Chapter Twenty-Two (Scythe's POV)
"Why didn't you tell me about Ash?" I demanded.
Zaid looked up from his magazine, surprised at first before he expression twisted up in anger and he tossed the magazine down, getting up.
"Why did you tell everyone to make sure I didn't leave the house?" He returned angrily. I slammed the door shut behind me, locking it so no one could interrupt us. Zaid immediately took a step away from me, looking surprised at the rush of anger that hit me.
I had no idea where it came from, but it was there.
"Don't be stupid! I already told you, don't do anything that'll get you killed! And what you so conveniently forgot to mention to me was that one of Jack's men, Ash, was out in town! He was waiting for you! And what happens? He got his hands on Kyler and now Kyler won't even look at me because of whatever happened to him!"
"He got Kyler?" Zaid asked, looking pained. I rushed right on, however.
"No, shit, Zaid! Because you neglected to tell me that there was a creep hunting around in town for you guys! Had I know, I wouldn't have let Kyler go and hurt himself either! That could've been you, you know! Why didn't you tell me, Zaid?" I demanded at last in exasperation. Zaid scowled, clenching his fists in the gray sweatshirt he wore.
"Because you'd get pissed! Like you are right now! And Kyler said he wasn't allowed to hurt me because Jack already plans to come for me."
"No shit! I had to make the deal today with that little bastard to save Kyler. We're going to meet them in the Wagner's parking lot two months from now. We'll just barely make it, Zaid." I finally felt myself calming down, my muscles relaxing as I took a deep breath. Zaid dropped his arms to his sides and now the mound in his stomach had grown. I didn't say anything. Didn't dare because I'm sure Zaid would get angry or hurt.
"I don't want to talk anymore." Zaid replied quietly, then plopped back on the bed, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. I sighed and walked over to the bed, falling down beside him. I curled myself around him, my arms over his torso.
"Sorry," I breathed against his ear, feeling him shiver, "I'm just sort of stressed, and yea, I know I'm not the only one. And don't take this the wrong way, because I still don't like Kyler, but he's acting weird about whatever Ash did to him."
"Probably something awful." Zaid murmured. He probably knew better than I did, having been Jack's captive for a while. Zaid sighed and closed his eyes.
"I want to ride my bike."
"I know."
We didn't say anything after a while, just laid there, breathing and listening to the sounds of Trisha finishing up dinner. I could hear Kylan and Alek coming home, which irritated me that they left together, alone. It meant they obviously didn't take Zaid's advice about staying apart. I didn't hear Kyler's door open, nor Nyt's. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Nyt hadn't left his room since the ceremony ended yesterday.
"We should head down for dinner." I said quietly, sitting up. Zaid sighed and rolled over onto his back, looking up at me tiredly.
"Scythe, I'm sorry. I'm just feeling weird is all."
"I can understand that."
"You have no idea... It's not fair... I don't hate Nyt or Acacia," He admitted after a while, closing his hand around mine, lacing our fingers together, "But at the same time, I wish they had left me. I feel different and out of place now. I mean, I sort of did before, but I thought it was just because I was to be the heir. Now it's just.... I dunno. Maybe I'm tired. Yea, you know, I think I'm just going to skip dinner." He let go of me and rolled back over. I frowned.
"Zaid, you can't. You have to eat. If not for you, for the pups." I said. Zaid lay there for a while, then sighed and sat up slowly. I studied his back. I could just see the tension, his muscles taut and knotted. I felt an aching in my chest to see him so miserable.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and started to massage him. He blinked and tilted his head back to look at me.
"You'll be okay." I said, gently rubbing my thumbs into his back. Zaid studied me for a second, then looked out the window, relaxing slowly. I felt his muscles relax under my hands, his breathing becoming steady. We sat there for a while longer, maybe a few minutes, before we got up and went downstairs.
The table was already set and most everyone was already sitting down. Zaid didn't say anything to anyone, just sat down beside me at the head of the table. We passed around the food and just ate silently. I noticed Kyler wasn't there, his seat beside Zaid empty. I frowned, glancing up at the ceiling, then back at Zaid, who made a weird choking sound.
He just got up and went to the bathroom. I didn't speak. No one did.
