Reese (Pack of Misfits #2) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,76
ruff of white around the base of his neck and more white down the edges of his wings. Wings, by the way, that are friggen enormous. Seriously, the wingspan has to be at least nine feet.
The rest of his neck and his head is featherless and a dull red color, and he has a large curved beak with a dark red comb on the top of his head.
My rat doesn’t move as the bird leans down, and I try really hard not to notice things like how sharp his talons look and the fact that his beak is bigger than my body. I’m so focused on not noticing things, in fact, that I jump when his head suddenly bumps into my body, giving me a little nuzzle.
My rat immediately stops being scared and lifts her nose, smelling him. She even gives a little excited squeak. Wow, rat. Way to have self-preservation.
Our animals sniff and circle each other for a while until my rat is so comfortable with this giant bird that she even starts burrowing under his wings and walking up his back. Luca’s bird looks oddly pleased.
When I convince my rat to let me take the reins again, I shift back, quickly getting dressed as soon as I’m human. Luca does the same thing, and when he’s dressed, I look at him incredulously. “You’re a friggen vulture?”
“I prefer Andean Condor,” he says.
“You’re a damn vulture from Jungle Book but scarier. And you’re huge. A little warning would’ve been nice! My rat almost peed again.”
“Nothing I haven’t endured before,” he chuckles before smoothing a hand against my back. “Was my little Mousey scared?” he teases. “You know my animal would never hurt yours. He wants to mate you, remember?”
“Yeah, and my pack rat must be crazy to go for a vulture. I seriously don’t know what she was thinking. Your bird is terrifying.”
“I am very impressive,” Luca says, threading his fingers through mine once more. He starts tugging me down the beach back towards the others.
“There’s that cockiness again,” I tease. “Seriously though, your bird is cool. Scary, but cool.”
“He’s pleased you think so.”
“What’s your story?” I ask curiously.
The happy glint in his eye fades away, and I realize that by asking him a seemingly simple question, it’s brought up some painful memories.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. That was personal.”
“No. I want to tell you. You have every right to ask me personal things,” he tells me. “I lived in New Mexico. In our flock, we were required to fight in group challenges every year. If we lost, we got kicked out. One year, I didn’t win. They clipped my wings—tore out my flight feathers and exiled me out of the flock.”
I can’t help the gasp that sucks through my lips. “That’s deplorable.” But unfortunately, not uncommon. Most shifter packs are ruthless.
“I went to live with humans after that. Worked in an auto shop. Hugo found me and invited me to Pack Aberrant. I thought it was too good to be true.”
“I know the feeling.”
He nods. “Yeah, it should be too good to be true. I never thought a pack like this would even be possible. But Hugo proves not just that it can be done, but that shifters of all kinds and strengths can live together as a family, without the normal shifter hierarchy bullshit.”
“I’m still wrapping my head around it. It doesn’t feel real,” I admit.
“I still have those days, and it’s been two years. And I know just about everyone else feels the same way—like there’s always this edge of disbelief and awe. But I think that’s good in some ways.”
“Why?” I ask curiously.
He raises our linked hands and places a kiss on mine. “It means that we never take it for granted.”
24
Reese
We spend the next two days lounging on the shore, being total beach bums. We live solely off of pizza and burritos, plus a fair amount of beer and water. I get sunburned on my shoulders and nose, but Luca sweetly rubs on sunblock and aloe vera from someone else’s stash to take care of me. Freya let me borrow one of her bathing suits, since she brought extra.
“Has anyone seen my keys?”
I’m lying down on the tarp, dozing and enjoying the feel of warm beach sand between my toes when a shadow falls over me.
I squint up at the face and smile. “Hey, Luca.”
He crosses his arms and looks down at me. “Is there something you want to tell me?”