Reese (Pack of Misfits #2) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,95

socks, shoes, and pants, though the khakis have no hope of fitting Igor. He rips them after trying to get just one leg in. With a sigh, he abandons it and just stands there in socks and some loafers. He’s wearing the loafers like slippers, the back of the shoes crushed under his heels since those are too small for him too.

I try very hard to not look at the giant swinging appendage between his legs, and...well, he may be a gerbil, but I don’t think his cock got the memo. He is like full python down there.

Igor spots the cord around the toilet and quickly hauls Sid up. Just like I was, Igor ties him down to the toilet, ass deep in toilet water. I can’t help but grin.

When he’s secure, Igor steps back. “Where are the others?” I ask him.

“Outside dealing with everyone else.”

“Everyone else?”

“Sid brought you to his pack. He intended to let the mongooses and rats chew the flesh from your bones until you died. The pack was waiting outside in a dirt pit they keep for those entertainment events. They were talking all about it,” he says with a disgusted tone.

A shudder goes through me, and I gulp. “You came for me. Thank you.”

Igor looks at me strangely. “You’re pack. And a lot more than just me came to get you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on.”

Following behind Igor, I walk through the house, which is just as grimy as the bathroom. As soon as we step out the front door, I stop in my tracks at the sight of mayhem.

30

Reese

Fights have broken out all over a yard that’s littered with parked cars and dirt. There’s nothing else around except for this dilapidated house and huge yard in the middle of nowhere. It’s dusk, nighttime falling fast, and I can see my old packmates, both mongooses and rats, fighting against my new packmates. My stomach churns as my past and present collides.

It’s the strangest collection of animals I’ve ever seen.

Birds, reptiles, small animals, big animals, everything in between. This is the unexpected strength of the misfits. There’s a flamingo plucking rats off the ground and tossing them back to a puma. There are coyotes fighting alongside a woodpecker. There’s a hyena cackling as a llama spits in a mongoose’s eye.

The sight is weird, almost humorous if the circumstances were different. But somehow, despite them all being so different, they work as a united pack. These misfits fit together. That’s the magic.

Apart, they may not seem like much, but collectively, they use each other’s individual strengths that far surpass any weaknesses. Plus, they confuse the friggen hell out of their enemies, and that’s always a plus.

When I spot Luca in his animal form, my insides relax a tiny bit. My rat twitches her nose and wags her tail like a dog again. She likes his giant bird. Currently, his vulture is in full badass, pissed-off mode. She likes that too.

“Damn, he’s big,” I breathe, watching as he picks up a mongoose in his talons, flies up high, and then tosses it to the ground.

As soon as he drops his prey, his head turns and he spots me. Changing his trajectory, he flaps his massive wings and flies over, landing at my feet. His head comes up to my hip. I breathe out a sigh of relief ,and my pack rat squeaks in delight that he’s here.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I’d pet you, but I think I might give you pink eye or something from the plunger.” He cocks his head at me and blinks. “It’s a long story,” I explain with another sigh. He opens his wings and wraps them around me, and my heart squeezes. “Oh my God, you’re giving me a vulture wing hug! You’re so sweet.”

The vulture chuffs and knocks his head against my leg, but he doesn’t drop his wings. I look up at Igor with a goofy grin on my face. The burly male just shakes his head at the sight of us.

Grunts, shouts, growls, and pained yelps continue to pop off like bullets, bringing my attention back to the fight, but the mongooses and rats are clearly overpowered, even with the random animals I see who have come to rescue me. The fight continues in small skirmishes until a familiar Jeep pulls up and parks. Hugo looks pissed.

As soon he steps foot in the yard, everyone freezes. Even Sid’s pack.

The alpha power wafting off him comes in heady pulses, like he’s