It felt like such a depressing meal.
And it went on like that for days, at every meal. They were silent and depressing. Even after Kyler came back about three days later, he was dead silent, staring at his food as if he was disgusted by it.
The days turned into weeks.
It'd officially been two weeks after the incident with Ash and Kyler, after Zaid turned eighteen when things seemed somewhat semi-normal and people were settling in.
The hunts were more frequent with the men and the women scurried around to clean up or care for the pups- Except Ivy. She left as often as possible, even with her pup's thirteenth birthday coming up.
Zaid still didn't speak as much, but when he did, he was trying to be happy again. He was spending time with the pups, his belly noticably larger. He was switching to heavy sweatshirts, despite the warmer weather rolling in. We kept the fans on, sucking in the air from outside.
"Mia, stop teasing the twins." Zaid snapped as the young female pup kept swatting at the tail of one of the twins. They yipped in unison while Mia backed off, only to bump into Fin, who growled low in his throat. He was turning thirteen soon, which meant he'd be able to change into a human. He was also showing signs of being his mother's son. It made me grimace to think of a male Ivy running around, hacking at things and ripping things open.
"Watch Ty, he's at your ankle." I warned Zaid when he went to lean forward. Zaid stopped and grabbed the russet colored pup near his ankle, tossing him on the sofa beside him. Ty yipped and crawled into Zaid's lap, resting against his belly. Zaid sighed, stroking his fur for a second until he saw that Rain, Kit, and Harmony were practically climbing all over Ron, the youngest of the pups.
"I got him." I said, walking over and scooping Ron up. The poor little pup was yelping and wailing, pawing at the air as his blind eyes searched for me. I held him close, stroking behind his ears. Ron was Frita's only surviving pup. He was born blind, which had struck everyone in our pack rather hard, but despite being blind, he still managed to do a lot of things on his own.
"He's like his father." Frita had told me sadly one day. Frita's mate had drowned long before she joined our pack.
"Is this what you've been doing all day?" I asked, sitting down beside Zaid, avoiding Rain and Kit, who had trampled onto the sofa to cuddle with us. Zaid gave me a tired smile.
"Yea. It's pretty much all I can do." He admitted, looking vaguely irritated as Ty snuggled against his belly. The rest of the puppies yipped and climbed onto the sofa. Soon, I felt like I was under a blanket of puppies, except Fin, who sat on the floor still and watched Zaid and I with a cocked head.
"What?" Zaid asked him. Fin sat up straight, his ears pricked up. He had this cocky look on his face that reminded me way too much of his mother, but he didn't bark, just sat there watching.
"How's Kyler?" I asked, noticing that Kyler had somewhat gone back to his old sarcastic and rude self. Zaid snorted.
"I have no clue what's wrong with him. One minute he was quiet and it was actually okay, but lately he's been saying something about-"
"Rat!"
Zaid winced, then glared at the opening to the living room to see Kyler come barrelling in, making the puppies bark excitedly, but they were smart and stayed a good distance from Kyler, who absolutely abhored wolves of any kind. Man, woman, or child.
"Rat?" I asked. Kyler scanned the room, ignoring the puppies as he went to the sofa closest to the television.
"He's in here, I know it. There's a rat. A really fat ugly albino rat." He declared. Zaid raised an eyebrow, looking at me.
"You see what I mean?"
"Kyler, I think you're tripping on acid." I stated. Kyler scowled at me, rising to his feet to put his hands on his hips that gave him an almost feminine look there for a second.
"No. I'm not kidding. He's fucking gigantic. And he's rude. He was taking chips out of my bag when I wasn't looking." He responded, sounding pretty damn serious about this rat. Zaid shook his head, resting against the sofa.
"Kyler, you're insane. Go to sleep." He replied.
"Yea, don't cats spend like fifteen hours a day sleeping?" I asked. Kyler glared.
"Fine. Don't come crying to me when you find a huge white rat in your dinner this evening." He retorted smartly, heading for the front door. I frowned.
"And just where are you going?" I asked, ready to get to my feet. Kyler waved me off.
