodded. “Yeah. With every kind of topping I can find.”

“These are Ace and Raptor,” Telos continued. “They’re like mirror images. Maybe someday they’ll try to trick you with it.”

The dragon brothers smirked.

Telos hesitated when there was only Mav left. He felt the weight of Mav’s attention, the indecision of how he should play this.

Mav was his pretend-enemy. Maybe sort-of friend. But Mav was also the most important of them all.

And he couldn’t let Mav know just how highly he thought of him.

Telos wet his lips, turning Estie around. “This is Mav. You’ve met him.”

Mav raised an eyebrow. “No little description of me?”

“Mav is an asshole,” Telos whispered in Estie’s ear. “And I’m your dad, so I guess you’re going to learn curse words before you’re two.”

To his utter horror, Estie reached both her arms toward Mav, as though she wanted to be carried by him.

“Nope,” Telos said above his thumping pulse. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

Estie turned back to Mav, babbling and smiling so brightly.

At the back of Telos’ mind, confusion flickered. Along with a hint of affection.

From Mav.

Did he... like Estie? Was he secretly a marshmallow inside?

Ah, fuck. Telos scowled and stomped on his own heart, turning to the door. “Anyway, Estie’s hungry. I need to acquire some formula for her.”

Before he could take another step, a car pulled up in front of their suite. All of them looked up.

“Who’s here?” Crush asked suspiciously.

Telos recognized the purr of the engine, and one of the heartbeats in there. His heart leaped. “That’s Hilly-Billy.”

Mav groaned. “What’s Hadley doing here?”

“Saving your scaly butts,” Hadley chirped from outside the suite.

Doors slammed. Footsteps thumped. Telos hurried to the front door because he had a growing list of things he needed Hilly-Billy to do, and some of them were more urgent than the rest. “Hills. With me, please.”

Hilly-Billy pushed his square glasses up his nose, a large storage box under his arm. It really completed his IT guy look. “Sure. Where do you want me?” He waggled his eyebrows and gave an exaggerated wink. “I’ll do anything you desire.”

“Thanks for painting a terrible image of me,” Telos grumbled.

Mav snorted, before turning to his own butler. “Why are you here?”

“I, ah, volunteered some of your clothes,” Hadley said. His preferred shape was a tall, thin elderly man with a curled mustache and a fancy haircut, and he loved his three-piece butler suits. “For Estie. Since she needs them. It’s a bit of an emergency.”

Mav froze. A tiny wave of surprise hit Telos, followed by anger and something else that Telos couldn’t identify.

“You can’t expect us to wrap her in a huge shirt until we acquire new, spelled baby clothes,” Hilly-Billy said.

On cue, Estie burst into flames—every single inch of her skin was on fire, barely held in by Telos’ spelled shirt.

Telos did not almost drop her. “I’ve got this!”

Hilly-Billy barely held in his eyeroll. “You don’t have enough spelled clothing to last this entire mission, either.”

Hadley shook his head disappointedly. “You’d be so screwed without us.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate you guys,” Telos said brightly before Mav could order Hadley to take the clothes back. “Now, Minion. I need your help. Which room is mine?”

“You’re sharing with Mav,” Ace said.

Holy ass-wiping corn-eating monkey brains! Telos managed to keep his swearing inside his head. Instead, he breathed out, and turned in the direction Ace pointed.

Hilly-Billy fell into step next to him. “Aww, aren’t you such a sweetheart? You even have Brother Master’s lil nose!”

“Which is your nose, too. Congrats, you’re an uncle.” Telos handed Estie over, and Hilly-Billy greeted her by turning his hair red. Estie kicked her feet excitedly.

“C’mon, Hills.” Telos led the way to his room, hoping like hell Mav hadn’t peeked into his bags. “About your other task.”

Hilly-Billy perked up, sharp eyes gleaming. “Ah.” He closed the door behind them, following closely.

“Do you have a bag for transport? Smell-proof.”

