Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gary stands in the middle of the woods, glaring down at his map like his wrath might force it to reveal its secrets. Gary wasn’t lost , exactly. He had just wandered into the forest with a pack filled with camping supplies, and had simply…veered away from where he was supposed to be. And forgot how to get back. 

The sun is getting lower and lower in the sky, and the shows are stretching themselves as far as they can reach, long fingers reaching for him. Gary looks from the map, at the forest around him, and then back at the map. Ok, so he might be lost. 

Gary sighs, crumpling the map up and stuffing it in his pocket. It seems he will just have to navigate himself out of this situation on his own. His phone had lost service a long time ago, and it had yet to regain a single bar. And, worse than that, the battery was starting to go down too. 

His canteen is probably the last thing that hasn’t given up on him, still about half full with water. If he somehow runs out before he makes camp, he is at least fairly certain that he could navigate his way back to the stream that he had passed sometime earlier. Then again, he was also fairly certain that he could navigate his way to the campsite, and that had not gone well. 

At some point, he had stopped seeing trail signs, which probably wasn’t the best. That would mean he had wandered off of the state park’s property, and onto the private property surrounding it on all sides. The guide had said that the owners used it as some sort of hunting retreat and that he shouldn’t wander onto the property at all, but especially not if he wasn’t wearing any high-vis clothing so as not to be shot. At the time, Gary had paid no heed to the warning, but now, trudging his way through the forest in decidedly low visibility clothing, he is getting a bit nervous. 

Finally, Gary stops in his tracks with a sigh. He is going to have to double back on himself. Gary pulls his map back out, smoothing all the wrinkles and peering down at the paper. The last landmark he had seen was the Acorn Trail marker, which was the closest to the border of both the map and the park, which wasn’t good. But, if he just turned around, and walked straight, he should be able to walk back onto the map.

Carefully, he turns, making sure that he keeps the setting sun directly behind him since at first he had been walking into it. That way, he is sure that he is going in the exact opposite direction, not diagonally. Path set in his head, Gary takes a swig from his canteen and sets off into the woods again, determined to get back to where he started. 

Hours drag on and Gary marches ever forward, determined not to give up. His legs ache and burn from the hike, and the bottoms of his feet have started to hurt from standing so long. He wants to sit down so bad, to just give himself a bit of reprieve from the pain. But he won’t, because he knows that if he does, he won’t get back up. He forces himself to keep walking, even as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky, until finally it is so dark that he can barely see a foot in front of him. 

Nothing around him looks familiar when he shines his flashlight off into the trees, peering as far into the darkness as he can. It’s gotten cold, freezing almost, and Gary is seconds away from collapsing. But he knows that if he just lays down here, he will probably get hypothermia. 

So he forces himself to set his bag down, groaning when the weight is taken off of his back. It feels so much better without ten pounds weighing him down. His hands shake from the cold as he unzips his bags, and his joins have become stiff as he tries to unfold his sleeping bag. He is so cold that it has begun to burn. 

There are two trees close to the clearing he has found himself in that are just perfect for his hammock, so he struggles his way over to it, tears pricking his eyes with every step he takes. He makes it over to them without falling, going through the motions of driving his spikes into the trees, and hooking the hammock onto them. 

It feels like heaven to finally be off of his feet, stowing his bag in the tree above him so that no animals get to it. He doesn’t have the strength to build a fire from scratch, so he pulls some twigs and leaves from the tree around him, and he tosses them onto a starting block. The fire roars to life when he presses his lighter to it, and he sits in front of it, feeding it twigs and branches from the nearby area, too tired to find anything better. That at least helps with the cold a bit. 

While he is defrosting himself, Gary takes out one of his meal packs, warming it over the fire. It’s not the absolute best food he’s ever had, but it’s better than some of the things his roommate had made in their years of living together. Of course Gary likes him, but he could use a culinary class or two. Or five. 

For a moment, Gary just sits there, listening to the faint crackling of the fire, and the sounds of the woods around him; insects chirping and singing, night owls hooting and swooping on their prey, a hundred little animals scurrying through the underbrush. That is what he had come out into the forest for, the life that he could never find in his tiny cramped apartment, no matter how big the complex was. 

There is nothing like it in the city. Sure, they had coyotes and foxes, and other vermin, maybe even an owl or two, but it was nothing like out here. Out here in the forest there were all sorts of things that Gary came to marvel at. He had gathered himself quite the collection of photos and trinkets; pictures of him and his camping buddies out in the wilderness, countless shots of deer in the early morning light, elk and moose grazing, some photos of when they had left their bags out at night once and a group of raccoons had torn everything apart. This was his first night camping alone. Usually, he went with a small group, they navigated and he set up the tent, the fire, the hammocks. But this time, he wanted to do it all by himself. He just needed some peace and quiet. 

His food is done, and he uses a stick to fish it out of the fire, grabbing for it. The packaging burns his fingers and he drops it with a hiss, sticking the two burnt fingers into his mouth to suck on the wound. The next time he tries to pick it up, it isn’t so hot. 

He tears open the packet, filling the forest with the scent of rehydrated brisket and powdered macaroni, which has never tasted good in any iteration, no matter how many times the company changed the recipe. 

It’s nice to sit and eat his dinner in the forest, even as lost as he is. Across the field from him, he spots a herd of white tail deer picking their way across the forest, ears perked and on high alert, tails waiving little white flags. Gary knows that if he took his white pillowcase and waved it around, they would carefully creep their way up to him. Someone had taught him many years ago that they used their tails to communicate, and that they would mistake the flailing pillowcase as another deer trying to signal them. Unable to understand what the other “deer” was saying to them, they would come closer to investigate. 

He had tried the trick once before, and lo and behold he was almost immediately swarmed by deer. They were much friendlier in that area. Here, not so much. Somewhere in the forest, a twig snaps, and suddenly the entire herd is darting off into the woods. 

The whole forest has fallen suddenly quiet, and Gary’s heart begins to hammer. That’s not good. There is a predator nearby of some sort, it could be something as harmless to him as an owl, or something as large as a bear, he doesn’t know. He leaps to his feet, stomping out the fire as quickly as he can. 

He can feel a shift in the air, tension building all around him as everything, including Gary, waits in anticipation of what’s to come. And then he hears it.

Something in the underbrush growls, loud and aggressive, more intense than anything he has ever heard. Gary frantically scans the tree line, backing himself up against the tree he has his hammock in for safety. What are the chances it’s just a coyote, who wouldn’t be able to reach him if he climbed up into the canopy?

Another growl joins the first, this time louder, deeper. Definitely not a coyote. If anything, Gary would say it was a wolf, but that couldn’t be. There hadn’t been wolves here for years. 

The whole forest stands still for a moment, the full moon hanging heavy over the treetops, providing just enough light to leave Gary not entirely blind. His heart pounds and his pulse races, adrenaline flooding his veins. 

Something steps forward from the forest, lips peeled back in a terrifying snarl, ears and hackles raised, eyes focused entirely on Gary. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, a monster on two legs like a man, with a wolf-like face and a body covered in thick, wolf-like fur. If he were crazy, he might just call it a werewolf. 

His hands shake as he stares the creature down, unable to understand it. It must be something natural, a bear of some sort. But it doesn’t look like a bear, it doesn’t act like a bear, and Gary doesn’t really think it’s a bear. No, this is something entirely different. He hesitates to call it unnatural, it seems perfectly at home in the forest, blending among the trees and the forest around it like it was born and bred to be there. Forged in the ecosystem as much as it was forged around him. 

Gary swallows, gripping the trunk behind him. Climbing won’t help him here, the creature is almost seven feet tall, he would have no problem grabbing Gary and pulling him down to the ground again. 

Another wolf emerges from the treeline, teeth bared, hackles raised, ears pushed forward. It looks like Gary has their full attention. 

Gary tries to scare them off, raising his arms above his head and yelling “Get! Get back!” as loud as he can, the same way he would with a bear, but the wolves don’t even flinch. One of them, mostly black with browns mottled into his fur, inches forward. Gary takes a few steps back, putting the tree between him and the pack of wolf-like creatures. 

That is the wrong move. The moment he starts giving up ground, the wolves begin taking it, bridging the distance between them. His heart pounds, and his mouth goes dry, panic building with every inch they gain on him. Despite his better instincts, Gary turns heel and flees, driven by nothing but sheer terror. Behind him he can hear all four wolves launching after him, crashing through the forest like living battering rams. 

Gary runs as fast as he can, the ground beneath him is a blurr, and he is barreling through the forest so fast that he barely has time to dodge before he runs into trees. Branches whip at his skin, tearing through his pants, and then through the skin below. Thorns try to slow him down, like the woods want the wolves to catch up to him. As if it’s alive and working against him, trying to feed its othernatural inhabitants. 

His chest heaves, and his lungs ache from how hard his breathing, pushing his body to the absolute limit to try and survive. It feels like they are constantly right behind him, their breath on the back of his neck no matter how fast he runs, their teeth always inches from his heels no matter how hard he pushes himself. 

Suddenly, everything goes silent. He can’t hear the wolves right behind him anymore, can’t hear them at all. He slows to a stop, panting and exhausted, leaning against a rock for support. The forest has gone deadly silent, not even the insects daring to make a sound. His breathing sounds so loud compared to the absolute silence around him, even the wind having died down for a moment. 

And, just for a second, Gary thinks he’s lost them. He thinks that maybe they gave up on him and decided to chase after easier prey. 

Something huge slams into him, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him to the ground with a painful thud. He is pinned to the ground by a huge, fluffy, muscular body, a cold wet nose pressing against his cheek. Gary winces, screwing his eyes shut, waiting for the cold embrace of death, the pain of teeth sinking into his flesh and tearing him to shreds, but it never comes. 

Three of the wolf-like creatures surround him, looking down at him curiously. Their eyes are like he’s never seen on an animal before, holding the same intelligence as man. They look at him like a puzzle to be pulled apart and put back together. 

Sanderson tries to push against the weight above him, struggling to escape from under the beast before it decides to finally end him, but the wall of muscles doesn’t even give no matter how hard he tries. 

Hot breath puffs against his shin, startling him so much that he finches. The beast above him growls a warning, giving him a flash of teeth, before it returns to inspecting him. There are noses all over him, now, poking at his arms, his hair, one of them is trailing up is leg, higher and higher until it reaches his crotch, pausing for a moment. The harsh poking and prodding of his nose in that area is uncomfortable, turning his cheeks pink from embarrassment. 

The one between his legs yips, and suddenly all three of them have taken interest, snuffling at the space between his thighs. Again Gary tries to escape, trying to scramble away from them and make a mad dash for the woods. He doesn’t even make it an inch before one of them has him pinned with one massive, paw-like hand, baring its teeth at him in a silent warning.

Gary takes the hint, freezing in place even as every bone in his body screams at him to run as fast as he can. There is nothing he can do, the wolf has him pinned to the ground, so strong that Gary could never hope to free himself. He can do nothing as sharp claws tear through his clothes, shredding them to ribbons with ease. 

Cold air hits his skin, making him shiver involuntarily. One of them gives him a warning glance, but doesn’t snarl or bare its teeth this time. He is laid entirely bare before them, as nude as they are and somehow much more vulnerable. 

Strong hands pull his legs apart, forcing him to spread even as he tries to fight against them. His folds part just a bit, letting the cold air rush against his burning hot core. The creatures seem the most interested in that, sniffing at the outside, prodding at his lips with their sharp claws but never breaking skin. 

Despite himself, he can feel warmth gathering there, hole leaking just the tiniest bit of slick from all of the attention being given to it. He hides his face in shame, biting the inside of his cheek so he can’t make a sound. 

Finally, one of the creatures, the one with black and brown fur, leans in close and drags its tongue from the very bottom of his cunt to the top, grinding against his clit roughly and coating everything in a mix of his slick, and the creatures spit. He feels even more cold when it takes the velvety heat of its tongue away from his skin, a small noise escaping his lips despite himself. It feels like heaven, the creature able to press his buttons just right. 

Now the floodgates are open; slick leaking freely from his aching, needy hole as tongues swipe at his clit and his entrance, lapping up every drop of his slick that they can find. Every swipe sends sparks of pleasure up his spine, warmth emanating from his core from how good it feels. They haven’t even breached him yet and this is the best he has ever felt before. 

“No, stop-!” He gasps, cutting himself off as one of the wolves licks him just right, pushing through his clittoral hood and to the little nub of pleasure below, making his eyes roll back into his head. Oh that is good. 

Never before has he had such an enthusiastic partner, let alone three of them at once. Gary doesn’t know how to handle all of this pleasure at once. His vision nearly whites out when one of them laps closer and closer to his hole, before finally dipping inside, and for the first time in his life someone licks his Gspot. It’s the most intense thing he has ever felt in his life, pleasure leaving him whiny and desperate. 

Tongues barrage his clit and his hole, as he is simultaneously tortured by the tongues outside of him, and ravaged by the one plunging in and out of him. It’s the best form of torture, pleasure radiating through his entire body. The wolf above him keeps him warm by pressing his entire body against Gary’s, fur tickling his skin, muscles providing a solid wall to keep him in place as his hips start bucking into the absolute pleasure between his legs. 

He knows he shouldn’t be enjoying this. But god, there is nothing better, nothing more right to him in this moment, than being pinned to the ground and licked senseless by these creatures. It’s like his body was made for them, or maybe they were made to pleasure him. They fit so perfectly against him, they press all the right buttons in all the right ways. Gary is left panting and gasping, legs kicking against the dirt as the creatures tear him apart with their tongues. 

And then, all at once, they pull away. Gary is left gaping and covered in spit, the cold quickly swooping in to take advantage of him being wet to make him so much colder than before. Gary whimpers, opening his eyes. They’re still there, growling and gesturing among each other, debating something.

“What are you doing?” Gary whines, and all three of them turn towards him. Unsure of just how much they understand, he opens his legs a bit more, trying to entice them back in. 

Whatever they were discussing seems to be settled, now, and the biggest of the group approaches, a tan wolf with brown mottles over its back. Gary relaxes again, legs open, waiting for the wonderful feeling of a tongue against his clit again. 

For a few seconds nothing happens, Gary is left spread open like an eager whore begging to be fucked. When he opens his eyes, the wolf has its massive, inhuman, throbbing red cock in its hand, dripping precum onto the ground below. His eyes go wide, and his heart races. That is far too big to ever fit inside of him! 

Gary tries to snap his legs closed, but someone is already holding them open, and he cant escape from their gasp. His heart is in his throat as he struggles, slamming his fists against the hands holding him down, trying to wiggle out of their grip. But a single hand wrapping around his hips puts a stop to that, and he is forced to hold still as the werewolf between his legs gets closer and closer, the ruddy red, burning hot tip of his cock pressing against Gary’s wide open hole. 

He manages one last act of protest, aiming a punch at the jaw of the wolf holding him down, managing to do nothing more but irritate him and hurt his own fist, before the wolf is pushing inside. All of the fight leaves him as the first few inches sink inside, spreading him on a massive, throbbing cock. Gary groans, collapsing against the ground as the cock continues to spear him, pushing him to his limit. Inch by inch, more and more sinks into him, pushing far past where any man had touched before, until finally their hips are flush. 

Gary takes a deep, shuddering breath, trying to force himself to adjust to the length inside of him. He’s never been so full before. He doesn’t even know what to do about this, afraid to move in fear of hurting himself on the cock inside him. His body clenches, and the wolf above him sighs, grip loosening on his hip. One of them is right beside his face, poking at his cheek with its nose as if to check up on him. Gary opens his mouth, but no sound comes up. 

A fresh wave of fear washes over him as the wolf begins to pull out, and he realizes that it intends to fuck him. 

“No no no no!” Gary begs with renewed vigor, even as pleasure sparks from the friction of the wolf pulling out of him. “It’s too big, you can’t-” 

Gary is cut off by his own moan as the wolf pushes back in faster than the first time, hitting him in all the right places. Searing hot pleasure pools in his gut, leaving him slack jawed and breathless as the wolf bottoms out again, pushing him to the brink of what he can take. 

This time, he isn’t given any time to adjust before the wolf is pounding inside of him, pummeling him into the ground with his cock. It’s overwhelming, forcing him to just sit there and take it, too afraid of moving and hurting himself on the creature’s monster dick. He’s never had anything so big or girthy before, and he never would have thought something of that size would even fit inside of him. 

The creature's fur tickles his skin as he absolutely ravages Gary’s body, spearing him over and over again, leaving him with a loopy smile and a distant look, unable to process anything except what he’s feeling. He isn’t even cold anymore, both from being sheltered from the cool air by the body above him, and from the sweat beading on his skin from the rigorous movement. 

Something catches at his rim with every thrust, growing and growing until it becomes too big to fit inside and just slams against his entrance, adding another layer of pleasure to the growing mountain. Gary is close, so close, legs shaking and chest heaving. 

One more thrust and Gary is pushed over the edge, body clenching around the cock inside of him as his vision goes white. He moans loudly, back arching as his orgasm runs its course through him. At the same time, warmth floods his core, the creature’s seed pumping into his womb. 

The wolf pulls out of him, leaving him aching and gaping, seed spilling out onto the ground below. Gary stares up at the stars, mind reeling from everything that had happened. He doesn’t think he can walk after this, how is he going to get back to camp? Worse than that, he doesn’t remember the way back. 

As Gary is contemplating this, the second wolf approaches him, swapping with the tan one. It has its own cock in hand, hard and heavy, drooling precum all over Gary’s thigh. He flinches when it lands on his skin, eyes going wide in horror. 

“I can’t take a second.” He protests meekly, but it doesn’t matter because he is already sliding home into Gary’s cunt, burying himself inside. 

It feels so good to be full again, Gary’s body inviting the wolf in even as Gary’s mind protests. They’re not all three going to take turns with him, are they? He doesn’t think he will even survive that. 