"Down, Rover, down. I'm skipping the lovely, talkative, and lively family dinner tonight to do a little project of my own." He answered, then swiftly ducked out the door before I could ask him anymore questions. I frowned, then turned to see Zaid holding Ron up in his hands, the little pup nuzzling his nose against Zaid's. Zaid smiled, kissing his nose until he saw me watching, then scowled and sat Ron down in his lap. I smirked.
"What? It's not like cuddling a pup emasculates you." I said. Zaid rolled his eyes.
"No." He answered flatly, which I had learned meant something along the lines of "end of discussion". I walked over and sat beside him, slipping my arm around his shoulders. I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, watching them burn pink as he glanced at me.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing." I answered, then kissed him again. He didn't say anything this time, just avoided my eyes as I continued to kiss his cheek, then his ear. I slipped my tongue out to coil in the shell of his ear, making him shiver.
"Not here." Zaid breathed, clasping my hand tightly.
"The pups don't know what's going on." I answered with a wicked smirk.
"He does." Zaid pointed at Fin, who had crouched down, watching us with a cocked head and his ears laid back. I rolled my eyes.
"Jeez. When is he going to change already?" I asked.
"Probably in a couple days. Soon, that much I know. He'll probably look like his father." Zaid mused, tilting his head to mock Fin, who growled and pawed at the ground before sitting up straight again with his tail curled around his legs. I sighed, leaning against Zaid as he stroked Ron's fur and Ty tried to nuzzle in between them for attention. I grabbed him, placing him in my lap, scratching behind his ears, watching him pant.
Until I heard a scratching sound that made me snap my head up. I frowned, glancing at Zaid, who didn't seem to notice it.
I'm paranoid, I decided, looking back down, only to hear a thump. I jerked my head up again, then saw that Zaid had once again not noticed it.
"You can't tell me you didn't hear that." I stated. Zaid looked up, lifting an eyebrow.
"Hear what?"
"... Just listen." I commanded, holding a finger to my lips. Zaid glanced around in silence as we waited and listened. We sat there for about two minutes before Zaid looked at me with a droll stare.
"What? Don't tell me you're starting to believe Kyler's insane rat story." He stated. I scowled.
"No way. I just... Oh, never mind. I'm gonna go do something useful." I got up, setting the puppies that were on top of me, onto the sofa, watching Zaid frown for a second, then look away to the pups. I headed to the kitchen to grab my keys for a dirt bike when I saw something white dart out the corner of my eye. My eyes flashed, following it behind a cupboard.
It was a rat.
You're kidding me.
I went to the cupboards, pushing them away from the wall to peek behind, but nothing was there. I blinked in disbelief, then shoved the cupboards back. I had to find Kyler to explain this.
A white rat?
What the hell is it doing it the house?
That thing was almost the size of the puppies.
And hopefully friendly.
I went outside, eyes scanning for Kyler as I hopped down the steps, heading toward the edge of the woods. I cupped my hands around my mouth.
"Kyler! Kyler, come over here!" I called, listening to the sounds of twigs snapping and the wind gently pushing the tree branches so they creaked. I could vaguely pick up the scent of the hunting party that was out the catch the rest of our dinner, then Kyler's scent hit my nose as I whipped around to see Kyler as a snow leopard creeping out of the woods.
I'll admit, his movements were far more graceful than a wolf's. He moved like liquid mercury out of the woods, his tail gently swaying and his ears perked up until he saw me and they laid back. He hissed, his fur ruffling for a second before he closed his eyes and changed into a human.
He obviously wasn't too self-conscious about his nudity as he folded his arms over his chest.
"What? I was sort of busy trying to hunt, alone." He added.
"I think I saw your rat in my kitchen." I stated. Kyler smirked.
"Yea? What'd you want me to do about it?"
"You're a cat, you idiot! I want you to kill it!"
"What do I look like? Tom from Tom and Jerry? That rat is smart. It's why I couldn't catch him for the past week and a half."
"That thing has been in my house for almost two weeks?"
"Duh. I swear he's not an ordinary rat."
"Well, I want it out and you don't have any other things to do, so go get it out of my house. That thing is about as big as the pups, which is dangerous. It could bite them or something and give them rabies." I scolded. Kyler huffed, dropping his arms to his sides as he headed for the back door.