“Of course. It’s in the car. I’ll get it along with Estie’s formula and bottle.”

“Go.”

Hilly-Billy nodded and disappeared from the room. While Telos and Estie waited, Telos pulled his duffle closer to himself, opening its side zipper.

All he needed was to make the transfer into Hilly-Billy’s bag, and Mav’s cum-stained shirt would be home safe. With Mav none the wiser.

He set Estie on one of the two queen-sized beds and surrounded her with pillows so she couldn’t roll off. Then he carefully drew out Mav’s shirt—already wrapped in a trash bag—and further wrapped it in the bag from this room’s trash can.

These precautions were important, because there were noses around that could pick apart his secret in a heartbeat. His pulse raced.

Hilly-Billy knocked and stepped into the room. “Here’s the transport bag. I’ll prepare the formula.”

In the smoothest move, Telos dropped Mav’s wrapped shirt into the bag and zipped it up. “Begone.”

Hilly-Billy picked up the bags. Telos watched with bated breath. He couldn’t wait to complete this mission, get home, and spend some sweet, sweet time in bed with that shirt.

Hilly-Billy was reaching for the doorknob when the door opened, and Mav stepped in.

Telos froze. This is awkward.

Mav looked from one of them to the other, his gaze dropping to the bags in Hilly-Billy’s hands.

Then he sniffed.

It wasn’t a particularly strong scent, since it was nearly a day old and wrapped in two other bags. But maybe Telos’ discomfort gave him away.

Mav’s gaze snapped to him, and he closed the distance to Hilly-Billy. “What’s in that bag?”

Hilly-Billy narrowed his eyes, shoving both bags behind him. “None of your concern.”

“Really? I believe it contains something of mine.”

Telos’ pulse stuttered. He fought to steady it, but the damage had already been done. Mav’s gaze locked onto him.

There was nothing left but to go on the offensive.

Telos lunged, only to have Mav meet him halfway, large fingers curling into Telos’ shirt.

Mav’s breath fell on his lips. Those amber eyes pierced his. Mav swung him around and shoved him up against a wall, and the heat of his body soaked into Telos.

Blood swooped between Telos’ legs. This, this was something from his fantasies.

He tried to tamp down his emotions.

Mav released him the next moment. Before Hilly-Billy could use the distraction to escape, Mav yanked the bags from his hands.

“These belong to me,” Mav growled.

“They don’t,” Telos blurted. “It’s all mine now.”

“But they weren’t before.”

Fuck.

Mav’s expression turned knowing. “Should I get the rest involved? I’m sure they’d be happy to judge.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Mav smiled. And Telos’ desperation climbed—more so because Mav knew what he was feeling.

It was incredibly damning.

Telos exchanged a look with Hilly-Billy. The next instant, he shifted into a raven and flew at Mav, attacking his face. At the same time, Hilly-Billy snatched the bags out of Mav’s hands, lunging for the door.

Mav ignored Telos and went for Hilly-Billy; Telos switched tactics and turned into a monkey, grabbing Mav’s face with his entire body.

Except Mav was single-minded in his pursuit of the butler, great thumping footsteps that made Telos grab fistfuls of Mav’s hair, trying to yank them out.

It wasn’t working. Hilly-Billy yelped when Mav caught his arm, struggling futilely. Mav felt around for Hilly-Billy’s hand and wrenched the bags out of his grip.

Before Telos could react, Mav sank clawed fingers into one bag and ripped it apart. The double-wrapped shirt fell onto the floor.

Telos froze. Hilly-Billy looked over frantically for his next order.

“Pelican,” Telos said a second too late.

Mav yanked Telos off his head and flung him aside, at the same moment Hilly-Billy lunged for the shirt.

Both of them grabbed the shirt at the same time, yanking hard. The flimsy trash bags tore.

Mav’s shirt fell out, stinking of day-old cum, and Telos wanted the floor to swallow him up.