Page 42 of The Pregnant Wolf Omega Next Door

“That pup,” Emre sighed, grinning helplessly.

“Let me clean that up first,” Zenith said, scrambling to his feet. He hurried to a supply closet and grabbed a broom and dustpan, nudging Abbie away with his foot. “It’s going to be dusty around here, pup. You’ll sneeze.”

Abbie didn’t understand, so Zenith scooped her up and deposited her between Emre’s paws. Emre caught her scruff with his teeth so she wouldn’t run off again.

Zenith stuffed all the burned things into a trash bag. He wiped Buttwheel down with a damp rag, then rolled the cart into the living room. The rest of the debris, he swept up with a broom and dustpan. Both Emre and Abbie sneezed.

“Sorry!” Zenith hurriedly emptied the dustpan into the trash bag and tied it off. He left it on the counter instead of the floor. “This isn’t a plaything for pups,” he said to Abbie’s curious face. “You can gnaw on my furniture, but not the trash.”

Emre coughed, suddenly embarrassed. “My parents had a story about me as a pup.”

“Yeah?” Zenith perked up.

“It’s a terrible story!”

“But they told you anyway.” Zenith washed his hands and came back to sit with Emre, his eyes bright. “Tell you what. If you tell me your story, I’ll let my butler tell you one about me. He has some that are so bad, they’ll burn my ears off.”

“Deal,” Emre said before he could think about it.

Zenith huffed, shaking his head ruefully. “So, your story. Was it about furniture, or trash bags?”

“Trash bags.” Emre winced. But he relaxed when Zenith began rubbing his back. “I was maybe two years old, always getting into things I shouldn’t be getting into. Anyway, my parents were doing some spring cleaning. They had a habit of not throwing away things that could be useful, and they accepted lots of junk from the pack.

“So there were all these trash bags around the house. I was sniffing at them happily, pawing at the ones that made sounds when I shook them. Then there was this one bag.”

Zenith eyed him. “Uh oh.”

Emre groaned. “I guess it must’ve really smelled like my parents, because I was pawing at it a lot. The bags all looked the same; Mom and Dad were busy bagging other stuff to throw away, so they weren’t paying attention to me.

“The bags weren’t for pups with little wolf teeth. I bit into the bag that smelled like my parents and ripped it open.”

“I’m almost afraid to hear what happened next,” Zenith said.

Emre sighed heavily. “It was a trash bag full of their old sex toys. Apparently I thought the hugest dildo was a stick and brought it to them so they could play Fetch with me. It was awful. They were horrified.”

Zenith looked horrified too. “And they told you that story?”

“I was older when they got drunk one night and told me,” Emre whined. “Then I wished I’d never heard it.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Zenith’s face was a mix of humor and sympathy. “I feel bad for you, but I’m also trying not to laugh.”

“You’re going to put it in a book, aren’t you?”

Zenith’s eyes grew wide. “If I have your permission.”

“You may as well. So I’m not the only one suffering.”

Zenith huffed, running his hands up and down Emre’s body. He hadn’t stopped with the gentle massage this whole time; Emre felt a little better.

When Emre tried to stand, blinding pain shot through his hind leg.

He cried out and lost his balance.

Before he could hit the floor, strong arms caught him.

“Emre?” Zenith asked in concern. “What happened?”

“Cramp,” Emre whimpered, twitching his leg. “Help.”