The black wolf sets a brutal pace, wasting no time and not letting Gary adjust to being full again. He grabs Gary by his hips, bending him in half so his back aches and his shoulders scrape against the dirt with every thrust. He gasps in time with the new wolf, eyes screwed shut. It feels so amazing even with the uncomfortable position. He can’t help it when his mouth falls open and he whines needily, begging for anyone to touch his clit again. 

A rough tongue swipes over it, pushing the hood back to lap against the exposed nub. It’s almost too much for him to handle, making him groan and gasp. The forest is filled with the wet sounds of their hips meeting, and their ragged breathing. His skin is dripping with sweat, hot despite the cool air around him. 

The other two wolves are watching them, eyes eagerly tracking their every moment like prey. Their tails are wagging, which he assumes is a good thing. He might make it out of here alive, after all.  

The black wolf pounds into him, chipping away at his resolve bit by bit, until Gary is limp beneath him. 

All at once he cums again, milking the semen out of the cock inside of him. The feeling of sperm fooding his womb only serves to make his orgasm more intense, pushing him further into overstimulation. 

He doesn’t even feel the wolf pull out, one moment he is full, held in the air, and the next he is empty and laying on the ground again. He gasps for oxygen, filling his lungs with the cold air to try and bring him back to his senses, but it’s no use as the third wolf is approaching his used, wrecked hole. 

This one is grayish, and his cock is just a bit smaller than the other two, bigger than the average human but maybe doable for Gary. He takes position carefully, covering Gary with his body and gingerly placing the tip of his cock against Gary’s stretched out entrance. Cum gushes out of him when the newest wolf pushes inside, making space for the girthy cock. Sanderson manages a weak groan of protest before falling limp again, letting the wolf do whatever he wants to his body. 

This one is gentle with him at least, holding him with care like he might break if the wolf is too rough. Gary can’t say that he is wrong. Soft, tender thrusts spear him apart, almost skirting around his overstimulation. He can’t help the tears trailing down his cheeks and onto the ground below, or the desperate, barely audible begging not to be filled again. 

He’s so worn out he can barely talk, voice raw from begging and pleading. His body feels used and wrung out, like it will take weeks for him to recover from this abuse. And somehow, on top of all of this, it still feels amazing. He can feel his own body clinging to the cock inside of him, like it never wants him to leave. 

He grabs fistfulls of gray fur, clinging to the wolf for dear life as he is fucked within an inch of it. His legs have gone from quaking to numb, unable to move them anymore. He is exhausted, barely holding onto consciousness as his body is used like a sperm bank. A tongue laps against his clit, dragging a wet sob from his chest. 

The black wolf approaches him cautiously, lapping up the tears as they roll down his cheeks. He whimpers, looking into the wolf’s big eyes, surprised to see sympathy in them. 

Their connection is broken as an orgasm rips through him, forcing him to close his eyes and grit his teeth through it. It wrecks through him, ripping him apart at the seams and threatening to completely undo him. The entire time, the gray wolf pounds through it, big heavy balls slapping against his skin with every thrust. 

Finally, when the last bits of pleasure are running their course, the gray wolf stutters to a stop, orgasming deep inside of Gary. Semen floods his womb for the third time that night, warming him from the inside. His cunt flutters around the cock, trying to clench but not having the energy to do it. 

When the gray wolf pulls out, he collapses, too worn out to even think about running. All three of the wolves surround him, watching him as he struggles to get his limbs to do anything. He gives up with a sigh, eyes wide and vulnerable. 

Tenderly, the tan wolf picks him up from the ground, brushing the dirt and debris from his back. Gary whimpers, clinging to the wolf weakly. His vision is fading fast, and he drifts in and out of consciousness as he tries to stay awake. Finally, he falls unconscious for the last time, head resting against the wolf’s shoulder. 

Chapter Text

Gary’s whole body aches, it feels like he’s been hit by a truck. He’s laying on something soft, draped in some sort of blanket, and someone is clinging to him tightly. He musters up the strength to crack his eyes open, searching the room for any indicator of where he is. 

He’s in some sort of cabin, wooden and probably hand built. He’s on the floor, on a nest made of blankets, pillows, and animal furs that had been dried and sewn together. There is a man clinging to him, someone he doesn’t recognize. He’s beautiful, with curly black hair kept short to his skull and pretty plump lips turned up in a smile. He’s staring at Gary, deep, rich brown eyes filled with affection. 

“Good morning.” The man croons, pulling Gary even closer. That’s when Gary realizes that they are both naked, and there is a terrible mess between his legs. “You don’t know me, but my name is Kyle Garrick, but my pack calls me Gaz.” 

“Pack?” Gary echos, confused. And then, the events of last night all rush back to him, being chased through the woods, being caught, being bred . Sanderson shudders, sitting upright in bed. Oh god no. He needs a morning after pill stat, there’s no way he won’t be pregnant after all of that. 

“Why don’t we just lay back down, luv?” Kyle coaxes, pulling him back down again. Gary is too weak to protest, and he ends up cuddled up against Garrick again, despite his objections. “What’s your name?” 

“I…I need to get out of here.” Gary argues weakly, already exhausted from his small struggle. “Need to get back home…”

“Shh, it’s alright luv.” Kyle croons, even as Gary feebly tries to pull himself away, to no avail. “Don’t worry, you’re in safe hands.”

That’s when Gary notices the slight bulge in the man’s stomach, eyes following the trail of curly hair down his stomach, between his legs, to the plush pink lips tucked behind two muscular thighs. 

“Are you pregnant?” Gary gasps, eyes wide in fear. Oh god, is he going to be pregnant too? He can’t do this, he cannot do this! 

“I am.” Kyle smiles, eyes filled with joy like it’s the most natural, beautiful thing in the world. “Not my first time, all my pups have left the house by now.”

“No, no I can’t-” Gary throws the blanket off of them, intent on crawling his way out of the cabin, but before he can the front door opens and then slams closed. 

Gary freezes, blood turning to ice in his veins. A large man stomps his way into the room, and Gary can see that he has short brown hair on his head, a beard that frames his jaw, skips over his chin and arches over his lips under his nose, and a thick layer of body hair covering his arms and under his shirt. 

All Sanderson can do is tremble as the man approaches, kneeling in front of him and carefully pulling his legs apart. 

“Don’t. Please.” He begs, cowering beneath the larger, stronger man. Instantly, Kyle is there to soothe him, petting through his hair as the man inspects him. 

“This is John Price, our alpha. It’s his job to make sure everyone is safe and happy.” Kyle explains, as if it isn’t the most insane thing Gary has ever heard. “Simon is his second in command, then Johnny, then me and now you.” 

“No I don’t want to be part of this - this craziness.” He stammers, fighting back sobs. This is wrong, this is all wrong. He needs this all to be some horrible nightmare that he can force out of his head in the morning and forget all about. 

“Hold still.” Price grunts, gripping his thigh as he inspects Gary’s cunt, lifting his folds to look at his wrecked hole and sensitive clit. Gary whimpers when his thumb brushes his hood, sending sparks of overstimulation through him. “Sorry.” 

Price pulls his hand back, giving him a light pat on his mound as praise. Blush heats his cheeks, and he looks away. 

“He’ll be just fine, just needs some rest and care.” Price reports, forcing Gary back down so that he can pull the blankets back over him. “Keep a good eye on him for us, Gaz.”

“Of course.” Gaz says, already grabbing onto him and refusing to let him back up.

Price takes a moment to inspect him, gently caressing his baby bump and cooing about how beautiful their pups are going to be, telling Kyle what a good father he is and how he is so good for their pack. And then, with one last lingering kiss to the man’s cheek, he departs again, leaving the two of them alone. 

Gary collapses, tears rolling down his cheek. They’re never going to let him go. He’s trapped with these monsters forever. Kyle pets his hair as he cries, cooing at him about how everything is going to be ok, and nonsense like that. How could anything be ok?

“Do you want to get cleaned up?” Kyle asks, when Gary’s sniffles have finally died down, too tired to keep crying. 

He sniffles, nodding, because he hates the feeling of the mess between his legs. Kyle seems to understand, helping him to his feet. He sways, clinging to the man for support. It doesn’t hurt so much anymore, but now he’s lost all the strength in his legs, and his cunt is hypersensitive. 

Their room is connected to a kitchen and a living room, there are signs of the others everywhere; more furs draped over a couch, well worn pillows covered in fur, and books and journals scattered all over the table. 

There is a second floor, and they have to climb the stairs slowly, Kyle holding him up. There are more bedrooms upstairs, filled with cribs and baby toys, vacant for now. Gary tries not to look as they pass. There’s another bedroom that doesn’t look very used, and a bathroom attached to it.

There’s a shower in there, big enough for the two of them. Gary sits on the toilet, shivering and wrapped in a towel for warmth, as Kyle gets the shower ready for them; heating up the water and pulling soaps out of the cabinets. 

When he is ready, Kyle pulls him into the water, arms wrapped around each other so that Gary doesn’t fall. It feels nice to be wrapped up in someone’s arms, to be held so closely to another man’s chest. 

The water washes away the mess, and Gary leans against Kyle, swaying under the water. 

“It’s alright.” Kyle croons, rubbing his back soothingly. “I know it doesn’t feel like it luv, but everything is going to be ok.” 

When Garrick decides he is clean enough, he pulls Gary out of the shower and helps him dry off. Then, he leaves Sanderson alone while he searches for something for him to wear. 

For a moment, he’s alone. The house is empty except for the two of them, and he can hear Kyle looking through the drawers and rummaging around in the closet. There’s a window in the bathroom, one of the perks of living in the middle of the woods.

As silently as he can, he creeps up to the glass, pulling the window open. It groans in its frame, creaking and wheezing as he pushes it open. Gary’s heart leaps to his throat as he freezes, listening in for any hint that Kyle might have heard him. There is nothing but silence, and Gary knows he’s been caught. 

The door swings open and Kyle is there, setting a small pile of clothes on the counter for him. 

“I tried to run away when I first got here, too.” Kyle admits, carefully unfolding one of the button up shirts and holding it open for him. Cautiously, Gary lets the man dress him, hands carefully buttoning up the shirt for him. “I’ll give you one chance, just to get it out of your system. You will come to learn as I did, that this is the best place for you.” 

“You’re going to let me go?” Gary asks, barely able to comprehend it. He’s going home, he can finally make his way back to the park, then to civilization. Kyle carefully helps him into the pair of boxers he had brought, the last article of clothing he is given. 

“Not quite, luv.” Kyle smiles sympathetically, cupping Gary’s cheek with all the tenderness of a lover. Gary can’t help but lean into his touch, the first real affection he has been shown since this entire nightmare started. “But I won’t tell them that you tried to leave, and I won’t tell them when you eventually do.”

Well, that's as good as he is going to get, it seems. Kyle pulls the window closed, and collects the dirty towel for the laundry. 

“The pack will be back with dinner soon, why don’t you help me make it?” Kyle asks, when Gary starts to zone out staring at his reflection. He startles back into focus, nodding numbly. 

Kyle takes him by the hand and guides him back down stairs, making a pitstop in the bedroom to find himself a pair of boxers and pants for himself, before they are off to the kitchen to start cooking. 

Garrick walks him through the motions of washing his hands and helps him tie an apron around his neck, and then they both approach the pantry. Kyle throws the doors open, frowning at the contents. 

“I saw a herd of deer going through the area this morning, they will probably bring one or two back. What do you think would go well with that?” 

Gary peers around him into the pantry. There are baskets of potatoes in the corner, dwindling in stock with a few roots reaching out desperately for soil. There are spices and dried peppers and garlic hanging from the ceiling, and some fruits and vegetables gathered in baskets waiting to be used. 

“I…don’t know.” Gary asks, looking back to him for instructions. What does Kyle want him to do here?

“Well, how about we use our carrots and the last of our potatoes from the spring?” Kyle suggests, already grabbing for them. He places them in Gary’s arms, instructing him to wait. “And lets go with some sage, butter, rosemary and sage for the meat.”

Somehow, Gary ends up with arms full of herbs and butter and vegetables, Kyle leading him around putting pots of water on the gas stove and pulling out knives and cutting boards. Kyle instructs him to wash everything in the sink, and so he does, still remembering the favor Kyle had promised him about not telling the others he had tried to run away. 

When Gary has washed all the vegetables, Kyle takes the potatoes and puts them in the now boiling water, and puts a knife in Gary’s hands and orders him to cube the carrots. 

It’s nice in a way. Being given something to do, someone to make the decisions for him so that he doesn’t have to think about anything. He can just do exactly what Kyle says and not have to worry about doing something wrong, or getting in trouble. 

The tentative peace is broken as the door opens, and three men drag a deer in through the door, holding it by the legs that have now gone stiff. Its fur is stained with blood, and its eyes have rolled into its head in death. Gary freezes, eyes locked on the mangled, murdered animal in their hands. 

“What a pretty pair you two make.” Price smiles, warm and affectionately like he isn’t a monster holding them both hostage.  Kyle welcomes him with open arms, pressing a kiss to each of his cheeks, and then a chaste peck on the lips, before he is back to dutifully grinding down his herbs and stirring the butter on the stove. 

“Settling in well?” One of them asks, he is tall and broad, as muscular as all the other beasts, with a mohawk kept short to his head and bright blue eyes. “You look so beautiful.” 

Gary freezes, knife clutched in his hands, pinned in place by the man’s gaze. For a second, he thinks about turning around and burying the blade into the man’s stomach, twisting and twisting until blood spills and he keels over dead. But what good would that do? No doubt, the other two wolves would rip him to shreds. And what about Kyle? He can’t leave Kyle to fend them off alone.

Gary carefully sets the knife down, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to stamp his anger down as deep as it will go. He turns around with a smile on his face, not missing how the wolf lights up when he sees it. 

“I’m sorry, what’s your name?” Gary asks, trying to divert the attention away from himself. He doesn’t want to be touched or oggled or commented on. 

“I’m Johnny MacTavish, but my pack name is Soap.” The man introduces, and he is almost bubbling in excitement, clearly holding himself back. “And that is Simon. Kyle told you about him, right?” 

MacTavish points to a huge, heavily scarred man with blond hair shaved down in a buzz cut. Gary shudders at the sight of him, watching as he presses himself against Kyle from behind, reaching around him to hug and kiss all over the captive man. 

“He’s nae as scary as he looks.” Johnny assures him, quietly, sharing a knowing smirk with Gary that he doesn’t return. “S’nothin but a big softie.”

“Why don’t you three dogs go dress the deer.” Kyle teases, untangling himself from Simon’s strong, scarred arms with a smile. “Me and Gary are cooking.”

All three of them are shepherded out of the kitchen, and they bring the doe out back with them to dress it for Gary and Kyle. It's back to work for them, vegetables are chopped, herbs are ground, and potatoes are mashed. Then Kyle turns the stove off and ushers him out back. 

There is no fence dictating clear boundaries for a backyard, but there is plenty of space between the treeline and the cabin that serves as one just as well. Gary can see a garden carefully tended and growing around the side of the house, which must be where the vegetables and fruits came from. 

Price is tending to a large fire pit as Simon and Johnny carefully pull the doe over. It has been skinned and bled, and a rod pushed all the way through so that the deer can be roasted over the fire. Its hooves are tied together with twine, and the skin is hung on a rack to dry. 

When Price spots them approaching with their pots and pans, he greets them kindly and quickly makes space for them to work. He watches on proudly as Kyle walks him through painting the deer with the butter mix, and then helps him tend to the meat as it needs to be turned and moved around the flames. 

“How long is this going to cook for?” Gary asks, as he dutifully follows Kyles instructions on how to poke holes into the meat so that the seasoning can better penetrate it. By now, the men have wandered off to do something else that Gary isn’t privy to, leaving them alone. 

“It should be cooking until around seven, of course it doesn’t matter if they eat early.” Kyle explains, inspecting his handiwork. He must like what he sees, because he begins collecting their things. “Don’t worry, we will still have lunch. Our pack will never let us go hungry.” 

“How long have you been here?” Gary asks quieter this time, leaning in close so that he can whisper.

“I’ve been here for six years.” Kyle answers matter of fact, motioning for Gary to follow after him as they return to the house. “They’ve taken good care of me for this long, they won’t change. It’s not as bad as you're imagining, luv.” 

The two of them scrub the dishes together, cleaning up the mess they had made while cooking. It’s almost natural for them to fall into place beside each other, working in tandem together like they had been doing it for years. It’s too easy to block out everything else and pretend that everything is fine. 

Kyle gives him a basket and takes him out to the garden, and together they kneel in the dirt and comb through the garden. 

“We have cabbage, lettuce, and broccoli here, they’re ready to be picked.” Kyle explains, handing him a small knife and showing him just how to cut the leaf from the stem, or the head from the stem, and helping him collect the vegetables in his basket. He covers Gary’s hand in his own, guiding him through the motions a few times so he can learn the motions. 

“Over there, we have garlic, onions, and beans.” Kyle explains, pointing with his knife to the other side of the garden as they work, wiping the sweat from his brow. “They’re not ready yet, but there will be enough for the full year.”

“What about all the other fruits and vegetables in the pantry?” Gary asks, placing a head of cabbage in the basket. 

“The boys will buy them from the market when we need them.” Kyle places a few bunches of lettuce next to the cabbage with care. “They take care of everything for us.”

“Everything?” 

“Everything, luv.” 

The two of them fall into silence again, working dutifully. The men come and go, commenting on their work and praising their harvest. It takes them hours, barely talking to each other. Gary mulls the information over in his head as he works, twisting it and turning it in his mind. 

The men go into town sometimes, then. People must know their faces, must talk to them when they buy things. It must take them hours. They’re so far from the town, and he doesn’t see a car or a truck around here. They can’t even change into wolves to make the journey, it would give away their secret. 