"Fine, but you're helping me." He declared.
"What? Why me? You're the cat." I protested, following him and rolling my eyes as I went ahead into the kitchen to snatch a coat off the rack, tossing it to him. He caught it, giving it a disgusted stare before slipping it on.
"I tried doing it solo, but it doesn't work. Besides, I think we need to spend more quality time together, Scythe, don't you think?" Kyler asked with a wicked grin that made me scowl at him.
"Fine, but it better be gone by dinner. I don't want it dancing across our table."
"Oh, please. Rats don't dance," Kyler retorted as we headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room, only to have him pause in front of me, shrugging, "They flit."
"Of course. My bad." I responded sarcastically. I waited outside Kyler's room as he changed and came out, dressed in a spandex turtleneck and a pair of black jeans.
"So, how do we do this? I don't catch rats as a hobby, so I have no clue." I replied. Kyler hummed for a moment, tapping his chin thoughtfully, then shrugging.
"We could do it the old-fashioned way."
"And how's that?"
"Haven't you ever even seen Tom and Jerry? We set up dynamite everywhere in ridiculous amounts that'll probably blow the entire house away if not the whole property. Sure, we lose the house, but at least the rat is gone."
"Hilarious. No, seriously, how?"
"Rat traps, doofus. Jeez, you're a dumb dog."
"Oh, shut up." I growled, following Kyler down the stairs as we headed to the kitchen. I watched him snatch a pair of keys off the hook and I quickly snatched them right back. Kyler gave me an uncharacteristic pout, putting his hands on his hips.
"What now?"
"What'd you think you're doing?"
"Well, seeing as you guys are unprepared, and I checked beforehand, so I know that you guys don't have rat traps."
"Kyler, I don't mean to be a douche bag, but don't you remember the last time you were in town?" I demanded. Something flashed through Kyler's eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it was there before Kyler smirked.
"Yea, but you're coming with me, so it makes it all better, right? And you have your butt-buddy Remi to help you too in case anything goes wrong." He answered. I scowled.
"Remi's not even my friend."
"Oh really? Well, then I like him already!"
"Oh, shut up. Isn't there a way to catch the rat without going into town?"
"We could run after it like they do in the cartoons. Just chase it around the house with a broom until it outsmarts us and we trip and break our legs. I prefer a less painful approach, though."
"All right, fine, but we're taking the Raptor. No bike rides this time." I told him. He just shrugged as I replaced the keys and took the one for the truck before heading for the front door, only to have Zaid clear his throat loudly from the living room. I poked my head in to see him standing, but having a little trouble keeping his balance. His feet were already getting swollen from the weight of his stomach and I really wished he'd just sit down.
"Where are you going?" He demanded, holding onto the edge of the sofa.
"Just into town to grab some supplies. I'm taking the Pink Panther with me so he doesn't cause you grief." I answered, surprised by how swift the lie popped out of my mouth. Zaid looked at me skeptically, then slowly lowered himself onto the sofa again.
"Then while you're out, grab me some chocolate covered strawberries. And eggs."
"Uh, right, okay. Be back in a bit!" I flew out the door, grabbing Kyler, who yelped and hissed at me until we got to the car, where he laughed.
"Jeez, you two are like the stereotypical married couple. Honey, could you grab me some things from the store? Sure, sweetcakes, what would you like?" He mocked, waving his hand dramatically and making me glare at him.
"Get in the truck." I commanded as we approached the giant red truck. Kyler rolled his eyes, but kept smirking as he climbed into the truck with me. I cranked the radio to avoid conversation with the freakish cat in the passenger seat, letting I'm Not Over by Carolina Liar blast into the truck. Kyler made a face at me before rolling the window down, leaning out to watch the trees fly by, his blonde hair flying away from his face.
Sometimes, I swore Kyler was gay.
We drove into town, parking in the parking spot nearest to the door so we wouldn't have to lug everything all the way across.
"So, what kind of rat traps are we getting?" I asked as we walked down an aisle, Kyler leading the way as he scanned the shelves.
"The kind that kill."
