Kyle’s knot had started to deflate by this point, so he was able to gently pull himself free and climb over us to face Larry. He took Larry’s face in both hands before leaning in for a long, slow kiss. “Anything for you, mate.”
How that moment managed to feel romantic given the shitstorm going on outside our tent was beyond me, but it was. I gently pulled out of Larry and leaned over him to join their kiss.
We jerked apart with a half groan, half chuckle when Dottie squealed with laughter and Sandy cackled. I looked up to see their shapes high-five each other.
Dottie yelled in our direction as if she weren’t standing two feet from our tent. “Come out when you’re decent, boys. We’d better get down the road before they send a fresh batch. Don’t rush or anything, but whenever you’re done. I think it would be good to put some distance between us and this mess we just made of this spot.”
Sandy cackled. “I bet they made just as big of a mess inside that tent.”
Larry groaned. “Kill me now. For real, just put me out of my misery. I cannot look either of them in the eye ever again.”
Thanks to the enhanced hearing of shifters, they heard him clearly and cracked up some more. Sandy made a cooing sound. “You sweet summer child. Do you really think you invented sex? Or that we didn’t know you boys were balls deep in each other all night? Gurl, please. Now don’t be shy, come on out and Uncle Sandy will fry up some eggs and bacon before we hit the road.”
Kyle’s stomach growled just then. He grinned with a light shrug. “You heard the man, there’s bacon to be had.”
7
Larry
When we climbed out of the tent, it looked like it was snowing—feathers, that was. I spat one out as I stood and stretched, wrinkling my nose as I looked around at the carnage.
"What do you think, boys? Should we collect some of the carcasses? Dottie says no, but I say everyone needs to taste my roast goose at least once before they die." Sandy placed a hand over his heart. "Thankfully, we overcame and continue to thrive despite the best efforts of your foul feathered friends."
Acid rose into the back of my throat. "Those were no friends of mine. But… I'm thinking we probably shouldn't actually partake of a shifter carcass, right? Even if they died in animal form, it's a little too close to cannibalism for my liking."
Sandy did a double take. "Did you think I meant shifters? Oh no, hon! I would never. Besides, we only took one of them out anyway. That would be the big—every pun intended—honking one over to your right. Or not so honking, at this point. No, I was talking about the smaller, regular-sized geese that those shifter bitches had under their thrall."
My only excuse for not realizing that normal geese had been involved was that I'd been rudely awakened and immediately thrown into an awkward situation where I was stuck to my mates during battle—the very idea of being caught at the enemy’s mercy was repugnant to my inner soldier.
I nodded slowly as understanding struck. "Yeah, I guess I didn't think that one through. There are only six sisters in the Gosling clan. Of course they would've put a flock or two of geese under their persuasion. Still, I'd rather not eat them, no offense."
Niles kicked one of the dead birds out of his way as he walked around, taking in the carnage. "Don't feel bad for not thinking of it, Larry. Most shifters have better manners than to use poor animals to do their bidding. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should." He turned to look at Sandy. "I wouldn't be opposed to trying roasted goose, but not one of these. I don't want to sit here all day de-feathering and picking out pellets from the shotgun ammo."
"Lawdy, yesss… I didn't think about the amount of work involved. Okay, majority rules. Next question, do we clean up our mess or leave it here for nature to do its thing?"
I was torn. On the one hand, it didn't feel right to leave all these dead birds scattered on the ground. On the other, we were in the middle of the desert and there were plenty of scavengers who would be happy to take care of it for us. I wanted to do the right thing, but I wasn't entirely sure what that was in a situation like this one.
Kyle rested his arm on my shoulder as he leaned against me. "As appetizing as this scene and our current conversation might be, it's not getting us any closer to putting bacon in our bellies. How about we pack up the tent before breakfast and if the RV happens to head on down the road before anybody wanders back outside? So be it."
Now that was the kind of irresponsible reasoning that I could get behind. I rubbed my hands together and nudged Kyle with my shoulder. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you give me a hand with the tent since Niles helped me pitch it last night?"
"I'm sure he did, honeyyy… and I bet you didn't stop there." Sandy giggled in the background.
Niles cleared his throat. "And on that note, how about we all deal with our campsite while Uncle Sandy here does us a solid and makes sure there's enough coffee to get us all going?"
Sandy made a purring sound by trilling his tongue. "Mhmmm… you tell me, baby boy. I always did like me a bossy man." He blew Niles a kiss then disappeared back into the RV. Kyle and I managed to wait until the door was closed before we burst out laughing.
"Go ahead, laugh it up. Next time you'll be the one he's flirting with, babe. You might want to keep that in mind." Niles was adorable when he pretended to be irritated, but the laughter in his eyes told a different story.
We decided the tent wasn't worth saving once we found dozens of holes and unmentionable substances that most likely consisted of bloody bird guts. We didn't want to take it with us, so we ended up digging a hole and burying it. The blankets and pillows went back inside but we left the dead birds where they'd fallen.
By the end of the day, I knew there would be some happy scavengers but we wouldn't be around to see it—the circle of life and all that. Thank fuck. As it was, I'd already seen more than one vulture circling overhead.
After we went inside and got cleaned up, breakfast was being served. Niles drained his first cup of coffee in a single gulp and was already refilling it before I had a chance to blink. At least, that's what it felt like. I made a mental note to remember to keep the coffee stocked when we settled down. Speaking of that… I looked across the table to Dottie and cleared my throat.
"Excuse me, Miss Dottie. Can you tell us some more about the property where we'll be settling down?"
Niles looked up with fresh interest and actually set his coffee aside. "Yes, you said it was located in Cottonwood? And the pack was settled nearby? What exactly are we facing when we get there today?"
Dottie took a moment to daintily blot her mouth with a napkin like a lady before turning her head and belching like a sailor. She picked up a piece of bacon and waved it like a pointer and she answered. "It's near Cottonwood but not exactly in the town proper. The homestead is actually located on Mingus Mountain." She and Sandy both snickered after she said the name. “And if any of you ever calls me Miss Dottie again, like we ain’t family, I’ll kick your ass. But yes, on Mingus Mountain.”