Gary tucks that away deep in his mind for later, searing a hole through his thoughts as he puts the knife away and washes the produce off. They sort their harvest, and then Kyle walks him through the process of breaking down the rabbit that Price had left on the counter for them. 

Kyle helps him cook the rabbit over the fire that the deer is roasting over, and then splitting it between them, eating with their hands over the fire and letting the grease drip into the flames. 

“We can wash our hands down at the creek, I like it better than the sink.” Kyle explains, wiping his hands off. 

Gary leaps at the opportunity, eager to learn more about the woods around them. He follows mutely behind his guide as they pick their way through the woods. Birds sing in the canopy above them, and insects leap from the ground when they walk too close. Finally, Gary feels like he can breathe. 

The forest has its own sort of quiet that just feels right, much different from the tense silence of the cabin. They kneel beside a burbling creek, and Kyle explains that he prefers not to let the grease down the sink because it’s bad for the plumbing, and he doesn’t like making his husbands fix it. 

“It’s not so bad here.” Kyle says to him, as they wring the water out of their hands. “It’s peaceful, safe. I am never left wanting. I hope you come to see that.” 

“And, you’re pregnant…” Gary trails off, staring at the small bump in the man’s stomach. That brings a genuine smile to his face, resting a hand on it. 

“I am. Three pups, one from each of my husbands.” Kyle explains, rubbing his little bump affectionately. “You probably are, too. It’s too early to be showing yet.” 

Gary’s stomach sinks. He needs to get out of here before it’s too late. He needs to get rid of the disgusting things festering inside of him. 

“And they’re going to be like… them ?” Gary asks carefully, shuddering at the thought. How could they raise a child who turned into a wolf? They would be wild, untameable, chaotic. A feral animal in the house with them. 

“Werewolves?” Kyle smirks, before sighing. “They are, but it’s alright. Our pack will help us raise them.” 

Gary never plans on birthing them. 

The two of them return to the house in silence, just in time to watch Price and Simon pull the venison off of the fire. The two wolves pull the meat inside and begin carving it, and Kyle and Gary warm up the potatoes and carrots they had prepared earlier, and soon enough they have dinner. 

Johnny sets the table for them as they bring out the food, and all five of them come together to eat.

Price rushes to pull his seat out before Gary can, eager to please. Sanderson is able to stammer out a quiet thanks, and that seems to satisfy the man. Price leaves him with a gentle pat on the head, and they have to wait for Johnny to be done fussing over Kyle before they are all ready. 

Gary reaches for the food, only to have his hand snatched up by Simon next to him. His eyes go wide, startled by the sudden contact. 

“Price will serve us.” Simon grunts, not seeming to notice that Gary has gone still in his grasp, frozen in terror. “He is the alpha, he provides for us.”

Simon finally lets him go, and Gary yanks his hand back like it had been burned, holding it close so that no one can grab him again. Price is diligently portioning out potatoes and carrots onto Kyle's plate, and then generously piling on a few venison steaks until Kyle protests. One by one Price goes around the table, putting food on their plates, until he gets to Gary.

“Poor thing.” Price croons, doling out food onto his plate. “I’ll give you extra for your first litter.”

The mention of it makes Gary feel sick, and his appetite is gone. 

“I think that’s enough.” He croaks, voice barely above a whisper, but Price isn’t listening. 

“Nonsense, you’re pregnant, you need to eat.” Price chides, piling his plate high. And then, before Gary can stop him, he takes Gary by the chin and presses a quick kiss to his cheek.

Finally, Price sits down to feed himself, and dinner can begin. Gary eats in silence, head bowed and cheeks burning pink. He can still feel where Price’s lips had touched him. 

After dinner, Simon whisks all the dishes away, and Price and Johnny usher them back into the room he had woken up in. Gary watches as the two werewolves begin their change, bones shifting and fur erupting from skin, until two massive wolves loom over him.

Already, a chill has begun to set over the house, making him shiver and rub his own arms for warmth. So when the two wolves lay down, and Kyle explains that they will sleep between the pair to keep warm during the night, he doesn’t hesitate to climb into bed next to the man. 

Chapter Text

Gary wakes deep into the morning, when the sun is shining through the window onto his face, warming his skin. Kyle is pressed against him, snoring softly in his sleep, and Gary can just faintly feel one of the babies kicking at his stomach. Johnny has one furry arm slung over the two of them, and they are using Simon’s arm as a pillow.  Price is nowhere to be seen, but there is an imprint on the mattress above them where he had been resting.

By the looks of it, it’s a nice day out. Sunlight dapples the earth, filtered through the leaves and branches above before it finally lands on them, and a slight breeze shakes the canopy, making the patches of sunlight dance around them. Gary can hear distant birdsong softened by distance and the window between them, and something in the forest pushes its way through the tall grass, parting it like the red sea. 

Gary pushes himself out of the wolf’s embrace, letting Johnny’s arm fall back onto Gaz. He snorts in his sleep, and then falls back into his rhythmic snoring. The wooden floor creaks under his feet as he creeps from the bedroom, into the living room it connects to, cool wood beneath his feet making him shiver. 

Price is in the kitchen, back turned to Gary as he works, but it is clear that John knows that he is there.

“You’re up early.” Price comments, and Gary searches desperately for any sort of double meaning in his words, but finds none. “Me, Johnny, and Simon are going out today. Kyle needs laundry soap and floor cleaner, you will be using the last of it today.” 

“Oh.” Gary says, for lack of anything else. So they will be cleaning and doing laundry, then. No doubt Kyle will be helping him, they rarely do anything alone. 

“I’m going to wake everyone else, you just wait here.” Price orders, pulling one of the chairs out from the table and patting the seat. John doesn’t leave until Gary finally bites the bullet and takes the seat offered to him. “Don’t touch anything until I am back with them.”

Price disappears into the bedroom again, leaving him alone in the mess of a kitchen. Flour is spilled over the counter, and there are dirty mixing bowls and measuring spoons sticking out of the sink. A fresh rack of muffins rests on the stove to cool, and there are fresh cookies in the glass jar tucked far from the edge of the counter. 

In the knife block there are five huge, sharp, gleaming knives that seem to almost call to him. He could take one of them from the wood, could wait for the man to return and ambush him when he least expects it. But how far would that really get him? He already knows that he wouldn’t make it ten feet away from the cabin itself, and he would be torn to shreds, leaving Kyle all alone to fend for himself. 

Then he spots a box of toothpicks left out on the table, no doubt for John to check the consistency of the goods he had just baked. Those are a different story. Gary was no criminal in his youth, but he was no boyscout either. And he rather enjoyed picking the lock to his fathers study to look through all of the man’s nice supplies and fancy papers. Better than that, they’re easier to hide or explain away than a knife, and if he isn’t caught with them, he can easily throw them away after the fact, so that Kyle might make use of them if he ever has the need. 

He casts a wary glance behind him, biting his lip. Will he make it in time? He can hear the men in the other room rousing, stretching and yawning awake as John forces them up for breakfast. 

Before he can think any better of what he’s doing, he pushes from his seat and rushes over to the tooth picks, fumbling the box open and reaching inside. The tiny little points poke into the pads of his fingers as he struggles to grab one, before he finally manages to tug just one toothpick free. 

“What are you doing?” A gruff, gravelly voice asks, still distorted from sleep and snoring. Gary freezes, caught red handed with the box of toothpicks, heart hammering in his chest even though he knows he has an explanation for this. 

“I-I just wanted a toothpick.” Gary stammers, holding it up for Simon to see. The other three have already filed past and to the table, waiting for them to join. 

Simon studies him for a moment, staring down at him like he’s pulling every bit of Gary apart and turning it around in his mind, before finally deciding that he can keep the thing. Gary is ushered over to his seat, Price already poised to scoop breakfast on his plate; eggs with spinach, bacon, a biscuit, beans, and a glass of milk. 

Gary sits in silence as the others chatter around him, pushing the food around on his plate absentmindedly as the others pass things around him and laugh at jokes he doesn’t hear because he isn’t paying attention. Johnny says something especially funny, and they all laugh for a few seconds, before Price is out of his seat to push more food on Kyle’s plate, before turning to him. 

“No, thank you.” Gary tries to decline, when Price offers him more, but the man doesn’t listen and piles it onto the plate anyway. 

“You need more.” Price insists, ignoring his pleas and drowning him in more food. “You’re carrying our pups, you need everything you can get.”

Gary swallows thickly, meager appetite quickly squashed. The food in front of him suddenly looks as unappetizing as it could possibly, and what he has already eaten sits in his stomach uncomfortably, like he is aware that he is feeding the parasites festering inside of him with it. 

“You’re barely touching your food!” Johnny protests, scooping some in his fork and trying to feed Gary himself. 

“I’m not hungry.” Gary lies, but it is only really half a lie. He isn’t hungry anymore. “I’m…sick.”

“Must be the pups.” Simon grunts, and that really drives them into a frenzy, leaving their seats to crowd around Gary. “It’s his first litter. Always the hardest.”

“Show us the bump.” Price demands, leaving no room for argument or protest. Gary’s hands shake as he unbuttons his shirt, cheeks burning red under their harsh scrutiny.

Hands land on his unprotected stomach, feeling around for any hint of a baby bump. Gary is forced to stand and let them touch wherever they want to touch, discussing him amongst each other like he isn’t even there. 

“He’s not showing yet.”

“S’still early, they’re not big enough.”

“We don’t feed him enough. We need to feed him more and then the pups will grow. You can feed him snacks before lunch and I can feed him after-” 

“He is eating fine.” Price interjects before Simon and Johnny can get carried away, buttoning Gary’s shirt back up for him. “Kyle will look after him while we are gone, go get ready for town.” 

The two men obediently scurry back upstairs to get themselves dressed and groomed, and Gary is left behind with Price and Gaz. Price begins collecting all the leftovers and boxing them up for later, carefully fitting them into the already stuffed fridge, while he and Gaz set to cleaning the dishes. 

“We have a busy day today.” Kyle tells him, as Gary collects the dirty dishes from the tables, bussing plates and silverware and glasses over to him as fast as he can under the watchful eye of Price. “I am going to teach you some more of our chores, and then we are going to clean up the nursery today.”

“Oh, ok.” Gary says, for lack of any response. It is so hard to pretend to be comfortable with Price right there. Something about knowing that Price is listening to everything they say and watching their every move. 

“Kyle will teach you well.” Price adds, startling Gary so that he freezes, breath catching in his throat. He quickly fixes himself before the man can notice. 

“Alright.” Price announces, dropping the last few dishes in the sink with him. “I am going to go get the boys.”

With that, he marches up the stairs after the other two wolves, leaving Gary and Kyle alone for once. 

“Come on.” Kyle orders, approaching the front door. “Oh, and throw away that toothpick. It won’t help you.” 

Gary frowns down at his stolen treasure, before obediently tossing it in the trash and jogging to catch up with him. 

“What are we doing?” Gary asks, standing side by side with Kyle as he is instructed. 

“When our mates are leaving, we line up by the door so we can say goodbye to them before they go.” Kyle explains, gesturing for him to fold his arms behind his back, and then assuming the same pose. “They want to inspect us before they go so that they know we will be ok until they make it back.”

Before Kyle can explain anything more, the three wolves descend the stairs, their faces lighting up when they see the pair of them lined up by the door waiting for them. 

The trio descends on Kyle first, pulling up his shirt so they can feel for the babies kicking, and coo about how big his bump is getting. Then they press kisses to his face, and Kyle tells them that he loves them, and they leave him with a few last lingering kisses before Gary becomes their new victim.

“Take off your shirt.” Simon demands, and Gary has no choice but to comply, hands shaking as he unbuttons his shirt and lays himself bare for the three men. 

“Look at those.” Price praises, grabbing a handful of Gary’s pec and squeezing it. “Fucking gorgeous.”

“Fucken lovely.” Johnny groans, hands running up Gary’s side, then grabbing him by the chin. “Perfect.”

His skin tingles and burns where they touch him, and he is forced to sit and let them humiliate him in front of Kyle. One of their hands brushes over his mound through his underwear, and he can’t help but jerk back, tears welling in his eyes. 

“That’s enough.” Price orders, and Simon and Johnny instantly pull their hands back respectfully. “He’s not used to being admired like this yet, give him time to warm up to it.”

Gary has to force himself not to slump in relief, fighting to keep his face neutral. But then, Price opens his mouth again, and his stomach sinks. 

“Tell us you love us.” Price demands, and Gary freezes, wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights. “Go on. Say it.”

“I-” Gary’s voice feels like it is trapped inside of him, burying itself deeper inside of him as if to hide away from the man. But they are all looking at him now, even Kyle, waiting for him to say it. “I love you.” 

It doesn’t feel right for him to say. Like he’s a liar, and it is burning through his tongue, like they will know right away that he isn’t telling the truth and call him out. But none of that happens. Price smiles at him lovingly, like they are long since married and he is just going off to work for the day. 

“We love you too.” He says, and then he forces a kiss on Gary’s cheek before he can stop him. 

All three of them bid their final goodbyes, and then Kyle and Gary are finally left alone as they all file out the door. Gary waits anxiously, watching from the corner of his eye through the window as they trek into the woods, following some path that he can’t see. 

When the very last one has disappeared into the woods, Gary relaxes, stepping away from the wall. 

“I know that was very intense for you, luv.” Kyle sighs, and he is the epitome of sympathy. “It was hard for me my first time, too. But it will get better with time.”

“Thank you for being so kind to me.” Gary sniffles, finally letting the tears in his eyes fall. Kyle is quick to wipe them away, hands still warm from the sink, and soft from years of care. 

“I would have wanted someone to be kind to me all of those years ago.” Kyle admits, hands still cupping Gary’s face tenderly even though all the tears have been wiped away. “They mean well, but they love like werewolves, not like humans. It can be tough at first.”

For a moment they stand there by the door, inches away from each other, Kyle’s hands on his cheeks. For just a second, everything is alright between them, and the men are never coming back. But, of course, that isn’t the truth. They will be back and until then they have to work around the house. 

Eventually they have to part, and Kyle finishes up the dishes while Gary cleans up the counters. The two of them work in silence, letting the birdsong filter through the window to fill the space. The wind gently weaves through the leaves and branches, like the whole forest is taking a deep breath. 

The last dish is set on the rack to dry, and Gary finishes cleaning up the mess that had been made after breakfast, and then Kyle is bringing him into the living room. Kyle brings out an old box of clothes, needle, and thread, and sits next to Gary. 

Kyle takes Gary’s hands in his and shows him how to thread the needle, and then walks him through a simple stitch. Then, once Gary has gotten the rhythm down, they begin to mend the clothes together, fixing shirts with holes in them and pants with rips, darning a few socks that had lost their matches, and bundling them together. 

It’s all of the wolves clothes, Kyle explains to him, ripped, torn, and beaten up from years of hard work and wear. There are some shirts that Kyle identifies as John’s, Pants that once belonged to Simon, and socks that had been rescued from Johnny. Now, they belong to Gary, the pair of them find homes for all the clothes in the dresser in their bedroom, moving over some of Kyle’s clothes to make room. 

Next is the sweeping and scrubbing, cleaning every inch of the house with sponges and brooms and a mop. The two of them work in tandem, pausing to put laundry in the washing machine, and then the dryer, and then Kyle folds it as he puts away the supplies. 

“The boys won’t be back until nightfall.” Kyle says, as he cuts up vegetables for dinner. Gary freezes, bowl in hand, mind reeling. That's a long time for them to be gone, isn’t it? Plenty of time for him to run. “If you want to leave, there are boots upstairs for you, and there’s a flashlight with batteries in the entryway table.”

Gary’s heart leaps into his throat, and he practically tosses the bowl away in his haste, running up the stairs. He throws the door to the bedroom open, searching frantically for the boots. He finds them resting in the very far corner of the closet, one size too big for him. But he wears them anyway, because his own shoes are abandoned somewhere in the forest. He laces them tight so that they won’t come off when he runs. 

He nearly flies down the stairs, it’s a miracle that he doesn’t trip. The flashlight is just where Kyle said it would be, and when he clicks the button, the light comes on. 

Outside, the sun is dangerously close to the horizon, the wolves will be back soon. But he has a light and boots, he can make it. Soon enough, this is all going to be over and he will never have to think about it again. He will bring the cops back here, come back for Kyle and free him too, and together they can watch Johnny, Price, and Simon rot in a cell for the rest of their lives. 

Kyle is still in the kitchen, back turned to him as he cooks.

“Aren’t you going to come with me?” Gary asks, heart hammering, hyper aware of every second ticking by. They need to go now. 

“I have faith you will come back, luv.” Kyle says calmly, not pausing his work. 

Gary looks between the door, the sun setting rapidly, and the man at the counter making dinner. Kyle will be ok for one more night, won’t he? He’s remained ok thus far. Gary will come back for him. 

“Thank you.” He whispers, and then he slips out the door. 

The air is cold, almost freezing. His breath puffs in front of him in heavy clouds, and he shivers from the chill. But he ignores the discomfort and the way his skin stings, forcing himself to run through the forest. Branches whip at his skin, and he trips over a hundred different dips and roots in his path, but he forces himself to continue. 

The sun drops lower and lower in the sky as he runs, breath ragged in his lungs. His whole body aches and he feels like he is suffocating, never able to pull in enough air. He has to be close by now, but nothing around him looks familiar. If only he still had his map to guide him, or a phone to call for help, but all of that had been taken from him. 

Finally Gary stops, leaning against a tree as he tries to catch his breath. The woods are quiet, not even the bugs brave enough to make a sound. Gary’s ragged, desperate panting sound so loud in the quiet of the night. 

A twig snaps behind him, and he whirls around, face to face with the gray wolf. Johnny has found him.

