Chapter Fifteen
Ricky
My ass hit the ground as Burke shifted and charged for Apollo, who was snarling and pawing at the kitchen floor while Maximus stood in front of him, pushing him back. "Apollo, what the fuck? Shift back, now."
Did Apollo listen? No. I had no clue why not, because I wasn't officially a part of the pride—or was I?—although I did want to do as Maximus said. That commanding voice was something else. Crimson wasn't that kind of alpha, although she was very protective of all of us. Maximus had a big growly alpha power. It snapped at the skin like an elastic band pinging in quick succession. Not pleasant at all.
"Apollo," Maximus growled, and the room flooded with the scent of arousal. "Do as I say!"
Tim shrugged when everyone looked at him. "It's hot," he said, not looking or sounding unrepentant. "What can I say?"
Apollo's mane blew out and he eyed Maximus like he was going to eat him whole to get to what he wanted—Glass.
I glanced at the rhubarb in question, who remained rooted to the spot like he'd been planted in the soil.
What the heck was happening?
Glass continued to remain motionless while everyone else in the room just looked at each other. Glass stared wide eyed at the snarling beast, whose head kept moving, trying to get a good look at Glass who was large enough to be seen behind our pride leader. Or that was how it looked to me.
My scrambled rhubarb brain, from the noise and the shock of seeing a lion going all… lion, took several seconds to catch up. My bull plonked his hairy ass on top of Apollo, along with a goat and another lion, until Apollo was prone on the floor.
Did that stop the growling? Heck no, it made it worse. My fuzzies were getting a workout, but Glass finally unglued himself from the spot and stepped around Maximus.
My mouth hung open when he pushed Maximus back a whole two steps, then demanded of the others, "Get off him, now."
Ohhhhh. Mates. I announced it to everyone but met a stunned silence inside my head I'd never experienced before. It was like radio static, nothing came with it.
Burke, Gordon and Leonidas rose at once and Apollo got up slowly as the room erupted with excited chatter.
Are they really mates?
I grinned at Burke, whose tongue lolled out the side of his mouth working on distracting my mucky mind into the rhubarb gutter when there was clearly a situation that needed addressing.
I think so.
The questions fired around the room went unanswered because no one paused long enough to let that happen.
"Another one!"
"How many are in the pride?"
"Do you think they got some kind of poison to cause this?" That came from Crimson's mom who loved to watch true crime and spouted conspiracy theories if anyone made the mistake of standing still in her vicinity.
"Sniff everyone, can you smell if one of the others belongs to us?"
"Behave," Crimson said, giving the other stalks one of her hard stares. "Let's give Glass and Apollo some space."
"What? It was just getting interesting. And aren't we here to figure out who tried to hurt Red?" said Crimson's mom.
Glass blinked slowly and looked around at everyone as if seeing them all for the first time. I got a funny feeling. Disquiet? I couldn't say for sure when he closed everyone out.
"Yes, Red… we're here to figure this out," he said, sounding nothing like his usual confident self as his gaze returned to Apollo. "Figure out what lion wants to kidnap us. That's what's important here."
Apollo made a chuffing noise, which wasn't a happy sound. He gave Glass a look that was all big, sorrowful eyes. That's how it seemed to me. He slinked towards the door that remained open from when Glass came in, then disappeared outside. His grumbling sounds were the only noise in the room for a second before everyone was back to talking over each other.
I went to Burke and knelt at his side, giving him a hug and then rubbing behind his furry ears like he'd wanted earlier. I felt his sadness.
It's gonna be okay, my ballsy-bull. They'll figure it out.
Apollo's so upset.
I could see that. I thought for a minute, not listening to the talking happening around us. Maybe we can help.
How? He sniffed, his tongue came out, and he licked my cheek.
I'm not sure, but I'm sure if we put all our heads together, we can come up with something. Look how Tim and Maximus helped us. Two rhubarbs are better than one. Although one is all you're getting. You know, cause you're my ballsy-bull.
A dollop of warmth hit me in all the feels.
I only want one. His tongue tickled my cheek, and I felt a shiver all the way down my stalk. Concentrate, no big ball thoughts, none.
Not even a little one? My bull gave my ear a suggestive lick.
Maybe one… but let's keep that for when we're alone, okay?
Alright, but I want more than one.
You got it.
I'd give my ball—bull—whatever he wanted.
"So what's the plan?" I said, looking from Glass to Maximus.