Chapter One

Blake

From the Journal of Blake Knight-Darnel

Chestnut is curled up hugging his fluffy tail to his chest as I write. As a kid I would've never imagined having a squirrel as a pet. Okay, maybe pet isn't the right word. Sure, I sorta domesticated him, but he wanted to be domesticated. Besides, he looked just like the squirrel who my psycho stalker killed back in California. The madman was only there because he thought I belonged to him. So, I figured I owed the squirrel community a favor. Chestnut just cashed in on that favor.

I still remember the first day he wandered in through the open door of my art studio and climbed right up on my shoulder as if we were long-lost friends. Now, he's my little buddy. He's also been an exercise in patients for my pups. He's a squirrel who smells like food to them, but he's a friend instead. Talk about impulse control. J-interruption.

***

"Blake?" Jonah called from the bathroom. "Are there any towels in the dryer?"

"There should be towels in there," I arched a brow in the direction of the bathroom door.

I always kept the good towels in our bathroom to prevent the pups from eating them up or using them for tug of war. Chestnut stirred in his sleep, his nose twitching as he sniffed out danger. Finding none, he fell still again.

"Shit!" I swore under my breath. "We packed them!"

"I didn't pack all of them!"

"I didn't either," I laughed, pushing myself up from the bed. "But if I packed some and you packed some – then we probably packed most of them. I just didn't want to use up all of Duke and Syre's towels. I know how many towels our son seemed to go through in a day from the time he started walking."

"Uhh--- Me too. Will you unpack me a towel while I shave?"

"Okay," I said, crossing the room to where our duffel bags were. Sure enough, we each stuffed more towels than we'd ever need for a weekend trip up to see Duke, Syre, and their baby Duchess. I grabbed him a towel out of the bag and crossed to the bathroom door. Chestnut opened one eye, watching me cross the room. He'd been eyeing our luggage all day. He knew something was up. He just wasn't sure he liked the idea of whatever it was. He wasn't going with us to Heartville. There were too many unpredictable factors that would always be out of our control to take him through the Other World and into Heartville proper. Besides, whether he liked it or not, he was a city squirrel. He'd stay with Joy and he'd like it. He actually probably would enjoy the break from all our pups. Only, he didn't know that yet and he'd only met Joy a handful of times. She was so busy running the lounge that she hardly stopped by anymore. We visited her at work sometimes, but only in the down hours, not wanting to take the attention away from her. It'd been years since the Grim Howlers were officially together, but it didn't matter. Anytime Jonah, Micah, or Xander walked into any place that had music, they were instantly recognized. Thankfully, it'd been a few years since any of them had a stalker.

Inside the bathroom, I dried off Jonah's broad shoulders and muscular back while he examined his face in the mirror. Wolf fur grew in fast and so did his beard as an alpha. While social media debated whether or not he looked good with a beard, I loved him either way.

"You look good," I said, hugging him from behind even though he wasn't totally dry.

I nuzzled my cheek against his shoulder blade. He smelled good too. He smelled like the woods and fur despite having just showered, but mostly he felt like home. I kissed his back and rose on my tiptoes to meet his gaze in the mirror.

"I don't think we have time for all that, mate," he smirked at me. "Not if we're going to get there when we told them we would."

Sighing, I pressed one more hard kiss to his shoulder before pulling away from him so he could get dressed. Duke might be all grown up with a baby of his own now, but we never lied to him on purpose. Adult or not, it was still our job to keep all our promises. Hell, maybe now more than ever. Having a baby in the house wasn't the time you needed your parents to start lying to you. Especially when your bio-sire has gone MIA and isn't even answering the phone for your carrier.

"Eh, forget about him," Jonah said drying his chest and neck before pulling a black, fitted t-shirt over his head. "He does this. They do this. I know you're friends with Lotus and all. I know she helped save Lee from Jeb, but that was a long time ago. This is what they do since they moved back over there. They waltz in and out of our lives like we should bow down and thank them for it."

"Jonah," I sighed out his name.

Chestnut came sprinting into the bathroom and climbed up my back to perch on my shoulder as if I needed backup in our most recurring debate.

"Don't ‘Jonah' me," he grinned. "I'm right. You know I'm right. Sure, Lotus went to visit but that's probably because she felt bad for keeping Fred locked up."

"You've seen the size of that dragon no one could keep him locked up," I laughed.

"Let's not waste our time with Duke and the baby thinking about them, okay? If he wanted to be a granddad, he'd be there or at least take more time out of his ‘busy' life to check on them."

Jonah was right, but I didn't want him to be. Part of me believed if I just annoyed Fred enough he'd be the daddy to Duke he promised to be all those years ago.

"Ha! I'll sooner eat my buddy, Chestnut, than he'll live up to his promises," my wolf chimed into my thoughts as said squirrel jumped from my shoulder and landed gracefully on Jonah's head.

Jonah's wet hair was shoulder length and Chestnut took to grooming it whenever he caught him coming out of the shower. Jonah laughed as Chestnut got to work and we made our way into the bedroom to double-check what else we might've double-packed. The pups were already with other pack members. All that was left to do was put our shoes on, drop off Chestnut with Joy, and drive up to the Other World Gateway.

"Seriously," Jonah said, nudging Chestnut back onto my shoulder before turning to grab his little harness and leash. "Don't waste your time worrying about Fred. Focus on our grandbaby."

"I am," I said as Jonah decked out Chestnut in the gear we used only when we needed to transport him somewhere.

He chittered excitedly because he knew the harness usually meant a car ride and that was one of his favorite things.

"It bothers Duke more than he lets on," I said, as Jonah shouldered both duffel bags and we headed toward the door.

Once upon a time, I'd have insisted on carrying my own bags, but I gave up on that after all our years together. Besides, I already had Chestnut on one shoulder chittering away as we stepped outside.

"I know," Jonah sighed. "I know and I hate that we can't do anything about that. We can do our best and that's all we've ever been able to do. Look, don't think I don't want to kick his ass sometimes. I do. I just promised someone I wouldn't go around picking fights with Fred the dragon."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. He was right. I made him promise not to fight with Fred when Duke was a toddler. I didn't particularly want Fred beaten up right now either. It was strange to think that at one time I was afraid Fred would kidnap Duke and I'd never see him again. Now, I had to pester him into being a sire for our kid.

"Fuck ‘em," Jonah said as we loaded the bags into the back of the jeep. "Seriously, fuck him. If he doesn't see he has an awesome kid after all these years, fuck him. He's the problem."

I nodded as I headed for the passenger side of the jeep. In a blur of speed, Jonah beat me there and opened the door for me. Laughing, I stole a kiss before sliding into the passenger seat and moving Chestnut onto my lap. I stroked the top of his head as he chittered away looking in all directions.

"No more Fred talk?" Jonah arched a brow as he slid in behind the steering wheel.

"No more Fred talk," I nodded my agreement.