"Oh, gee, I should've known." I drawled. Kyler glanced back at me with a wicked smirk, then yelped when he smacked into someone as we were just about to turn into the next aisle. Remi stood there, cocking a brow at us. Kyler immediately backed away from him, arms folded over his chest.
"Eugh, you reek like wolf." He muttered in repungence.
"Nice to see you too, cat," Remi drawled, giving Kyler a strange look before cocking a brow at me, "What're you two doing?"
"Rat traps," I answered, watching Remi's eyebrows rise, "We have this ugly ass albino rat in the house and we need to kill it. It's as big as a pup." Remi made a disgusted expression.
"Gross. Then get the bigger rat traps. Here, follow me." He gestured for us to follow. Kyler hung back behind me, obviously not liking Remi at all. Then again, he didn't like me either. Remi gestured to several shelves with rat traps and insecticide.
"Wow." I commented. Remi nodded.
"Living in a tiny town like this in the middle of nowhere, rats aren't rare. I say if it's as big as you say it is, go for the bigger traps. And try the sticky pads, not just the actual wooden traps. The sticky stuff has them glued down. We even had a coon stumble onto one of ours. Unfortuantely, we didn't find it until quite a while later. Poor thing was just decayed flesh and bones." He mused.
"Uhm, ew." Kyler responded, scrunching up his nose as he grabbed a handful of boxes off the shelves. It ranged from the wooden traps to sticky ones to mini-cages. For some reason, he also grabbed a can of air freshener from the next shelf over.
"What's that for? Rats stink?" I asked. Kyler gave Remi and I once over, actually curling his lip.
"You guys stink, that's why." He replied smugly, then turned away and headed for the cash register. Remi lifted his arm, sniffing his pit before shrugging.
"I smell like leather and booze. Is that bad?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned about his scent, making me roll my eyes.
"Don't worry. He just hates wolves." I replied. Remi looked surprised.
"Really? Then why does he live with you?"
"I wonder the same thing." I admitted honestly. Kyler didn't have to stay with us. I could easily give him cash to stay at the inn, but he seemed content living with my pack, even though he claimed to loathe wolves.
"Well, we better get going. Hope everything's okay with you and your pack, Rem."
"Same to you."
"I wish." I didn't say anymore than that as I hurried to follow Kyler to the cash register. The cashier girl raised an eyebrow at the products, but once she saw it was Kyler purchasing it, she melted into a pile of fangirl goo.
"Well, hello there, handsome." She greeted. I was surprised to see Kyler look uncomfortable, but he just forced a smile.
"He's paying." He said, pointing at me. The cashier girl barely spared me a glance, just smiled flirtatiously as she scanned the items without even looking at them. I had to lean over and see the price on the screen since goo-goo eyes here was just gazing at Kyler like he was a pornstar.
"Thanks." I drawled sarcastically, snatching the bags and kneeing Kyler in the butt to get him to move along. He quickly obeyed, only flashing me a scowl before we headed out to the truck.
"Why were you acting so stiff? She was flirting with you." I said as I tossed the stuff in the back seat. I turned to see Kyler leaning against the hood of the truck, snorting indigenously.
"Why do you flirt with your wolf boy when you have your other wolf boy?" He returned. I scowled.
"I don't flirt with him. In fact, I think he likes you." I replied. Kyler suddenly looked horrified.
"Ew! Gross! That's like saying I'd mate with a human! Oh, God, that's disgusting. I'm never coming back here again. Let's go before he starts humping my leg." He commanded, throwing open his door and climbing in. I rolled my eyes, walking around and getting in, starting the car and backing out.
"He's not that bad. Why do you hate wolves so much anyway? We're not all like Jack." I pointed out. When I didn't receive a response, I looked at Kyler to see him sitting there stiffly, not saying a word. I frowned.
"I'm not hassling you or anything, I'm just honestly curious." I said. Kyler still didn't say anything and looked the other way. I sighed, frustrated.
"All right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." I told him. Kyler glanced at me suspiciously for a second, then folded his arms over his chest.
"So, you saw the rat in the kitchen?" He asked. Yea, he wasn't about to tell me anything. It made me angry. I wanted to smack him, but I resisted as I nodded. Kyler hummed thoughtfully as we drove down the road, listening to Consoler of the Lonely by the Raconteurs.