Adrenaline floods Gary’s veins, and he turns heel and runs. Johnny reaches for him, just barely able to grab him by the foot. His boot tugs loose in the wolf’s grip and he is sent stumbling forward, using his momentum to keep him upright as he plunges through the woods, heart hammering in his chest. Johnny gives chase, crashing through the underbrush behind Gary as he throws himself forward with reckless abandon. A root tears his last boot from his foot, and his bare soles land on rocks and twigs, cutting into his soft flesh. He knows he is leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him, but he can’t stop. 

Johnny leaps at him, tackling him to the ground. They rollover, rocks scratching his face and then he is pinned to the ground harshly by the wolf. He fights, fist slamming into his chest, then his snout. Nothing seems to phase him, and his knuckles hurt from the impact. 

“Please don’t hurt me.” Gary sobs, tears streaming down his face. His feet sting, blood is dripping down his cheeks, everything hurts from when he hit the ground. 

Johnny bares his teeth, snarling inches away from Gary’s skin. He shrinks back, screwing his eyes shut, sure that this is the moment where they lose patience with him and shred him to pieces. But no teeth sink into his flesh, Johnny doesn’t rip him to shreds.

Instead, Gary is lifted and slung over Johnny’s shoulder again, and the wolf begins to carry him back the way he came. He can’t go back. What will they do to him if he does end up back there? Gary slams his fists into Johnny’s shoulders and kicks wildly, trying to topple Johnny so that he might let go of Gary. But the man carrying him is too strong for that, and all of his efforts are in vain, as soon the two of them are emerging into the clearing again.

The lights of the house shine out into the darkness, warding it off just a few feet away from its walls. Gary sobs, still fighting back, desperate to be free of this wretched place. Johnny snarls, teeth bared inches from his skin, scaring him into silence as Johnny pushes his way into the house, slamming the door behind them. 

Kyle is waiting for them in the living room, sitting on the couch like nothing was amiss, a book in hand with dog eared pages. Johnny slams him into the ground with a painful thud, right in front of Kyle. 

“Help me!” Gary begs, tears streaming down his face as he tries to crawl away from Johnny. The wolf grabs his leg, pinning him in place so that he claws uselessly at the ground. “Please Kyle, don’t let him hurt me!” 

“Shh, it’s ok, I’ll help you.” Kyle soothes, setting his book aside and carefully sitting beside Gary’s head. Yes! They can still make it out of here! 

Johnny flips him onto his back, pulling his legs open. His heart leaps into his throat, and he slams his fist into the wolf’s snout, forcing him away. Kyle grabs his arms, pinning them behind his head, and Gary’s brain short circuits. 

“What are you doing!?” Gary gasps, trying to yank his arms out of Kyle’s grasp, but with both his arms and legs pinned, he is helpless. This isn’t right. Kyle was supposed to help him. 

“This is for your own good, Luv.” Kyle whispers, as Johnny tugs Gary’s boxers down his thighs, tangling them around his knees so he can’t even bend them. 

Cool air hits his hot cunt, vulva exposed to the autumn chill only for a few seconds before a hot, wet tongue is dragged across it. Gary chokes, trying to close his thighs, but Johnny’s snout is in the way, lapping and slobbering all over him. 

“Let me go, Kyle, please.” He begs, thighs quaking as Johnny’s tongue makes quick work of his resolve, dragging over his clit harshly again and again. “Don’t let him do this to me!” 

“It’s alright.” Kyle croons, free hand stroking Gary’s cheek while the other stuffs his wrists under his legs, fully restraining Gary. “Johnny isn’t going to hurt you. You will understand why I am doing this to you one day.”

Gary sobs, trapped and helpless, completely vulnerable to Johnny’s ministrations. 

Johnny laps aggressively at him, sparing no inch of his tingling, sensitive cock from his tongue. Then, Johnny finds his entrance, and forces his tongue inside without mercy. With no warning or prep, Gary is suddenly being licked inside, Johnny’s tongue brushing against his Gspot again and again. 

His orgasm takes him by surprise, wrenched from his flesh and forced on him. His toes curl and his body shakes, tongue still inside of him chipping away at his sanity. The pleasure isn’t even done rolling over him before Johnny is bullying his cock inside of Gary, huge, thick cockhead pressing at his rim and plunging inside. Suddenly, their hips are flush, and Johnny is looming over him while he struggles to adjust to the massive length inside of him. 

He barely has time before Johnny is thrusting into him, rocking him with the force of it. The pleasure is overwhelming, searing hot inside of him, radiating through every inch of his body. The cabin is filled with the sound of his moaning, and drool trails down his chin as he has gone slack jawed. 

Kyle’s hands wipe away the tears from his eyes and sooth some of his horror, petting his hair out of his face when it falls and obscures his vision, and whispering that everything is going to be ok when he starts to panic. Garrick keeps him steady as Johnny pounds away inside of him, and cushions his head when the thrusts become even more aggressive. 

Another orgasm tears through him, and his body clenches around Johnny’s cock painfully, though the feeling is quickly drowned out by all the pleasure. Seed floods his womb as Johnny cums inside of him, spilling out onto the floor. The wolf’s knot locks them together, spreading his rim to its absolute limit. 

Carefully, Garrick lifts him into Johnny’s arms, letting the wolf maneuver them so that Gary is laying on his stomach, and Johnny is laying on his back, holding him. He’s exhausted, body used and abused, and hopeless.

Chapter Text

Sometime during the night, the others must have returned, because when Gary wakes up on top of Johnny, Price is kneeling over him, running his hands through Gary’s limp hair. 

“There we are.” Price whispers, face lights up in a blinding smile. Ever so gently,  he pulls Gary off of Johnny’s now limp cock, ignoring the mess that spills out of him when he is finally free. 

“No.” Gary protests weakly, even though he doesn’t really know what the man wants with him. The man doesn’t listen to him, of course, carefully carrying him towards the bedroom. 

“Poor thing.” Price croons, as he carries Gary through the bedroom, and into a small, cramped bathroom. There’s a shower just barely big enough for Gary, which Price turns on for him and sets him on the floor. 

He’s too weak to wash himself, and too weak to fight off Price when he chooses to do it in his stead, rough and calloused hands running over his soft flesh with utmost care. He is helpless to do anything when Price covers his hand in a soft washcloth and begins to clean up the mess between his thighs, screwing his eyes shut as the man reaches between his legs and begins wiping everything away. 

Then, he shuts off the water, and drapes him in a towel to sit on the toilet seat while Price kneels in front of him, cleaning the bottom of his feet. 

“You won’t think about running away again, will you?” Price smiles, peroxide sizzling as it hits his wounds. Gary winces silently, fighting back tears again. It was easier when he was asleep. “You’re so lucky that Johnny found you, the woods aren’t safe for you alone.”

Price wraps his feet in gauze to keep them safe, and then pulls thick socks over both of them. He disappears for a moment, leaving Gary in agonizing silence, before he returns with a shirt, boxers, and sweatpants. Button by button he closes up the shirt for Gary, and then guides his legs through the boxers and the pants, until he’s fully dried and dressed. 

Price holds Gary’s face in his hands, looking up at him like the most beautiful, beloved thing in the world, thumb rubbing circles over his cheek. 

“I love you.” Price whispers, and he looks like he wants Gary to say it back. 

He looks away, unable to force himself to say it. But a small part of him wants to lean into Price’s arms, to let the man carry him away and claim every bit of Gary for himself. He buries that part of himself as deep as he possibly can, hoping it will die. 

“Are you hungry?” Price sighs, helping Gary to his feet. He wobbles for a moment before finding his footing. “The boys are making breakfast down stairs, you could use some food and rest.” 

True to his word, he can faintly smell eggs and bacon on the wind. Gary follows his nose, guiding himself out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and into the kitchen with Price on his heels. 

Kyle and Simon are in the kitchen together, hovering close to each other, every few seconds one of them will steal a kiss from the other. Johnny has moved to the couch, a blanket draped over him from head to toe. The two men in the kitchen are setting the table, setting out dishes of bacon and eggs, Simon has a stack of pancakes precariously balanced on his arm. 

Price shepherds him into one of the chairs, ruffling a hand through his hair affectionately before piling food onto his plate. 

“Heard you tried to run.” Simon grunts, placing two glasses in front of him, one full of milk and the other filled with orange juice. Gary tenses, hand creeping for the knife beside his plate, but Simon doesn’t seem upset with him. “You shouldn’t be going out there alone, it’s not safe. You’re lucky you weren’t hurt too badly.”

“I’m sure he’s heard enough about it.” Kyle chides, shooing both of the wolves away from Gary. 

All of them find their seats, and then Price is piling food on all of their plates, and no one is paying attention to him. His stomach growls and pangs in hunger. He hadn’t eaten much yesterday, or last night. And no one was paying attention to him, no one would know if he just ate a little…

With one last cautious glance around to make sure that no one is looking, Gary shoves as much food in his mouth as he can, swallowing it down before anyone can catch him red handed. 

The four men around him talk and laugh about something that he isn’t paying attention to, trading kisses between jokes, and teasing each other. They seem so happy together, smiling and holding hands like something straight out of the ending of some romcom movie with a cheesy plot. It’s like looking into some other reality, where nothing bad had happened. For a moment, he could pretend that they had met under different circumstances, maybe at the store, or a bookshop. Somewhere cute and ideal. Somewhere bad things don’t happen. 

Gary tears his eyes away from the scene, scarfing down as much food as he can before he’s caught, and then using their distraction to slink off into the house. 

He finds himself upstairs, looking into one of the nurseries. The crib is empty, and the toys are all neatly stacked in the corner beside a little basket where they must belong. Kyle and him were supposed to clean the rooms together, he remembers. But instead, Kyle had given him the false hope of escape, and Gary had chosen to run instead. 

Despite himself, he finds himself kneeling beside the crate, putting all the well worn toys back in their place. Everything here is homemade; the crib was carved from a single tree, and the toys were all made from wood and felt, all the stitches made by hand. In the closet, there are hand crocheted onesies with cute patterns on them, and headbands to match all of them. 

Gary can’t help but smile a bit when he holds them. Someone had loved their baby enough to make all of these things by hand, had loved them enough to labor over yarn, cloth, and wood to make them somewhere to sleep, something to wear, and things to play with. Some part of him could imagine the baby growing inside him here, being loved that much. 

The wolves seemed to have no problem loving Kyle, and he seemed to have no problem loving them back. Perhaps, just maybe, they would love what came out of him. 

He rests his hand on his stomach, feeling the slightest bump in his stomach. He was supposed to be rid of this thing by now. He was supposed to be back home, recovering from what had happened to him. Now he will probably never escape, if he is honest with himself. 

The wolves are so much stronger and faster than him, how could he ever run from them? Especially if he were heavily pregnant, with swollen ankles and a stomach that weighs him down, and a body that doesn’t do well with moving fast? He would hardly be able to run from a normal person in that state. 

Gary sighs, looking down at a small family of wooden wolves in his hands. At some point, someone had chewed on the mother wolf a little bit, and the tip of one of the wolf pups had chipped off, but they still looked usable. And he can’t help but smile at the thought of one of Kyle’s children putting them in their mouth and playing pretend with them. 

Quickly, he puts the toys away, closing the lid before he can have any more of those terrible thoughts. One way or another, he is going to get rid of the thing festering inside of him, even if he has to do it by hand. 

Gary leaves the room, as if it might be affecting him, making him have those thoughts that he otherwise wouldn’t have. The play room has been cleaned up, Kyle must have done that when he was gone, and the main bedroom upstairs is neat as ever. It seemed Garrick was a bit of a clean freak. 

Something catches the corner of his eye, and he freezes. Sticking out from under the bed just barely, is the handle of something. 

Gary can still hear the four of them downstairs, laughing and enjoying their morning together loud enough that they won’t hear him if he makes a bit of noise. 

Carefully, he kneels beside the bed, grabbing the handle and pulling it out. It’s a knife with a sheath, and when he pulls the blade out of the sheath, the metal gleams in the light. The edge is sharp, the handle is firm. He can use this. 

Gary searches the closet for somewhere to hide it, pressing at the floorboards in hopes that one might be loose, to no avail. The wall is just as sturdy, and there is nothing in the closet he can hide the knife behind without it being found. He has no choice but to return it to where it came from.

It feels wrong to kneel beside the bed again, and carefully push the knife back under it. He makes sure that the handle isn’t visible, and prays that no one will find it down there. He knows that they can’t blame him for it being there, it was there before he had found it, but they could take it away. They could hide it somewhere where he would never find it again, and Gary would be left completely defenseless again.

Gary forces himself to take a deep breath and push all of those thoughts to the back of his mind. He has no other choice. 

Someone is walking up the stairs so Gary quickly leaves the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as he can, making it into the playroom just in time. Kyle crests the stairs, scanning the room until he finds Gary, facing lighting up. 

“There you are, luv.” Gaz sighs, tugging Gary onto the couch with him so that he can poke and prod at all the small bruises and nicks in Gary’s skin. “Poor thing, you got all banged up. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Why did you let me run?” Gary asks, even though he knows he needs to watch his words around the man. But part of him needs to know. He thought he could trust Kyle.

“It’s in your nature to run, luv.” Kyle sighs, and he looks almost sad about what he did. But, of course, Gary can’t trust how he looks anymore. Kyle had seemed like his ally once, now he knows better. “I just hope that one day, you’re running with us, not away from us.” 

Gary swallows the lump in his throat, forcing himself to look away. Kyle really looks like he wants Gary to stay, like he is a lover desperately begging his love not to run off with another man. It’s a cruel thing, to be looked at like that under these circumstances. Doesn’t Kyle know how cruel he is being? 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so close to Kyle. He felt like Kyle understood what he felt, that the man could relate to what he felt. And then Kyle had betrayed him. Held him down and let Johnny hurt him. 

Gary can’t bear to be around him anymore. He doesn’t bother to excuse himself, pushing himself off the couch and stumbling down the stairs. Johnny, Simon, and Price are getting themselves ready, picking up keys and belts and jackets. 

“There you are, sweetheart.” Price croons, reaching for him, but Gary stumbles out of the way, heart hammering in his chest. 

Price’s face creases in confusion, but Gary just pushes past him, hyperventilating his way into the bedroom again and letting the door slam behind him. The walls are closing in on him, and the room is far too hot. He rushes for the window, trying to yank it open, but it won’t budge at all. He gasps for air, drowning on dry land. He scans the room for somewhere to hide from what is happening to him, eyes landing in the far corner, under the desk. 

Gary dives under the desk, hugging his legs to his chest. He forces himself to take deep breaths, screwing his eyes shut to block everything out. The walls aren’t really closing in on him, he reminds himself. He isn’t any less trapped. 

Beyond the door, he can hear the four of them whispering, just outside the door and no doubt conspiring about him, but he is sniffling and crying too loud to hear them. A few seconds later and the whispering ends, and there is a soft knock on the door before it swings open. 

A pair of boots walk up to his hiding spot step by step, and then Price is sitting in front of him with a grunt, crossing his legs awkwardly so that they can be eye to eye. 

“Hey there, sweetheart.” Price greets him softly, and Gary pulls his head out of his knees and cracks his watery eyes, a few tears leaking down his cheeks. Price reaches out to wipe them away, and then as if remembering what had happened the last time he tried to touch Gary, quickly aborts and places his hand back in his lap. “Are you alright? You look pretty upset right now.”

“M’fine.” He sniffles, wiping away his own tears harshly. He shouldn’t be crying in front of Price, shouldn’t be showing any emotions in front of them. But he can’t stop crying, and it’s obvious to anyone that he isn’t really fine. 

“Do you mind if I just sit here for a bit?” Price asks gently, leaning against the wall. It seems like he doesn’t have a choice. 

It’s comforting to have Price beside him, as painful as it is to admit it. Just having someone beside him who isn’t panicking is calming. Price is like a rock beside him, a grounding presence that doesn’t let Gary drift too far into his fear. 

Of course, it’s easy for Price to be calm. He isn’t being held hostage, he hasn’t been held down and used, he isn’t facing the risk of pregnancy. 

Eventually he calms down. His gasps turn to sniffles, his sobs become whimpers, and the walls are no longer closing in on him. Cautiously. Gary pulls his face out of his knees, wiping the tears from his cheeks onto his sleeve. 

“Poor thing.” Price croons, offering him a tissue that he ignores. Still, the man isn’t phased. “Let me bring you some water, or a blanket, something .”

“Leave me alone.” Gary hisses, even though being alone is the last thing he wants.

“It’s ok, Darling.” Price soothes, pulling Gary into his lap. It shouldn’t be comforting, but Price’s embrace is warm and gentle and exactly what he needs, and the man fusses over him until Gary couldn’t cry if he wanted to. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I’m sorry.”

“I just wanted to go home.” Gary sniffles, burying his face in the crook of Price’s neck and letting the man pet his back. “I don’t like it here.”

Price just hushes him, rocking Gary back and forth in his lap. It’s far too comforting for the situation, and before he knows it Gary is letting Price guide him over to the bed on the floor and tuck him in. Price is kind and gentle with him, caressing his cheek and pressing kisses all over his face. It’s so hard to be sad when Price is so loving. 

For a long while, Price just holds him, letting him disappear into his own head for hours at a time. And, for a moment, Gary feels safe in Price’s arms. 

Hours later, Gary zones back into reality. He is still cradled in Price’s arms, clinging to his hand like a lifeline. At some point, someone must have come into the room with them, because there is a glass of cold water waiting for him. 

“Back with us again?” Price asks softly, hand running through Gary’s hair. Gary nods, lifting his head from the pillow. There’s drool on his cheek, and his whole body is stiff from being still for so long. Price is quick to bring the glass of water up to Gary’s lips for him, cradling his skull with one broad hand. 

