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Ethan was quiet like he was thinking about saying something, but he hadn’t yet voiced it.
I gave him space to think. Hopefully, after today, he would be more comfortable with me. I wanted him to be able to say whatever was on his mind and not worry about how I might react. It seemed my omega still operated with a bit of hesitancy where I was concerned.
His eyes widened as we pulled into the parking lot of the shelter. It was outside the city limits on a 20-acre property that was heavily wooded. The large building that housed the dogs was old and in need of updates, but there was a lot of love in the setup, with several areas where they could take animals to play, including long runs where dogs could get their exercise.
“What are we doing here?” Ethan asked.
“Visiting your second favorite place.” I turned to him and winked.
He laughed and leaned over to kiss my shoulder. “Where do you think my first favorite place is?”
“Our bedroom, of course.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
Once we were inside, Ethan ran around to the other side of the desk. “I just want to see who’s still here. I’m curious if they got adopted. I hope we have updated pictures. I love when the new owners show how happy they are.”
“Ethan!” A lady came running out of the back room. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“You were?” He cocked his head as he looked at me.
She reached out a hand, and I shook it. “Yes, and you must be Mr. Ferrini. Thank you again for your generous donation.”
“It was nothing.” I didn’t like to make a big deal of these things. “Happy to support a project Ethan is so passionate about.”
“You made a donation?” Ethan’s eyes were glassy, and he swallowed hard.
I smirked. “I owed them after occupying all your time for the past month.”
My omega blushed and squeezed my hand before turning to his friend. “How have things been here? I’ve missed you all.”
My stomach twisted at that. Had I been keeping Ethan from his real life, and did he want to return to it now? As much as I wanted him all to myself all the time, he needed something to keep himself busy and feeling useful.
“Things have been just fine around here. Two days after your last day, Kira had her puppies.”
Ethan’s eyes lit up. “She did!”
“There were only four, much to our surprise, but probably a good thing since we’d be hard-pressed to find homes for all of them.”
“How’s she doing?” He looked around as if he might see a litter of puppies hiding in a corner somewhere.
“Why don’t you go see for yourself? Your alpha here has reserved the place for the day, so you’ve got it all to yourselves. Since you’re here, I’m gonna go run a few errands. It’s really great to see you, Ethan, and we hope we’ll see you back on the schedule soon.”
“Of course!” Ethan gave her a quick hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Who’s Kira?” The place was quieter than I expected once we were alone, except for the occasional bark echoing from the pens.
Ethan sighed. “Only the greatest dog that ever lived. Come on, I’ll show you.”
I followed him back to the kennels where there were a billion different dogs. Once we stepped inside, they all perked up and began pacing. Some were more vocal than others, and while some jumped against the fence panels in excitement, others cowered with nerves.
“This is where we house some of our longer-term residents. We’re a no-kill shelter, so we keep everyone, even those who aren’t good adoption candidates.” I saw more than one three-legged dog and a few with mangled ears or missing eyes.
“This here is Kira.” He stopped in front of a kennel. Inside was a large German Shepherd mix lying on her side. Her tail thumped the minute she saw Ethan, and nestled against her belly were four puppies.
“Oh, Kira.” Ethan’s hands flew to his mouth. “They’re so beautiful.”
“And what makes her not adoptable?” She looked like a perfectly good dog to me. If I were a person who liked pets, she’d probably make a good one.