"Well, it sounds like its moving from room to room in some kind of order. I know it was in the attic, then moved along until it came down to my room. Moved to the kitchen, which is right under my room... Nah, it's like a fucking Pac-Man game. He just goes everywhere. Well, this sucks. I thought it'd be more entertaining."
"You're a cat. Chasing rats is always entertaining."
"It's better than chasing my tail." Kyler responded smartly. I raised an eyebrow and jerked the wheel as we went around a curb far too sharply. Kyler yelped, smacking into the door and gripping the handle tightly. He glared at me as I righted us and we drove the rest of the way smoothly.
No one was home, but Zaid, the pups, and Trisha. Everyone was still out hunting, which meant we had plenty of time before dinner started. We got the supplies out and started setting traps, according to Kyler's plan.
"In the doorways, but down in the corners so no one steps on them. Make sure you keep the pups away from them too. It'll probably snap their little paws off." Kyler commented with a smirk. I glared at him, but obeyed quickly as we set up the little traps. We laid the sticky ones out in the cupboards and behind the fridge, along the basement staircase, and under the sofas. The cages we left outside alongside the house to avoid any other curious creatures from entering.
"And now we wait." Kyler declared once we finished. I scowled.
"We don't have time. I don't want that think crawling around during dinner." I protested, but Kyler flicked me in the nose, catching me off guard. I clasped my hand over my nose, glaring at him as he put his hands on his hips.
"Patience is a virtue. I know you slobbery dogs are really eager to get things done, but some things require some waiting. For now, go flirt with your mate."
"And you?"
"I'll be waiting." Kyler answered, heading for the living room. I followed close behind, but we paused in the opening to the living room. Zaid was lying on the sofa, fast asleep with an arm flung over his head and the other resting across his round belly. The pups were curled up around him like little balls of fur, napping while Fin guarded at the foot of the sofa. He cocked his head when he saw us standing there watching.
Even with his belly swollen, Zaid looked gorgeous just lying there, wearing his loose gray sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. I couldn't resist, walking over as quietly as possible. The pups lifted their heads, yawned, then relaxed as I came over, kneeling beside the sofa.
Zaid was deep asleep, the way his chest was rising and falling with his steady, gentle breath told me so. I sat there, watching him sleep for a while when I remembered Kyler. I looked up, but he was gone. I frowned, then turned back to Zaid.
I was about to take a risk at doing this, but...
I leaned forward, resting my head against his belly, closing my eyes. Of course it hadn't been long enough for the pups to be fully developed, but I still felt the tiny creations and it made my stomach feel light.
It seemed to finally hit me.
I was going to be a father. These were my children, inside the person I absolutely adored and loved with every fiber of my being. They were all mine and mine alone. I sighed blissfully, reaching up to rest my hand over Zaid's, lacing my fingers with his. Zaid murmured something faintly in his sleep and I just smiled.
Everything else seemed to fade out of existence for a while.
It was just Zaid, our children, and I.
I think I fell asleep after a while before I felt something cold and wet nudging my hand. I blinked my eyes open tiredly to see Fin whimpering and pawing at me, then growling low in his throat before doing a little spin. I yawned and finally got up, glancing toward the kitchen where the heavy scent of dinner hit my nostrils, making me shiver.
I turned to Zaid, gently shaking his shoulder. I watched his eyes flutter open sleepily as he tried to roll over, then gave up and closed his eyes again. I smirked.
"Zaid, get up. Dinner." I told him.
"Five minutes."
"Zaid."
"Five."
"Fine." I agreed reluctantly, then led the puppies away to their room downstairs where their own special little dinners were waiting. On the way down, I saw Kyler sitting by the basement door, his knees to his chest as he stared intently at one of the mouse traps.
"Are you trying to move that with your psychic powers?" I asked. Kyler snorted, shoving Fin's face away from his feet. Fin growled and snapped his teeth. Kyler smirked and flashed his fangs in Fin's face, making the puppy yelp in surprise. Kyler glanced up at me as I scowled.