“Thank you.” Gary croaks, gasping for air when the glass is pulled away from his lips. Price is smiling at him, practically beaming, and Gary feels just a little bit good that it’s him making Price smile, even though he knows he shouldn’t. 

“Of course, Darling.” Price seems so happy to be with Gary. Like this is what he wanted all along. And Gary can understand why. If he were here for any other reason, this would be so wonderful. If Gary had chosen to be here, he would be so happy in Price’s arms. “Do you feel better now?” 

“Yes. A little bit.” He admits. It’s just a bandage over the situation, he knows, but for the first time since he was dragged back here by them, he doesn’t feel terrible. 

“That’s what I like to hear.” Price presses a kiss to Gary’s cheek, and he turns pink. “Let’s get you up and moving, sweetheart.”

Price herds him out of bed, fussing over him for a moment before guiding him into the living room. Kyle is outside working in the garden, Simon is on the couch, pouring over a list with a pencil, and Johnny is doing the dishes in the kitchen. It’s domestic, sweet. Part of Gary longs for a life just like this. It is so painful to be presented with everything he has ever wanted after what these people have done to him.

“Do you want to help Simon?” Price asks, already bringing him to the couch. Simon is quick to take him under his arm, pulling Gary close to him. He has no choice but to help Simon. 

“What are you doing?” Gary asks meekly, while Price watches on like a proud father encouraging his shy child to make a friend. Simon gives him a squeeze, arm resting around him loosely, forcing Gary into cuddling up against him. 

“It’s a list of names for Kyle’s pups.” Simon explains, showing Gary the paper. Some of them are crossed out and others have x’s beside them. It must be a living list, because he can see where they had switched from pen to pencil, used different colors of ink, or had different people writing. “We can make one for you, too.” 

Gary swallows the lump in his throat. He isn’t going to get out of her in time to get rid of his pregnancy, is he? They’re going to make him have their baby. 

“But we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl.” Gary stammers, trying to pull himself out of Simon’s arms, but Simon won’t let him go. 

“You’re going to have more than one litter, sweetheart. Better to just have a list ready.” Simon tells him, holding him close so that he can’t leave. “We can just choose from the list whenever they’re born. Let's just start with three names for each sex, hm?”

Gary tugs at Simon’s arm, but he doesn’t budge. He looks to Price for help, but the man shakes his head. His heart leaps into his throat, and his hand shakes. 

“Just some names, darling, then you can go.” Price assures him, stifling the panic inside of Gary with his calm demeanor. 

“Ok, um….” Gary trails off, biting his lip. Names. He can think of names, can’t he? “For the boys…Matthew, David, and Marcus. And for the girls, Kaitlyn, Lenore, and lydia?” 

“Those are such good names.” Price praises, looking so proud of him. Even Simon is smiling at him, giving him one last peck on the cheek before releasing him.

Free from his grasp, Gary darts outside before Johnny can decide he wants to force Roach into doing something. 

Kyle is kneeling in the garden, pulling out the weeds and picking the unripe vegetables that had been left behind yesterday. Gary freezes in his place, glancing between Kyle, and the woods beyond. Of course, he knows he wouldn’t make it more than a hundred feet before one of the wolves inside noticed and went after him. He doesn’t want to be hurt again. But Kyle…

“If you want to know if I would stop you, I would.” Kyle breaks the silence between them, not looking up from his gardening. “I let you run once for your own good. You would only hurt yourself if you tried to run like this.”

“I wasn’t going to run!” Gary blurts, glancing behind him. He can tell that Soap is watching them both very closely through the window. 

“Of course not.” Kyle assures him, tossing the last vegetable into his basket, and turning to Gary. “You were just wondering. Why don’t you help me wash these off in the creek? Johnny is hogging the sink.”

Gary glances between the house, and then Kyle again. If he doesn’t help Kyle, no doubt they will hold him hostage into doing something with them. At least if he helps Kyle, he gets a choice. So he takes the basket of vegetables, and follows Kyle into the woods again, feeling the watchful eyes on his back as he goes. 

The woods are peaceful and cool, a faint breeze blowing through the leaves and stirring the small bugs and animals as it goes. Crickets jump out of the way as they walk among the trees, and birds sing above them. The creek burbles over rocks and roots, and a few animals scurry away from the bank as they approach, disappearing into the underbrush. Gary lets out a breath, releasing the tension from his body. 

“I’ve always liked it out here.” Kyle admits, kneeling beside the creek. Gary joins him, and together they begin to wash. “It can get a little crowded in the house sometimes, can’t it?” 

“Mhm.” Gary nods, only really half listening to the man. He’s just happy to be relatively alone, even if he knows he will have to return to them soon. 

But for now, they kneel beside the creek and wash vegetables together, and Kyle tells him what he wants to plant for the upcoming season and asks Gary what he likes. For now, it is nice.

Chapter Text

Gary sits in the living room, hands resting on his stomach. The entire house is silent, and when he looks around he sees no one. It’s as if they had all just disappeared; there are dishes in the sink and on the table, food is sitting on the stove, Gaz’s knitting has been set on the table in front of him, and a still warm cup of tea sits in Ghost’s usual chair, steaming. And, when Gary looks down at himself, he can’t see past the huge swell of his stomach.

His skin is stretched around the thing growing inside of him, stretchmarks littering his skin where it had been pulled taunt. Something in the back of his mind nags that that isn’t right, he should look like this, but he doesn’t understand it. 

Instead of worrying about things he doesn’t understand, or that don’t make sense, Gary busies himself with housework. He doesn’t know where the pack has gone, but surely they can’t just leave this food out to rot. So Gary begins putting away the food and cleaning up the dishes, hands warmed by the sink water and content with finding homes for the containers of food in their crowded fridge. 

It’s a nice morning, the ground is blanketed in a soft layer of snow, and flakes are still landing against the windows where they quickly melt. But as cold as it is outside, Gary is safe and warm inside the cabin, draped in a warm blanket clearly knitted by Kyle. Gary doesn’t remember him making it, but it is obviously hand made, and who else would have done it? 

As Gary is cleaning up the house, his stomach begins to feel odd. While he is sweeping up crumbs from beneath the table, heartburn creeps its way into his throat. Try as he might to drown it with water and antacids, he cannot seem to quell it. 

While he is dusting off the windowsills and pulling the curtains open, his stomach becomes uneasy, and he has to sit down in Ghost’s chair to settle it. But the smell of the cup of tea steaming beside him only makes him more nauseous, so he tips it down the sink and tells himself that he will make Simon a warm cup when he returns. 

The world begins to spin as he tries to stand again, and he puts a hand to his head, squeezing his eyes shut to steady himself. A shudder runs through him as something inside of him shifts, his stomach feeling suddenly tight. And then, Gary is chilled to the core as he feels himself bearing down on it. 

Panic sears through his body and he snaps his eyes open, running for a phone. Gary tears through the kitchen drawers, yanking them open and tossing silverware aside in his desperate search. His body bears down again, and then the pain begins between his legs. His heart hammers in his chest, and his mind is racing. This isn’t right, it’s too early for the baby! Where is the pack? He needs them! 

Gary collapses as the contractions consume him, crying out from the floor, begging the pack to come back to him. 

“Gary, Gary!” Someone is shaking him, and Sanderson snaps his eyes open, gasping for breath. His eyes flick around the room in confusion. He is back in the bedroom, cuddles safely between Simon and Price, stomach back to the noticeable bump and pain gone. Simon has his cheeks in his hands, and everyone is watching him in concern. 

“Are you alright, sweetheart? You were screaming.” Simon asks softly, pulling him back to the present again. Gary lets out a shaky breath, swallowing thickly. Just a dream. It was just a dream. 

“He’s shaken up, we should take him out for some fresh air.” Price suggests, when Gary just stares at them, shell shocked. 

They all seem to agree on that, so Price and Simon carefully pull him onto his feet and drape him in one of the blankets. Kyle follows them out of the bedroom and abandons them when they pass the kitchen so that he can make a cup of tea, and Johnny grabs a chair from the table so that he can sit. 

Soon enough Gary is sitting outside with Simon, a mug of tea warming his hands. Simon is beside him, a book cracked open in his lap. There is no snow on the ground, everyone is here, and he has yet to get that big. But, with his hands in his lap, he can feel a small bump forming in his stomach. 

Gary knows it’s too early for a normal pregnancy to be showing this much. Hadn’t Kyle said something about the pregnancy being unnatural? He hadn’t been paying much attention. He thought he was going to be able to get rid of it. Now… 

Gary forces himself to shut that train of thought down before it derails into something dangerous. He can’t try to run again, he knows what will happen to him if he tries. 

“You should drink your tea.” Simon whispers, not looking up from the pages of his book. “It will help you calm down.” 

On a normal day, Gary might question what is in it, or demand that Simon prove it’s safe, but at the moment he cannot find that fire inside himself, so he just sips his tea as instructed. Simon smiles at him, dog-earing the page of his book and closing it with a thump. 

“You don’t have to tell us what was scaring you, but if you want to talk we are here…” Simon trails off, and Gary stares back at him with wide eyes. No, he can’t tell. How would they understand? This is exactly what they want from him. 

Behind them the door creaks open, ending any conversation that might have happened if they were given the time, and Price enters with two plates balances precariously in his arms. 

“I didn’t know if you were hungry but I brought you breakfast.” Price explains, setting the plates in each of their laps, a delicate balance. 

Simon tilts his head up and Price is quick to press a kiss to the top of it, and the entire time Simon looks at him as if to say “see? This is what you could have if you would just behave.”

Gary would be lying if he said that wasn’t exactly what he wants right now. His nightmare has left him shaken and fragile, and he is still haunted by the memory of himself laying on the floor, crying out for the pack, and them not being there. 

Price retreats back into the house, leaving the two of them alone again. The wind blows, and Gary pulls his blanket around himself just a little bit tighter. 

“You won’t leave me, right?” Gary asks quietly, and both of them seem surprised by that. 

Simon sits with him for hours, long after their tea has gone cold, and then empty, and Price has taken their empty plates back to be washed. The birds sing in the trees and the breeze keeps them cold, and Kyle kneels among his garden tending to the plants. It’s serene, peaceful in ways that Gary spent long weeks longing for in the city. 

Johnny steps out onto the porch with them, standing between the two of them and looking out into the forest. 

“Price says we should go huntin again.” He says, and Gary isn’t sure which one of them he is talking to. 

“Hm.” 

“Says the herd is still around.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Will Gary be alright?” 

With that, both of them turn to look at him, and Gary freezes like a deer in headlights. 

“I, uh, yeah I’ll be fine.” Gary stammers, cheeks flushing pink. His heart pounds against his ribcage, like a drum in his chest. And the worst part is that Gary doesn’t feel an ounce of fear. 

The wind picks up hours later, and Simon decides that it is too chilly outside for them to stay. Gary cannot help but agree with him. Simon collects his book and helps Gary pull the blanket up around himself like a cloak, hand lingering on his shoulder for just a moment longer than needed. 

Gary can still feel where the man had lingered as he follows Simon into the house, past the kitchen and into the living room. Like it's burning through his skin, like if he lifts up his shirt he will find the man’s handprint seared into his skin. 

It’s warmer in the house, just as cozy as it had been in his dream. But this time, he isn’t alone. Johnny is sitting at the table, looking over something with Price, and Kyle has made his way into the living room with them, and taken up his crochet work. The house isn’t empty, and he isn’t ready to burst with children. He is ok. 

As the night draws closer, Gaz invites Gary into the kitchen with him. Johnny and Price have left to scour the woods for something to cook, and Simon had fallen asleep hours ago, snoring softly. 

Gary looks between the two men, conflicted. Gaz had turned on him. He had never trusted Simon in the first place. And both were so kind to him today. 

“It’s alright, luv, he won’t miss you.” Kyle teases, gesturing to the sleeping man beside him. Gary follows the man’s gaze to the still snoring Simon, and despite himself it brings a smile to his face. 

Well, maybe Kyle is right. Gary pulls himself from the couch shedding the blanket he had been shielding himself with. For a second he just holds it, thinking about what he should do with it, before gently draping it over Simon. For a second Gary thinks he’s woken the man; Simon fumbles around blindly, grabbing at the fabric. But then Simon grabs a fistful of the blanket and clutches it to his chest, mumbling incoherently before falling silent again. 

“We’re having stew tonight.” Kyle explains, pointing to a pot filled with vegetables and bones. “I’ve had the stock going for hours, we just need to add the last few things.” 

“What do you think Price and Johnny will bring back?” Gary asks just to make conversation. 

“Hm, at this time of day? They’ll catch something small and scurry back to be home before its dark.” Kyle laughs, and Gary finds that he likes the sound of that. “It’s nice to be like this, isn’t it?” 

Gary knows what he is asking. Between them there is an unsaid; “It’s worth staying. It’s nice here, isn’t it? Don’t you want to stay here with us?” , and Gary can’t answer. 

“I like the spring.” He says, pretending like he doesn’t understand the question that wasn’t spoken. “The storms, the flowers, all the baby animals….” 

Perhaps he should have said something else. 

Kyle ends up being right; Price comes home with a few rabbits in his jaw, and Johnny has managed to catch three squirrels. The two meats aren’t enough for all of them separately, so Gary helps Kyle separate the base into two pots and each meat goes into one. 

Some time ago - it feels like ages, but really it was barely a day - Kyle had taught him how to break down a rabbit. So that is what Gary does; he takes the skin off, drains the blood, and removes the good meat from the bones for the stew. Johnny waits by his feet like a dog begging for scraps, and when no one is looking Gary tosses him one or two of the unusable parts. 

The meat goes into the stew to cook, and the bones go into Kyle’s prized garden. Plants can be surprisingly carnivorous, according to the man. Price creeps up behind him and loops one arm around his waist, pulling him in close. 

“This smells amazing.” Price tells him, voice dripping in praise and pride. He gives Gary’s waist a quick squeeze and places a kiss on Gary’s cheek before they part again, and Gary can still feel exactly where Price’s lips touched his skin. 

The two meals finish at the same time, and Price insists on carrying them to the table. Simon refuses to let them pull out their own chairs, and Johnny won’t even let them lift the jug to pour their own water. 

And, as all five of them set down together to eat something that he helped make, Gary feels a little something sparking in his chest.

Chapter Text

Gary cracks his eyes open blearily, head resting on Simon’s chest, face buried in his soft fur. The wolf has one arm wrapped around Gary, holding him tightly. He yawns, jaw popping loudly. It’s warm, and Gary is held tightly in someone’s arms, it’s easy to fall into the cozy atmosphere of the morning. 

A huge paw pets over his head, mussing up his already messy hair and pulling him further out of his sleepy haze. The whole world spins as Simon slowly climbs to his feet, Gary cradled in his arms. Gary pushes his face into the crook of Simon’s neck, squeezing his eyes shut as they step into the light. 

“Good morning, sweetheart.” Price coos as Simon carries him past. “Not feeling well?” 

Gary isn’t able to open his mouth to respond, far too exhausted to speak. That’s alright, though, because Simon answers for him. 

“He’s sick, let's just move him to the couch.” Simon grunts, still petting his back like a beloved pet. “The pregnancy must be taking a toll on him.”

Simon lays him on the couch, bundling him tightly with blankets and propping his head upright on pillows. His whole face feels hot, like he’s burning from the inside out. But at the same time, he’s shivering like he’s freezing. 

Gary isn’t hungry, so the pack eats without him. He’s close enough that the smell of breakfast can torment him, making him sick to his stomach and unable to sleep.

“I brought you something to soothe your stomach.” Kyle whispers, approaching quietly and setting a cup of tea on the coffee table for him. It’s something light and fragrant, and while his stomach twists at the thought of drinking anything, he forces himself to take a few sips. “We’ll save some food for when you feel better.” 

With that, Kyle pulls the blankets over his head, sectioning him off from the rest of the world. It’s better without the sights and smells assaulting him, all that’s left is the soft feeling of being tucked into the couch, and the sounds of laughter and conversation from the kitchen. 

“Brought back cinnamon and coffee from the town.” Simon grunts, sipping on something. Tea, no doubt. “Should be another week before we need more cream and sugar.”

“If you feel sick you have to let us know.” Price explains sternly, probably talking to Gaz by the sounds of it. “We’ll bring you anything you want from in town.” 

“I know, I know. I feel fine.” Kyle sighs, and Gary can imagine him rolling his eyes at the three of them. 

Gary drifts off to the sound of their conversation, lulled to sleep by them. It’s sweet, domestic, things he’d never had before. It’s nice. 

Gary doesn’t know how long he’s been asleep, but when he wakes he feels better. His stomach no longer churns at the thought of food, and he doesn’t feel like he’s burning from the inside out anymore. It takes some effort to push the blanket off of his face, and he rubs the exhaustion from his eyes. There’s drool on his cheek, and tears streaming onto the pillow below. 

There’s no one around. Someone had cleaned up all the dishes and boxed up the leftovers, the kitchen is spotless. The entire cabin is quiet, and someone has turned the heater up so that the windows are fogged up from the cold outside. Gary pushes himself up, sitting on the couch and surveying the scene. Everything is so peaceful. 

With some effort, he pushes himself to his feet, draping a blanket over his shoulders for warmth. There’s coffee in the pot on the counter, so he pours himself a mug. It’s not warm, in the time he was asleep it had gone stale, but it’s still nice to have some caffeine in him. 

For a moment, Gary stares out the window, looking out into the forest beyond. The trees have begun to lose their leaves now, finally catching up with the weather. It looks so cold out there, and Gary knows that it is. 

But it is warm in the cabin, and he’s comfortable here. Gary pulls the blanket tighter around himself, turning his back to the window. The boys might be gone, but Kyle is probably still around. Maybe upstairs? Gary wanders to the bottom of the flight, staring up at the second floor. He isn’t standing at the top of the stairs, but he might be in the bedroom. But, Gary doesn’t feel like climbing all those stairs.  

He finds himself in front of the fridge, staring in at all the leftovers trying to decide what to heat up for himself. His hand rests on his stomach as he eyes the leftovers, grimacing to himself. Inside of him, the baby kicks at his stomach, as if protesting his meager choices. 

“I know, it sucks.” Gary groans, letting the fridge shut. Maybe he should wait until someone gets home to ask them for food. “I think we’ll stick to this for now.” He gestures with his mug. 

Another kick, like the baby , is agreeing with him. Gary yawns, rubbing the tiny bump under his shirt absentmindedly as he stares out the window again. There are still two chairs sitting outside and it’s getting kind of warm in here…

There’s no one around to see him, if he just sits outside for a little bit. With one last glance around to make sure none of the men are hiding around the corner, waiting for him to do something wrong, Gary carefully pulls the back door open. Any second he expects one of them to leap out from behind the furniture and  scold him for doing something he isn’t allowed to. But the door swings open, and he remains scolded. It seems there’s no one around to catch him. 

Giddy like a child finally allowed a sip of coffee, Gary rushes out into the cold, blanket held tight around him. The door closes behind him softly, not startling away any of the gathering birds. The boys must be feeding them, They don’t spook when he gets close enough to sit in the chair. Their song fills the air, and they shake the frost off the leaves as they hop between the branches. 

The baby in his stomach has gone still again, apparently content with the situation. 

“Do you like the birds?” Gary asks, cooing down at the little baby inside him. It never did anything wrong. “Me too. My favorites are blue jays.”

For a moment he lets the silence settle around him, nothing but the birdsong to fill it. And for a moment it's nice, until the silence becomes too much and Gary grows restless. 

“Maybe I should name you after a bird.” He teases, smiling down at his stomach. “Little Canary? Or Yellow Bellied Warbler? It has a ring to it.” 

The backdoor swings open before he can tease any further and Kyle rushes out into the cold, grabbing onto Gary's shoulder before he can even move. 

“Gary, luv, what are you doing out here all by yourself?” Kyle gasps breathlessly, pulling him out of the chair and towards the house. “Who were you talking to?” 

“No one.” Gary stammers, pulling his hands away from his stomach. “It’s nothing. Let's just go inside.” 

Kyle looks at him strangely, but doesn’t comment. Gaz ushers them into the cabin again, taking the mug out of his hands and dumping it down the sink. 

“You shouldn’t be having that, luv, it will only make you feel worse.” Kyle chides, searching the pantry for a few seconds before coming back with a bottle of heartburn medication, pouring a few tablets into his hands. “You should have gotten me when you woke up. I was just upstairs.”

“I just wanted to go outside for a little bit.” Gary frowns. He doesn’t like it when Kyle is upset with him. 

Kyle softens, pulling him in for a hug. Gary squeezes the man back, holding onto him like a lifeline. Then they part, and the feeling of Kyle’s skin against his own lingers like a kiss. 

“I assume you’re feeling better, then?” Kyle sighs, smiling at him. Gary can’t help but smile back. “Have you had anything to eat?” 

“Nothing in the fridge looked good.” He pouts, just to make Kyle comfort him again. 

“I’ll call in a favor with the boys. They’ll bring us something good.” Kyle assures him, patting his shoulder affectionately. 

Gary trusts him, and as long as he gets something he is happy. He allows Kyle to bring him back to the living room and set him up on the couch again, this time with a cup of water and a book to read. Kyle sits next to him, leaning against him with his own book in hand. 

For hours they sit together, though it feels like minutes to Gary. At some point, Gary stops reading and takes a nap against Gaz, until he wakes up again and resumes his book. Finally, when he has almost finished the book, the rest of the pack returns. 

Gary closes his book, peering over the edge of the sofa as the men file into the house. The smell of food fills the room along with them, but Gary isn’t interested in that. Not when Simon is holding a small bag with little pacifiers all over it. 

“I brought something for you.” Simon coos, spotting him watching from behind the couch. “Do you want to see?” 

Gary pauses, chewing his lip. Yes, he wants to see. Gary creeps closer, snatching the bag from Simon’s outstretched hand and bringing it back with him. Inside, there are binkies and baby onesies, so small he can’t imagine a person wearing them. 

“Kyle can only knit so fast.” Price chuckles, giving the man in question an affectionate look. “You’re going to work him half to death if you have him make all the clothes for your pups.”

Gary lays one hand on his stomach, feeling the little baby inside him stir. Already it's bigger than it should be, but at the same time so tiny. It won’t come out so small, will it? How could something be so small?

“Something wrong?” Johnny asks, noticing how quiet he’s become. Gary snaps out of his thoughts, setting the bag down. 

“Everything is fine.” He stammers, cheeks turning pink. He’s being silly. And yet, there are still tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 

“S’alright sweetheart.” Johnny soothes, petting his hair. “It’s ok.”

Gary nods along with him, wiping the tears away. Right, everything is ok.

Chapter Text

Gary is allowed to eat by himself, thankfully enough. It’s been a tough day for him, being sick and having gifts bought for him. He had always felt bad about gifts, and this is all so complicated. He spends minutes wiping tears away from his eyes, sniffling quietly so that the other men won’t hear him. 

Kyle helps him take the baby onesies to the baby’s room, and they hang them on hangers that are far too tiny, and look over tiny shoes that are just so small that he can’t even comprehend it. How could someone’s feet be so small? 

“I know how you feel.” Kyle whispers, as they look over diaper bags, and Kyle shows him what exactly should go in them. Wet wipes, diapers, the bottle, snacks for him when he gets hungry from breastfeeding. “I was in your same position once, too. It gets better, I promise.”

“It didn’t do anything wrong.” Gary whispers, eyes wide and tear filled. They never seem to dry. “It didn’t ask for this. We didn’t ask for this. How can I be mad at him? We’re both in the same situation.” 

“I know.” Kyle whispers, pulling him in close. It feels so good to be embraced, Gary can’t help but lean into his touch. It shouldn’t feel so nice, so comforting. But it does, and Gary needs it. “I promise I know, luv.” 

For a minute, Gary just rests in Kyle’s arms, letting the man pet his back and sooth him. Maybe it’s just the hormones making him feel this way. Maybe the days of confinement have finally gotten to him. But god, how could he ever be mad at the baby ? Something so small and so innocent who had never asked for any of these things happening to him. How different was he from the baby, after all?

Only when Gary has stopped crying does Kyle let him go, wiping his eyes and smoothing his hair again. He feels better, like a weight has lifted off of his shoulders after confessing. Kyle understands, doesn’t he? 

“Lets just go downstairs, luv.” Kyle suggests, putting everything away. The diaper bag, the little socks and shoes, the tiny little hats for when it gets cold. “The boys will want to take care of you since you’ve been sick and crying.” 

Gary opens his mouth, about to protest, but it dies on his tongue. Is he going to deny more comfort? At what point does avoiding them become torturing himself? He lets Kyle lead him back down stairs, to the rest of the pack waiting below. Simon is in the kitchen, brewing himself more tea. Johnny and Price are bent over a puzzle, pondering the pieces and turning their heads to look at the picture from another angle. 

They all perk up when the two of them reach the bottom of the stairs. Price's face softens when he notices how red Gary’s eyes are, and the wet stains on Kyle’s shirt. Without hesitation, Price opens his arms for Gary, beckoning him forward. 

Gary hesitates for only a second before stumbling into Price’s arms, letting the man wrap his strong, muscular arms around him. It feels so good to be held, to be comforted and adored by someone. Like he is worth putting back together when he is broken. 

“It’s alright, sweetheart.” Price croons, rocking him back and forth in his arms. “I know, it's hard, I’m sorry.”

“Darling, what's wrong?” Simon asks, peering into Price’s arms at him. “Do you feel sick again?” 

Gary shakes his head, hiding his face in Price’s shirt. He can’t handle looking around, or speaking. It’s all just so much for him. But none of the pack seem to mind, holding him softly and talking to him sweetly even though he doesn’t respond. 

They bring him to the couch again, and this time Gary sits in Price’s lap, cradled in his arms. Kyle climbs into his lap next to Gary, and the two of them cuddle closely together. Gary can feel the man’s baby bump beneath his clothes, and the physic of the man they are both sitting on. On any other day, he wouldn’t let himself become so weak, so vulnerable, but he has been broken down too far for that sort of strength now and so it has made him weak. So very weak. 

Simon joins them on the couch, and he smells like fresh tea and the woods outside. Somehow, Gary ends up wrapped in his sweater, cuddling the sleeves to his face so he can be surrounded in that scent. 

“It’s hard, I know.” Price soothes, rocking them both in his arms, even though Gary is the only one crying, and even he has stopped. “I didn’t want it to be hard for you. We’re doing our best for you.”

“I just want to go home.” Gary whimpers, hiding his face in the sleeves of the stolen sweater. 

“I know.” Simon sighs, and his hand caresses the barely exposed edge of his jaw, with all the tenderness and care of a lover. It’s hard to resist being treated so kindly, like he is loved. “But we can’t let that happen.” 

Gary sniffles, wiping away a few tears with Simon’s sleeve. When the man offers him a sip of tea, Gary doesn’t hesitate to take it. It’s warm and comforting, just like he is. And he knows its wrong, he knows everything about this is wrong and that he shouldn’t like any of this but he does. And he knows it’s because he’s weak. 

They sit there for a while, enjoying the comfort from the men he shouldn’t be trusting. They’re so kind to him; rubbing his stomach, his head, pressing kisses to his face. When he stops crying, and the sniffles all go away, Gary finally pulls himself out of Price’s lap.  

Kyle clings to him, but not so much so that Gary can’t easily pry himself away. He looks at the door, out into the woods beyond, but no that's not what he wants. 

“Do…do you want to go back into the kids room? I don’t think i’ll cry this time.” Gary stammers, cheeks turning pink. He shouldn’t. But his baby is going to be born here at this rate, he’s going to be born here and sleep in these cribs, and wear these clothes, and play with these toys. He has to make sure it’s safe for his baby. 

“Of course, luv.” Kyle says, taking his hand carefully like he might break if treated too roughly. “Why don’t we have Johnny come, too?” 

Gary glances over at the man, who is watching him back with such intensity that it makes him shiver. He almost protests -why would he need Johnny here? - but then he remembers how nice it felt to be held by one of them, to be cradled by someone so much bigger and stronger than himself. That wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Yeah. He can come.” Gary nods, and Johnny’s entire face lights up like a Christmas tree. He’s so endearing. It’s hard to say no to him when he looks like that. 

Johnny follows them up the stairs, crowding behind them both like he’s worried they might topple backwards down the stairs, and he needs to be there to catch them. Gary can feel the heat radiation off of him from behind, like standing in front of a furnace. 

Kyle brings them back in front of the closet, patting the floor beside him on either side. Gary cuddles up beside him, and Johnny presses himself beside Gary, squashing him between the two men. It’s not bad. 

Kyle shows him toys for the baby, and they sort through the ones that are too old to be of use, and those that are new enough to keep. Then they look over the strollers, and Johnny shows him how to unfold them and set them up. He explains what makes them safe - the way the wheels turn to take turns better, the way the frame absorbs the impact of rolling over stones and curbs, and the little visor to shield them from the sun - and how easy they are to use and store. Gary listens raptly, hands on his stomach like he is holding his baby. 

One day, his baby is going into one of those. Whether Gary wants it or not he can’t hold the baby in, and he can’t get rid of it. Save for a miracle, nothing is going to get him out of having the baby here. 

“I’ll have Simon make us some new toys.” Johnny chatters, so happy at the prospect of babies. “To replace the ones that we’re throwing out. And we’ll pull the old bottles out of the cabinet and wash them. When the pup is closer, we’ll bring home formula.”

“I’ll help you with the feeding, don’t worry.” Kyle soothes, one hand on Gary’s shoulder to keep him calm. “It’s always hardest with your first. But don’t worry, we’re here to support you. Everything is going to be ok.” 

And, for some odd reason, it comforts him. Maybe it’s because he knows that Kyle has had children before, and he knows at least someone has experience with babies, that he won’t be going in completely blind. Someone, at least, knows what to do when his baby cries, and doesn’t sleep, and gets sick.

“Have you picked a favorite name?” Johnny asks, folding up the stroller to be put back away. “I know we listed names, but you never said which one was your favorite.”

“Oh…” Gary trails off, tightening his arms around his stomach. Well, it couldn’t hurt to tell them. He’ll probably be naming the baby that anyway, then they’ll know. “I like the name Lark. I like birds.”

“Birds?” Johnny asks, tilting his head curiously. Gary gets the feeling that Johnny is remembering this for later. “Lark is a good name. Beautiful. The pup will love it.”

“Thank you.” He can’t keep the blush from his cheeks, or hide the way his heart flutters. He likes being complimented, and it's only made sweeter by the adoring way he says it. 

“Such a good boy for us, Roach.” Johnny coos, cupping Gary’s face in his hands. He can’t help but melt into the man’s hands, practically purring as he rubs his thumbs in circles on Gary’s cheeks. “Such a good, sweet boy.”

“Why don’t we call up the boys and put together some of these cribs?” Kyle suggests, pulling the box out of the closet. It doesn’t look heavy, but Johnny still rushes to help him move it, chiding him for working when he’s pregnant. But the entire time he is helping Kyle, Johnny is watching him with a strange look in his eyes, like he has discovered something and is mulling it over in his head. 

Johnny gets Price and Simon, and the five of them begin unboxing cribs. They have three of them total, and Gary doesn’t know why they would have so many, but he isn’t complaining. The room quickly becomes a mess of scattered parts and tools as the men struggle to put the cribs together.

“It never gets any easier.” Price grumbles, searching for an allen wrench that he lost three instructions ago. “You’d think they’d make these more simple.”

“It’s got to be a test.” Johnny groans, on his hands and knees searching for one of a thousand tiny screws that had gone flying across the room when he had opened the bag too roughly. “If you can’t handle the crib, you can’t handle the baby. Or something.”

“I think we mixed the parts the last time we took these apart.” Simon announces, holding up two mismatched parts from his pile. All three men groan.

Gary and Kyle are watching, having quickly been ushered away from the work. Simon had set out water for them both, and thrust a notebook full of drawings for them to look over, telling them to pick out toys they like for him to make for them. Gary is hardly paying attention to the drawings covering the pages, though, he is too busy trying not to laugh at the three of them trying to put together the furniture. 

“Isn’t this one so cute?” Kyle asks, pointing to a little wooden bird. It’s a simple design, with little feathers and a beak that's rounded off so as not to be sharp. 

“Adorable.” Gary answers, fighting back a laugh. Then, he spots a little giraffe, with a long neck and a short tail. So cute. 

“This has to go with this, and that means that these legs go with this body, and I think that piece looks like the same color as these…” Johnny explains, moving around parts and burying tools under instruction manuals. The missing allen wrench rolls out from under something, and Price snatches it up before it can be lost again. 

“How about some number and letter blocks?” Kyle asks, flipping pages until he finds one he wants, showing it off to Gary. “We can paint them in something safe, and help teach them basic counting and reading.”

“That would be smart.” Gary nods, half paying attention. It does. He remembers having a few blocks just like that when he was a child, though he couldn’t say whether or not they helped him. But, they were everywhere, there had to be something to it. 

“Has anyone seen a nut about this size?” Price asks, showing the approximate size with his fingers. “I dropped it….awhile ago.”

“I think we will need more blankets.” Kyle announces, closing the book. “About three new blankets, binkies that haven’t been chewed on, and baby socks.”

“Anything you need, darling.” Simon assures them, mulling over two legs that are the same color, but different length, and looking confused. “How about we get some stuffed animals too?” 

“That would be nice. Wouldn’t that be so nice, Gary?” Kyle asks him, turning to look at Gary. 

“Very nice.” He agrees, stifling a laugh as the men start comparing the legs of the cribs, swapping them around based on length and color.

The three men sort through the crib pieces, arguing about what goes where, and rearranging the entire set up again and again. Kyle and Gary chime in when they think it will help, watching the entire mess and abandoning the notebook. One by one, they eliminate pieces of the third set until they are left with two - almost- complete sets of cribs. There are a few screws missing, but by some miracle the cribs end up built and standing. 

The men write down what screws are missing, and from where, and what the two of them want for the baby, and then they are ready to leave for town again. 

“We’re just going to be gone for a bit, don’t worry darlings.” Price assures them, fussing over them and tucking them under a blanket to keep them warm. “Kyle there are leftovers in the fridge you can warm up if either of you get hungry.” 

“Don’t go anywhere without us, ok?” Simon stresses, giving them both a stern look, like they both might try to run, not just Gary. “And don’t worry lining up at the door for us, you’re already comfortable. We’ll just be right back.”

Simon leans down and gives them each a peck on the cheek, and then Johnny and Price do the same. Gary’s cheeks are left pink with blush, his heart fluttering in his chest at the affection. Then, all three of them are out the door, bidding them one last goodbye before the door slams shut, and the two of them are alone again.

Chapter Text

The boys are gone for a while. In the time that they’re gone, Gary and Kyle warm up something to eat, and then they wash the dishes together. Then, Kyle treats him to time in the garden, looking for pests on the leaves and turning the soil for worms to add. Gary enjoys the sunshine, even though the cold makes his joints stiff and his skin dry. 

“Next week Price promised to bring us food from the asian place in town.” Kyle tells him happily, like they’re gossiping together. “It's the best for pregnancy cravings. At least, it is for me.”

“Do they have fortune cookies?” Gary asks, digging through the soil with his trowel, turning the ground over. He spots a worm wriggling among the dirt, and dumps it into the garden. 

“They do, but you have to ask for to-go orders.” Kyle explains, tossing more dirt into the garden. “I can tell them to ask, if you want.”