"No, but I smell him nearby. I wanna see the bar come down on his fat head. I have a feeling it'll decapitate him." He replied. I made a face.
"So, wolf scent is gross, but watching a rat get its head lopped off is just fine?"
"No duh."
"I'll never understand cats." I drawled, looking at the puppies, who yipped excitedly in response before I led them to their room. I came back upstairs just as Kyler was getting up, stretching. He followed me to the dining room where everyone sat down in their usual spots. Zaid and I sat at the head of the table while Kyler sat beside Zaid. Everyone else filed in; Trisha, Thalia, Acacia, and Frita brought the food in, setting it out before taking their seat.
That's when I noticed it.
The top to the pork was shuttering. My eyes widened.
"Don't tell me." I muttered, gripping the table.
"Don't tell you what?" Zaid asked, confused. Before I could answer, Kyler seemed to catch onto what I meant and meowed animalistically, lunging across the table.
"Kyler!" I barked, but Kyler already moved and smacked the top off the pork. Right there, sitting on top of the pig was the fattest rat I'd ever seen. It was definitely the size of a pup with beady red eyes and fur the color of snow. Its long thick tail trailed around the pig's snout and it was holding a piece of tomato that was sitting around the pig's legs.
"Ew!" Thalia shrieked, leaping away from the table in disgust.
"Shit." Lars cursed, pushing away from the table. Everyone else seemed to move in sync, backing away from the table and emitting their own disgusted cries. Trisha just gaped, covering her mouth with her hand in horror as Kyler basically kicked all our food off the table, grabbing for the rat that screeched at the sight of him.
"Kyler!" I shouted again.
"Shut up and let me catch the damn thing!" Kyler yelled back at me, then went to grab its throat, but the rat ducked under his arm and bounded across the table right at me. I went to grab it too, but it did a sharp U-turn.
I cursed as I slammed into the potatoes, sending them flying into the air and right into Acacia's lap, where she yelped. Nyt flashed me a glare, then winced as Kyler kicked the salad bowl at his face.
"Grab it!" Kyler snapped at me.
"Don't you think I'm trying?!"
"Move faster!"
"I am moving fast!"
"My dead grandmother moves faster than you! Shit! He's gonna jump off the table!" Kyler barked and leapt right off the table after the rat that ducked under Frita's chair. Frita cried out and darted away just as Kyler ducked under her chair, sending it flying. Kyler grabbed its tail, making the thing squeal. I ran around the table to catch it, but it whipped around and bit Kyler's thumb. Kyler yipped like a kicked puppy and let go.
The rat ran past him toward the nearest exit, but suddenly Kylan jumped into the fray, practically moving over the table, only to slip on the lettuce and slam into Thalia, who gasped as she fell into Alek.
Shit.
"Don't let him get away, you idiot!" Kyler gasped, climbing over me and bolting for the rat that darted into the living room. I ran after him, shaking out my hand as he had stepped on it on his way into the living room.
"Says the one who let go!"
"Bullshit, you're a pack of wolves! You can hunt moose, bear, and deer, but a rat is too much for you?!"
"You're a snow leopard!"
"And there's only one of me!" Kyler threw back at me over his shoulder before he whipped around. The rat was diving toward the sofa, only to get stuck partially. I told you it was a fat rat. Kyler leapt and skidded across the wooden floor, grabbing the thing and ripping it free.
It squealed and thrashed, trying to whirl around and bite Kyler, but it failed miserably.
"About time." Lars snapped from the doorway. I looked up to see pretty much everyone emerging to see what the hell had caused all the mess.
"Kill it." Ivy commanded in disgust, pulling a tomato off the sleeve of her catsuit.
"Just break its neck and throw it outside." Acacia muttered, brushing the rest of the potatoes off her lap.
"Don't do that," Zaid scolded, coming into the living room carefully, "Just take him out into the woods and let him go. He was just hungry."
"Are you kidding me," Kyler snorted, holding the fat rat up as it writhed and squealed, "This thing is half the size of Montana. He could easily starve for three years and only shrink to be as big as Fat Albert." Zaid scowled.
"So? Throw him outside. Far away from the house."
"What if he comes back?" I demanded. Zaid shrugged.