“Thanks.” He smiles, though he’s not sure if Kyle spots it. 

“It’s nice having another person around.” Kyle says, sighing to himself. “I love my pack, my husbands, I really do. But it’s nice not being the only human around here.”

“What’s it like?” Gary asks, turning the trowel over in his hands. “Living with them all the time? Being cooped up in the house all the time?”

“I’m not cooped up in the house.” Kyle explains, abandoning his work to look Gary in the eyes instead. “I’m free to come and go as I please. When they learn to trust you, you will be allowed the same.”

Kyle says it carefully, like there's weight to his words. Gary considers them carefully. Being allowed to move freely, being allowed to leave unsupervised. Something he could only dream of. 

And all he has to do is behave for them.

It would be simple, so simple. Easy with how sweet they are to him, really. It would keep him and the baby safe, and god wouldn’t he be so happy to forget all the bad things that had happened to him? To just pretend that everything is fine, stop ruminating over everything he wishes he had done instead?

“They’ll treat you well.” Kyle offers, and god he knows they will. They will treat him so well he’s afraid he might not want to leave when the time comes. If the time comes. “It’s a good life, I promise.”

Gary frowns, turning his attention to his work instead. He doesn’t want to think about how easy it would be to fall into their arms and let them treat him so kindly, and do anything they ask of him.

“What about baby food?” He asks, to change the topic. “Anything I should feed him to make him not have allergies? Anything I shouldn’t feed him?”

“Well, babies aren’t supposed to have honey, deli meat, or cow's milk.” Kyle lists off, eyes rolling back into his head as he thinks. “And chocolate will make them sick until they are at least two. But I recommend putting fruits and vegetables from the garden into the blender to make baby food. I prefer it to the store bought.”

“Anything I should avoid while i’m pregnant?” Gary asks, even though he’s pretty sure he’s got a good grasp of it. No alcohol, no drugs, no coffee because of heartburn. 

“Well, we’re weaning you off of eggs and milk.” Kyle chuckles to himself, wiping the dirt from his hands. “You won’t miss them much.  But you’re going to miss ice cream and seafood.” 

“Ice cream?” He asks, scrunching his nose. What, is he going to freeze the baby?

“It’s a milk product.” Kyle explains, giving him a knowing look. “Technically, you can eat it while pregnant, you just have to be careful about how the milk in it is pasteurized and that it doesn’t have listeria or anything. The boys are just extra careful when it comes to us and our pups.”

They spend a lot of time in the garden while the boys are gone, Gary soaking up the sun like he’s deprived of it until his skin has turned pink from the cold and the sun. The cold turns his skin dry and unpleasant, and his lips become chapped and cracked, but he is having far too much fun outside to go back. He keeps his complaints to himself, but doesn’t hide the smile on his face. 

They spend hours in the garden, plucking snails from the leaves and carrying them back into the forest where they belong. Gary finds a spider hiding in the leaves of one of the plants, and spends a few minutes admiring it. Kyle explains that it isn’t venomous enough to hurt a person, and that it will work to keep pests out of their garden. Personally, Gary thinks it's kind of cute. 

The back door pushes open as Gary is admiring a little ladybug, which quickly opens its wings and flys away as the men approach. 

“Oh, darling, your hands!” Johnny gasps, taking Gary’s hands in his own and rubbing his thumbs over his cracked, dry knuckles. “Come inside, we can fix this.”

“We’re about done out here anyway.” Kyle says, brushing the dirt off of his hands and his clothes. “Why don’t we go inside and pick out some sheets and blankets for the cribs?”

Gary looks between Kyle and the three men waiting for him in the house, and he remembers what the man had said. That if he played along, if he behaved and did what they wanted, he could earn their trust and get out. 

“Ok.” He says, letting Johnny pull him to his feet. Simon drapes him in a too large jacket, and the two of them usher Gary inside. 

Price brings Kyle inside, fussing over his hands and scolding him for being outside in the cold. 

Simon and Johnny fuss over him much the same, holding his hands in much bigger, rougher ones. 

“Poor thing, you were out there for too long.” Johnny chides, rubbing lotion into his skin. His skin stings as the warmth is rubbed back into them, like pins and needles prickling him all over. “That’s ok, we can fix this.”

“There we go.” Simon croons, when he has been fussed over and poked at to their satisfaction.

Johnny slips a pair of gloves over his hands, a size too big for him but warm and soft enough that he doesn’t care. They had taken his shoes off, and replaced his socks with warmer, softer ones. Simon takes a stick of chapstick, carefully applying it to Gary’s lips to help with the cracks and dryness. Gary smacks his lips on command, and earns matching, beaming smiles from both of them. 

“Instead of looking at blankets, can I just take a shower?” Gary asks, still all bundled up in Simon’s jacket and what he thinks are Johnny’s gloves. “I got dirty in the garden.”

“Of course, darling, we can get you all cleaned up.” Simon assures him, scooping Gary’s legs out from under him. Gary thinks about protesting, insisting that he can bathe himself. He can, if he wants to. But how nice would it be to be held and cleaned, and cared for? And wouldn’t it make them trust him more? 

Simon and Johnny carry him up the stairs, and into the bathroom. Gary sits pretty and compliant on the side as they warm up the water, and bring clothes for him to change into. Then, Johnny is helping him into the tub, under the showerhead. The water is steaming hot, burning his skin at first until he becomes used to it. 

“Such a good boy.” Simon praises, as he carefully lays Gary back in the tub. “Doing so well for us, being so sweet.” 

Gary allows himself to be laid in the tub, lets them put their hands all over him. His skin tingles as their hands run over it, the plains of his stomach, his chest, then down to his legs. Johnny holds one hand over his eyes, and the other scoops water into his hair. He likes the way he feels when they touch his hair, like being petted and adored. 

Gary nearly purrs when Simon starts washing his hair, clinging to Johnny’s arm to keep himself from completely drifting into his own head. Johnny and Simon are talking to him - or, more like at him - but he can’t understand a word they’re saying. Everything is a muddled, fuzzy mess of pleasure and exhaustion.

Everything is so soft in his head, thoughts swirling around his skull like a lazy river instead of the usual whirlpool that torments him. For the first time in a long time, things aren’t racing forward, and he isn’t being forced into some decision he isn’t able to think about for too long. For once, everything is slow and he doesn’t have to worry about anything. 

When the bath is over, Simon pulls him out of the tub and Johnny shuts off the water. He stands still and lets the men towel him dry, and then he is bundled into someone else's warm clothes, and Johnny is brushing the hair out of his face. 

“Such a good boy for us.” Simon croons, guiding him out of the bathroom. The mirror has fogged up, and the air in the house is almost cold when he steps out. 

“Oh, he’s so far down.” Johnny coos, looking at him like he’s so precious to them. 

Everything they say sounds so far away, like he’s underwater. But he recognizes the tone they’re using; something sugary sweet that makes him smile. 

Price is waiting for them on the bed, all wrapped up in blankets and propped up on pillows. Gary is more than happy to just fall into his arms, to let Price wrap his arms around him and make everything ok again. Gary rests his head on Price’s chest, lets the man hold him against his heart and listens to it beat.

“He goes down hard and fast, doesn’t he?” Price muses, running his hands through Gary’s hair. Gary thinks they might be talking about him, but he struggles to make heads or tails of what they’re saying, or what it means. All that matters to him is that they’re using that syrupy voice with him again, the one that makes him smile and his heart flutter. 

“He’s perfect.” Simon sighs, and he sounds happy. They’re all happy about something. That must be good. 

“We should let him rest.” Price says, and then he is pulling a blanket over his shoulders. Gary grabs onto the neck of his shirt to have something to hold, and lets Price put his hand on the tiny bump on his stomach. 

It’s so easy to fall asleep in his arms, protected from everything around him. Everything in his head is quiet for once, and he is so warm and safe in Price’s arms.

Chapter Text

Weeks pass, blurred together in a warm, cozy haze of waking up sick in the mornings, being comforted throughout the day, and then using his last few hours for himself before being cradled to sleep by one of his pack members. Everything is so soft and warm and fuzzy in his head, not helped by how they talk to him in sweet syrupy voices, and never let him wake up enough to properly string two thoughts together. And, as the weeks pass, Gary’s stomach grows. 

He’s not so out of it that he doesn’t notice that he’s getting too big too fast. He’s only four weeks pregnant by now, but he looks like he’s already in his second trimester. It gets harder to walk with such a shift in his center of balance, and the men are delighted to have a reason to help him everywhere. And, while he always wakes up sick to his stomach in the mornings, by the time afternoon hits he is starving more than he has ever been in his life. The wolves croon endlessly about how he is “eating for two” and delight themselves by piling food onto his plate. 

Gary wakes in the morning slow and sluggish, as he has become used to. His stomach churns and his head is full of fog. But, he is cradled in Price’s arms, sitting in his lap with his cheek against Price’s chest, listening to his heart beat. 

“Good morning, sweetheart.” Price whispers, combing his fingers through Gary’s unkempt hair. It feels so nice, Gary can’t help but nuzzle into his touch. “Slept right through dinner yesterday, are you feeling well?” 

“No.” Gary pouts, shaking his head. Even that makes him more nauseous, and his head pounds with something uncomfortable, but not painful. “M’sick.”

“Don’t worry, Roach, we’ll take good care of you and the baby.” Price promises, pressing a kiss to the top of his head affectionately. Gary’s head is too cloudy to recognize that he is becoming dangerously dependent on them, that he shouldn’t be letting them treat him like this. 

There is a very fine line between earning their trust, and falling for everything they’re selling hook line and sinker, and Gary is dangerously close to teetering off the wrong side. 

But it’s so nice to be held in someone’s arms, to be taken care of when he feels sick, to know that, despite everything, someone is taking care of him. A small part of him tells himself that it’s only because of the baby, that once he’s given birth, they won’t have any reason to protect him. But that rational part of him is drowned out by the part of him that loves being adored, that wants so badly for someone to care for him. 

The pack had done well in choosing him; someone so vulnerable and alone that they would fall for anything. 

Price lets him sit in his lap for another half hour or so, before finally he has to get up. He is kind enough to carry Gary downstairs in his arms and lay him on the couch, tucking him in with plenty of blankets and pillows. Johnny is quick to lift Gary’s legs and sit where they had once been, setting Gary’s legs across his lap and resting one hand on Gary’s stomach to rub circles over it soothingly. 

“Let me know if you get hungry, darling.” Johnny croons, playing into Gary’s weakness towards soft words and sweet voices. “Anything I can do for you.”

Gary isn’t hungry or thirsty, but Johnny and Kyle pressure him into sipping some water to help his fever go down. Simon has capitalized the recliner, grabbing hold of Kyle as he was walking past and pulling him into his lap. Kyle had protested a little, arguing that he needed to finish cleaning up, but Simon had silenced him with kisses and hugs until the man stopped arguing and started cuddling up to him. 

It’s so sweet, seeing the two of them together. They both look so happy with each other, so happy to be in each other's arms. So happy, so enamoured with each other. And for the first time since he arrived here, he’s jealous. They look so perfect together, like nothing could ever make them unhappy. Like something straight out of a fairytale. 

Kyle's words come back to him; he could have this if he behaves. They would trust him, they would adore him just like that. And maybe, just maybe, it would last longer than the pregnancy, they would love him for him, not for the baby. 

He shouldn’t want that. He knows he shouldn’t. It’s exactly the sort of thing they are preying on, the sort of weakness they want to exploit. They chose a good victim in him. 

The morning is peaceful. Outside, it’s drizzling rain from overcast skies, and the windows are fogged from the cold outside, and the heat inside. Price had left sometime while Gary was half asleep, and he had watched with half closed eyes as Kyle had waddled over to try and stand by the door for him, only to be scolded and returned to Simon’s lap. 

Price had promised that he would be back quickly, he just needed to gather some firewood and put it somewhere to keep it dry. And, despite everything, Gary finds himself missing the man. He misses the warmth of the man’s big strong arms, the way he talked so sweetly to Gary, everything he had sworn to himself that he would hate. 

Oh, he is so hopeless. 

Johnny makes him tea, something fragrant and warm. Personally, Gary had never much cared for tea before, but it seems his tastes are changing. Kyle’s tastes seemed to have changed as well, as now he can’t stand the taste of tea, and the pack has started warming milk for him on the stove and sweetening it with a bit of sugar, or sometimes honey. Kyle is getting bigger as well, and just like Gary, he is waking up more and more tired every day. 

At some point, while Gary is caught between sleep and the waking world, Johnny, Simon, and Price all go out hunting. They have caught the scent of something on the wind, and with the snow covering the ground game is scarce. Gary watches them through half lidded eyes as the three men gather around the door, observing as they fuss over each other before finally shifting, and running off into the woods. 

He sleeps for some time after that, wrapped up in a warm blanket on the couch as the hours pass him by, nausea slowly subsiding until finally, he feels well enough to eat. 

Kyle brings him a plate of food from the kitchen, taking the opportunity to crawl under the blanket beside them. The two of them are shoulder to shoulder, legs tangled together under the blankets. It’s warm and cozy, and Gary can’t help but lean into the man’s touch. 

“Did you sleep well, luv?” Gaz asks, wrapping his arm around Gary’s shoulder and pulling him in close. 

Gary nods, letting Kyle snuggle up to him. It’s so nice to be held. He lets Kyle lean against him, taking up more and more of his space - only to hiss in pain as the man’s hand brushes against his chest. His breasts had been getting heavier and more tender as his stomach grew bigger. 

“Are they bothering you?” Kyle asks, pouting as he runs his hands over the soft, sensitive flesh. His fingers are so gentle with him, it doesn’t even hurt. 

“They’ve been getting bigger.” Gary frowns, trying his best not to meet the other man’s eyes. Blush tinges his cheeks, embarrassment burning beneath his skin. “They hurt sometimes, and it’s hard to sleep with them. I know it’s part of the pregnancy, but…”

“But you don’t know what to do about it.” Kyle finishes for him, and Gary finally musters up the courage to meet his eyes. Kyle looks so confident about himself all the time, like he has seen everything there is to see, and done everything there is to do. Does anything phase him anymore? Gary hopes to be that confident one day. “Don’t worry, Roach, I've been there before. I can help you, if you’d like.”

Gary hesitates, staring up at the man. Kyle is leaning in closer, their faces mere inches apart, his skin warmed by Gaz’s breath. The cabin is empty except for the two of them, and something is brewing in the air between them. He probably shouldn’t fan the little spark forming between them. Gary is in a bad situation already, as it is. He shouldn’t make his position any worse than it already is. 

But Kyle’s hands are crawling up his stomach under his shirt, and when they cup his chest, the weight is lifted off of his sore flesh and the aching subsides. 

The same tenderness that made his shirt uncomfortable, and his chest hurt, now make his skin tingle wherever Kyle touches. His hands are so warm against Gary’s flesh, chasing off the last bit of chill from the winter outside. Gary relaxes beneath Kyle’s touch, belly up and pliant beneath him. 

The two of them are mere inches apart from each other, at some point Kyle had leaned all the way over him, and now Gary is laying on his back staring up at him. The air between them is electric, and suddenly the room is unbearably hot. 

Slowly, Kyle’s hands trail down his stomach, over the huge baby bump between them, settling in the divots of his hips. For a second, neither of them even breathes. Gary is lost in the endless expanse of Kyle’s honey brown eyes. He is captivated by just how pretty the man is; soft, plush lips, strong jawline and cheeks, the small beard and mustache clinging to his jaw.

Kyle finally bridges the gap between them, leaning down and pressing their lips together. Gary opens his mouth obediently, letting Kyle’s tongue slip inside, running over his teeth. The taste of Gaz is intoxicating, and when Gary groans into his mouth, he can feel the way it reverberates through the man’s flesh. 

Gary’s hands find the man’s chest, Kyle is in the same situation as he is. The two of them make quite a pair, heavy with pregnant bellies, and tits full of milk for when they come. 

Kyle’s hands sink lower, curling in the coarse hair between Gary’s legs, teasing at the edge of his cunt, not yet dipping in. Heat is pooling between his legs, slick drooling onto his thighs. He wants nothing more than for Kyle’s soft, gentle hands on his body.

Gary groans, begging the man for his touch without words. His lungs ache for oxygen but he doesn’t want to end the kiss. He wishes that Kyle could breathe for them both. Gary whines when Kyle pulls apart from him, chasing after his lips like he could bring them back together even as he gasps for air. A single line of spit links the two of them, before it snaps and lands on Gary’s lips, quickly lapped up by his greedy tongue. 

Finally, Kyle’s fingers push into the burning hot space between his legs, petting over his clit. Kyle’s fingers are instantly soaked in slick, making everything so much easier. His pubes are soaked, and there’s a mess forming on his thighs. Pleasure pools in his gut, warm and sweet, everything he had wanted. 

Deft fingers circle over his clit, pressing down on the little bud, pulling on the hood to make Gary keen. Gary is rocking his hips into the other man’s touch, grinding his clit against Kyle’s fingers. 

“Greedy, aren’t you Roach?” Kyle chuckles, grinning down at him like a Cheshire cat. A shiver runs down Gary’s spine. 

Kyle’s hands slide over his clit one last time, further and further until they sink into Gary’s aching cunt. He can’t hold his groan, walls clenching around Kyle’s fingers desperately. The pleasure is so intense, almost overwhelming. And then, Gaz curls his fingers. He swears his heart skips a beat and his eyes flutter. 

Again, Kyle’s fingers curl, and Gary arches his back. It feels so intense, like nothing he’s ever done before. He’s panting, gasping for breath as Kyle works his magic inside of him. He presses his fingers into Gary’s G-spot, making his toes curl. He moans loudly into the silence of the room, drowning out the sound of his own pouting, and the squelching noises as Kyle pumps his fingers in and out of his greedy cunt. 