"You set up the traps. He won't come back."
"Since when did you join PETA?" Kyler grumbled, heading for the door. Zaid rolled his eyes and just pointed out the door. I turned to everyone else.
"Even though it wasn't your faults, someone needs to clean up. I'll go with Kyler to dump the trash." I said. Everyone groaned and grumbled, heading back to the dining room. Zaid waited by the door as Kyler and I started our trek into the woods to find a place to drop the ugly thing.
"I can't believe your mate is letting this thing live." Kyler hissed, flashing his fangs at the rat that squealed in fright. I could just smell the horror rolling off the thing in waves as it wriggled in Kyler's tight death grip.
"Well... It's one of the Goddess' creatures too, I guess." I admitted reluctantly. Kyler scowled.
"The Goddess must be into crack cocaine if She likes to birth ugly things like this."
"Will you quit that? We're in Her domain. You ever heard of karma?"
"No. You ever heard of an albino rat the size of a watermelon? No? I thought not."
"Maybe he's... genetically altered."
"Or genetically obese."
"Stop, Kyler." I scolded. He just made a face at me and we continued until we reached the lake. We went to the other side near Amethyst's territory. I gestured for Kyler to set the rat down, but instead, he chucked it into the woods where it shrieked and bolted away. I glared at Kyler, who held his hands up in defense before we went back.
Upon returning, everything had been cleaned up and organized.
Oh, and everyone was still starving.
"So what are we going to do for food now?" My father asked, looking disgruntled. I frowned, patting at my pockets for my wallet.
"Maybe we can eat at the Mockingbird." I offered.
"Ew, human food." Ivy spat.
"Oh, shut up, Ivy." Acacia muttered. Ivy stuck her tongue out childishly, then put her hands on her hips.
"Even if we went to the Mockingbird, who'd take care of the pups?" She demanded. Zaid shrugged.
"The Mockingbird has a place special for pups. We could just let them stay there while we eat. They haven't been out into town for a long time anyway." He explained. Everyone shared looks. It seemed all right and we didn't have enough food to feed everyone a healthy meal. After all, we weren't just humans. We were were-creatures and Zaid was pregnant. We ate enough to feed several human families.
"Are you sure you want to go?" I asked Zaid, trying to avoid looking at his belly. Zaid hesitated and everyone looked at him, waiting for a response. Zaid shifted a bit uncomfortably, then nodded.
"I'll just borrow a larger sweatshirt. I'll be back in a second. Everyone else can go on ahead. Scythe, Kyler, and I will take the pups." He replied quietly. Everyone seemed to agree to that and filed out of the house, heading to town.
"Sorry about your dinner." Kyler said to Zaid, surprising me. Zaid blinked, then smiled.
"It's fine. Glad you got rid of your ghost rat." He answered. Kyler beamed.
"Great fun. Glad we actually had a dinner to speak of. Most of them are so eerie." He said, then went to get the pups for us. Zaid seemed to think about that before he went to change, then came back down. Kyler came and we gathered the pups to take into town.
Once we got there, Ty let the puppies into the specially protected room where the Amethyst's pack had their pups. We got the largest table, plus another two that we had to add because our pack had grown so large.
It was far better eating dinner here. Everyone was chattering and laughing, bringing up the situation with the rat. Kyler blushed as people commented on his hunting skill and his diving across the table. I smiled, relaxing a little. I felt a hand curl around mine and I turned to look at Zaid, who smiled back at me.
He leaned in while everyone was busy talking and kissed my throat, then my ear before nuzzling me.
"Nice job lifting the tension." He whispered. I smirked, turning my head to lick his nose before kissing him gently on the lips.
"I try." I answered, studying those orbs of seafoam green staring back at me. I could see all my affections being returned to me as I gazed at him, squeezing his hand.
"I love you, Zaid." I murmured, nuzzling his nose for a second.
"I love you too, Scythe." Zaid sighed against my lips, kissing me quickly before Kyler distracted him with rants about how annoying it is that the house stinks of urine and wolf. I rolled my eyes as Zaid retorted with his own complaints about cats and their lack of litter boxes.
I laughed.
Yea, this was definitely the best dinner I've had in a while.