All at once, an orgasm washes over him, drowning out all of his senses in blinding white pleasure. He clenches his fists, mouth falling slack as the final wave of pleasure courses through his body.

Gary looks up at Kyle through half lidded eyes, a faint smile on his face. Kyle is smiling down at him as well, like he is the most precious thing in the entire world to him. 

Chapter Text

When the wolves return from hunting, it’s like nothing had ever happened. Kyle and Gary had climbed into the shower together, scrubbed the smell of sex off their skin together, and then wrapped themselves in clean clothes. Then Kyle fed him, warming up leftovers for them both. They eat side by side, and by the time Price, Johnny, and Simon are back home they are sitting over the table, pouring over a puzzle. 

“Have fun without us?” Price asks as he strides through the door, a cold draft coming in with him. A few snowflakes flutter through the door with him, pushed in with the small bit of wind outside. 

“Just a bit.” Kyle winks, a coy smile spreading across his face. 

The door slams shut behind Simon, cutting off the flow of cold air streaming into the house. The last few snowflakes fall to the floor, melting against the wood. The three of them stand in the doorway, shaking off the snow, and warming up from the cold. Johnny has a rabbit clutched in his hand, and outside Gary can see that a large elk has been dragged into their yard, staining the snow red. 

“Haven’t gotten into any trouble, have you?” Simon grunts lightheartedly, as he steps into the room. The second his hand lands on Kyle’s shoulder, the man is leaning into his touch and looking up at him with big, wide eyes. 

“None.” Kyle promises, batting his eyes at him innocently. Simon obliges and pets through his hair, pressing a kiss to his head. 

“You feel better, Roach?” Price asks, shuffling Johnny over to the sink to leave the thawing rabbit. “We can pick some medicine up for you in town, if you want.”

“I’m alright.” Gary says, frowning down at the puzzle. Price leans over his shoulder, picking up one of the pieces and placing it perfectly in its spot. Gary frowns. 

“If you change your mind, let us know.” Price tells him, patting him on the back before he leaves. 

Price and Johnny break the rabbit down, letting the blood run down the sink. They keep the pelt, and set aside all the good meat for Kyle and Gary, splitting the undesirable meat among themselves. 

Then, it’s time for them to start making dinner. The puzzle is abandoned, and Gary and Kyle start working on something for them to eat. The two of them work in tandem over the stove, pots boiling, pans sizzling. They use the vegetables from the garden that they had picked together, lovingly cared for by Kyle’s hand. 

The kitchen fills with the smell of cooking vegetables, Gary has been put in charge of cooking peppers and onions over the stove, Kyle peeping over his shoulder from time to time to check what he is doing. 

“You’re doing good, Luv!” Kyle praises, reaching around him to stir the vegetables around in the pan.  He pokes them a few times, before deciding they are cooked enough and dumping the meat into the pan with them. “Wait until these brown, and then take them off the heat.” 

Gary nods, taking the spoon from him and stirring them up. He isn’t sure exactly what they are making, but there are potatoes being boiled beside him, and Simon is whisking up something beside them, and it all smells good. None of it makes him feel like he is going to vomit.

Price is setting the table behind them, humming some tune to himself as he works. And Johnny is busying himself with drinks, mixing orange juice and something that fizzles just out of Gary’s eyesight. 

It all comes together wonderfully; Gary takes the meat and vegetables off the heat, and Simon takes the liquid from the pan and makes it into gravy. The potatoes are mashed with butter and salt, and Johnny sets out five glasses of orange juice and sprite mixed together. 

They are all shepherded to the table, Kyle and Gary have their chairs pulled out for them. He waits patiently for his food to be put on his plate, letting Price pepper kisses all over his face. His cheeks turn pink from blush, creeping down his neck and chest. He has come to adore the feeling of Price’s lips against his skin. 

“How would you feel about going out tomorrow?” Price asks, when he finally has served everyone, and started eating himself. Gary perks up at the mention. “We feel so bad with you being cooped up in here all day.” 

“It’s snowing outside!” Kyle protests, shooting a glare out the window as if the weather had personally offended him. Outside, the snow is melting against the windows, forming ice at the sides of the house beneath them. 

“We would make sure you were warm!” Johnny assures, bridging the small gap between them to soothe Kyle. “Make sure you’re bundled up, gloves and all!” 

“It would be nice to go for a little walk.” Gary chimes in, and suddenly everyone is staring at him. 

“Now, Roach…” Price trails off, mulling over how to speak to him. 

“We would be there with you.” Simon adds carefully, giving him a knowing look. 

“I’m not going anywhere fast.” Gary points out, cutting them off. “I won’t run away. But i’d like out of the house. Just for a little bit.”

The four of them share a glance, speaking without talking, a conversation in a language that Gary is slowly starting to learn. He can read apprehension on Johnny’s face, conflict on Simon’s, and worry on Price’s. Kyle is facing away from him. 

“Well, we will all be there…” Price says, glancing at all of his co-conspirators before finally nodding. “We won’t go far, but it will be nice for you to get out of the cabin.”

Gary can’t help but be grateful. It isn’t right, he knows. They aren’t really being kind to him if they are the reason he’s been so cooped up. But it feels like a kindness, like they are being so sweet to him. And god, he wants to get out of the house so bad.

They eat together, and then the three wolves collect their plates. Within minutes, the table is clean, and Gary and Kyle are being shepherded into the bedroom again. That night, they lay curled up between Johnny and Simon, Price resting above all three of them, standing guard over them as they sleep.

In the morning, Gary wakes before anyone else. His stomach is churning, and he feels like he might hurl. But he is so comfortable, squished between Kyle and Johnny, kept warm by their bodies and safe in their arms. 

Outside, the snow is still falling, blanketing the entire world in pristine white. The windows are foggy, condensation dripping down to the ground below. At some point during the night, Gary had thrown the blankets off of him, and Kyle had grabbed it up and was cuddling it to his chest. 

Gary pulls his head off of Johnny’s chest, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. None of the other men have woken up, yet, and he has the entire cabin to himself. It’s easy to pull himself from their arms, snagging a blanket to wear around his shoulders while he shuffles into the kitchen. 

He isn’t allowed to have coffee, but some time ago Simon had brought home hot cocoa for them when the weather had turned even colder. As quietly as he can, Gary makes himself a mug, with milk instead of water, and marshmallows from in town. 

With his treat in hand, Gary positions himself beside the window on the couch, looking out into the woods. There are birds fluttering among the trees, singing to each other and pecking at the ground and the wood. He spots a few cardinals in the woods, hopping on the branches, showing off their vibrant colors. Cardinals are pretty, but Gary prefers blue jays. 

The sun is just rising above the horizon, painting the sky brilliant reds and oranges. The snow sparkles in the dawning light, and the whole world seems to wake up with it. It’s gorgeous. 

“What are you doing?” Simon asks, stepping out of the bedroom. Behind him, the other three are waking up as well, untangling themselves from the blankets and each other. 

“Watching the birds.” Gary answers, pointing out the window. More are gathering in the trees as the morning stretches on, joining the choir of birds already there. “And I got hot chocolate.”

“See anything interesting?” 

“Cardinals, mostly. A red-winged blackbird.”

Simon nods, peering out the window behind him. The birds continue on, unaware of the wolves and men watching them. 

The other three men stumble out into the room with them, Johnny beelining for the coffee machine, and Kyle being shepherded to the kitchen table. Price warms up leftovers for them, and Gary finds himself in a chair as well, with a can of ginger ale in his hand. 

With enough encouragement, Gary is able to eat his food without throwing up. He remembers Price offering to bring him something to settle his stomach in the mornings, and mulls it over in his head. He never liked pills. 

When breakfast is over, Simon does the dishes, and Price and Johnny eagerly bundle Gaz and Gary up for their walk. 

Johnny layers Gary up in clothes that would once be two sizes too big, but now struggle to contain his pregnant belly. Soap struggles with the buttons, trying to force the jacket to close around his body. Finally, he pushes the buttons through the holes, securing it tightly around him. Too tightly. 

“Is this going to be ok for the baby?” Gary asks, thumbing over the buttons. What if it squishes it? What if it’s too tight and something bad happens to the baby?

“It’s just a jacket, it will be ok.” Johnny assures him, wrapping a scarf around his neck, creeping higher and higher over his face until it stops just below his eyes. Then, he tops it off with a thick, fur lined hat, leaving only his eyes exposed. 

Johnny pulls a pair of gloves over his hands, and Gary starts to panic. The gloves, the jacket, what if something happens to the baby and he can’t feel it? Heart hammering, Gary lays his hands on his stomach, desperately hoping for any sign of life. 

Seconds tick by with nothing. No movement from inside him, no sign that his baby is still there. His heart pounds, and his skin burns with fear. Oh no. This can’t be happening. Not after everything they went through together! 

Then, finally, a small little kick from beneath all the layers. As if to tell him that it’s ok, that everything is alright. All of the panic fades away, replaced by pure relief that his baby is ok. They’re still together. 

Everything is alright. 

Both he and Gaz are bundled up tightly in winter clothes, and Simon has made them both canteens full of warm hot chocolate, replacing Gary’s which has by now gone cold. 

“Are we ready to go?” Price asks, standing by the door. Gary has never been more ready for anything in his life.

“Well…I suppose I will be warm enough.” Kyle sighs, tucking his hands in the pocket of his jacket. The zipper unzips a little at the top, and Price is quick to tug it back up and pull Kyle’s scarf over the gap that had formed. 

“Maybe we should get them ear muffs.” Simon muses, frowning at them and reaching over to tug Gary’s hat down further over his ears. 

Price opens the door, and a gust of cold air washes over them. Gary can barely feel it under all the layers, but his baby kicks its little foot again, as if it’s interested in what is happening. For the entire time that Gary has been pregnant, he’s been warm and comfortable in the cabin. This might be the very first time the baby has felt the cold. That is, if it can feel anything that Gary is feeling. 

Gary waddles out onto the porch, and holds Johnny’s hand as he carefully walks down the steps and finally plants his foot firmly in the snow. The thick layers of clothing make his movements awkward and clumsy, but Gary is determined. 

Every step he takes kicks up snow along with him, and his lungs ache from the cold air. Johnny keeps up with him easily, hovering over him in case he tries to run. But even walking makes him gasp for air. He isn’t running anywhere. 

He lifts his foot to take a step, arms outstretched to keep his balance. But it is all for naught, as he wobbles on one foot, before promptly falling sideways right into the ground. The snow, and all of the layers protect him from the fall, and he is left staring up at the sky as snowflakes land on his face. 

“Are you ok!?” Johnny gasps, rushing to rescue him. But Gary is giggling already, letting the snow fall over himself like he might be buried in it. 

“I’m alright.” He assures the man, grinning up at him. It shouldn’t be as funny as it is, but Gary finds it hilarious. 

They both watch as Kyle waddles up to them, struggling against his heavy clothing to make it over to them. Then, without warning, he flops into the snow next to Gary with a “whumf”, laughing to himself. 

The two of them make snow angels together as best they can. The jackets make it hard and awkward, and by the end of it his legs and arms burn with exhaustion, but it was fun. 

They have to get the other’s help to get up. One by one, Johnny pulls them to their feet, and they stand and let the three wolves fuss over them and brush the snow off their jackets. 

“Are you tired?” Price asks, tightening Gary’s scarf around his face. “Should we go inside?”

“I want to stay outside!” Gary protests, looking to Kyle for support. The man is already nodding along with him eagerly. 

The three wolves look at each other, speaking with glances and expressions, before Price finally nods. Grinning from ear to ear, Gaz and Gary rush off into the snow again, with the three wolves chasing after them.

Chapter Text

Gary crawls along the ground, pressing his body into the snow to camouflage himself. The cold is barely able to penetrate through all the layers he’s bundled into. His gloves are soaked through, and his fingers prickle with the first bits of cold. Soon, his fingers will turn numb from it. 

Across the clearing, Gary spots Johnny’s telltale mohawk peeking over the edge of a fallen log, collecting snowflakes in his hair. Gary stops, ducking behind a snowdrift for cover. Johnny won’t escape him now. 

Carefully, and quietly as he can, he grabs a fistful of snow, packing it tightly in his palms until it forms a ball. Then, he waits. 

It takes a few seconds for Johnny to poke his head out from behind his cover, but the second he does Gary hurls his snowball at him, nailing him right in the face. Johnny yelps, falling over back into the snow and scrambling for cover. 

Gary snickers to himself, only to be immediately hit by a snowball from behind. He whirls around, scooping up snow in his fist and flinging it at Gaz, who is creeping up behind him. 

“Traitor!” Gary hisses, grabbing more snow and tossing it at Kyle. But they are both laughing. 

Kyle manages to hit him again, snow creeping under Gary’s scarf and melting against his cheeks. Kyle quickly bridges the gap between them, taking cover between the same snowdrift as him. 

“I saw Ghost over that way.” Kyle tells him, pointing across the field, to the right of poor Johnny. There’s an evil grin on his face, a feeling of mischief that is contagious. 

The next thing he knows, Gary and Kyle are both crawling through the no-man’s land of the yard, ducking behind bushes, snowdrifts, and other underbrush from the forest. They take turns one by one; first, Gary will crawl across the stretch from one cover to the other, while Kyle covers him by pelting Johnny with snow whenever he tries to poke his head out and throw snowballs at Gary. Then, when he has reached the safety of his cover, he will take up the role of protector and thwart Johnny whenever he tries to get a shot in. 

Finally, Simon is in sight. And he isn’t getting away without being hit by at least a dozen snowballs. Johnny is behind them, so Kyle makes sure to watch his flank, armed and ready for when Johnny is ready to try again. 

Gary, on the other hand, spends his time packing the snow in his hands, waiting for the man to look over the edge of the bush he is looking over so that he can get him. Gary doesn’t have to wait long, as Simon quickly pops his head over the bush and Gary flings his snowball as fast as he can. 

The ball explodes into a flurry of snow when it collides with Simon’s face, and the man falls backwards into the snow with a soft thump. Gary pumps his fist triumphantly, cackling to himself as he watches Simon wiping the snow off of his face, cheeks turning red with the cold. 

Gary only gets a few seconds of gloating before two hands wrap around him, lifting him off of the ground and onto his feet. 

“That’s enough of that for the two of you.” Price chides, reaching down to pull Kyle to his feet as well. When he spots how much snow had made it behind Gary’s scarf, he scoffs, brushing it away. “You’re going to catch a cold. Or pneumonia.”

“Really?” Kyle pouts, trying to guilt his way into more time outside, but Price isn’t having any of it. 

“Really.” He affirms, dragging them both back to the house. 

Gary was getting tired, anyway, but it's a bit disappointing to have to head inside right after they had perfectly cornered both men. Kyle is pouting a little as they are ushered inside. Johnny and Simon are forced inside along with them, earning a glare from Price. 

Their empty canteens are still resting on the porch, they had finished them before they decided to start their little war, at about the same time Price decided he needed to check in on the laundry and dishes inside. 

“Your gloves are soaked through!” Price gasps, tugging off their gloves and cupping their hands in his own, blowing hot air on them to warm them. Pins and needles prickle as the warmth returns to them, and his joints are stiff from the cold. “You two go sit. We will warm you up.”

With that, both of them are herded over to the living room, and Price makes sure they are bundled under all the blankets in the house. And though the returning warmth makes his skin prickle in pain, and he’s exhausted and breathless from the fight, he had fun. 

Price, Johnny, and Simon all end up on the second floor, folding the laundry and picking out the best sheets and blankets for the cribs. They had sorted through the stuffed animals a few nights ago, and now those were being cleaned with gentle soaps for the babies. It will be awhile before any of the men venture back down, given that nothing happens. 

“What are you going to name your baby?” Gary asks, panting as he struggles to catch his breath. His hands are resting on his bump, and beneath his palms he feels the baby moving inside of him. 

“Well, if it’s a boy, I’m thinking of Arthur.” Kyle tells him, leaning back in his seat. His own hands are resting on his stomach as well, probably for the same reason. “But, if it’s a girl, I’ve thought about Alana or Dahlia. You?” 

“Dahlia is nice.” Gary smiles, and the two of them inch closer towards each other under the blankets. “I thought about Lark. Maybe Margaret.” 

The two of them fall into comfortable silence, looking up at the ceiling above them. Faintly, he can hear the sounds of the men above them talking about something he can’t quite make out. It isn’t so bad being here, with them. It’s not the worst thing in the world.

Chapter Text

A week later, Gary is sitting over the washing machine with Kyle, so full he feels like he might burst. He’s ended up bigger than Kyle by a few inches, barely fitting into his clothes anymore. He had taken to wearing some of Price’s button ups, not even bothering to button up the lower half of it. 

The two of them are folding laundry together, setting it out on the table for the boys to collect when they are done cleaning the floors downstairs. It’s stopped snowing for once, and the birds are out in full force, singing and playing in the branches of the trees. 

“Weather channel says it’s going to be clear all week.” Kyle comments, idly. He’s got a big smile on his face, despite the fact that all his plants are covered in snow, and he has been banned from working on it at all until the weather warms up. 

“Maybe we’ll get to go outside again, if we aren’t grounded forever.” Gary chuckles, as he pulls out more clothes from the dryer. Simon’s shirts, by the looks of it. He’s gotten used to them enough to tell their laundry apart. 

“I had fun with you, you know.” Kyle sighs, shaking his head at the memory of them together. “We make a good team.”

“The wolves never stood a chance.” Gary laughs, tossing the loose socks that had formed a pile in the corner of the room into the hamper. He’ll have to take them downstairs and make the pack sort them out, they all look identical to him. 

“I’m going downstairs to check on those three.” Kyle tells him, standing up slowly. His knees pop loudly, and he pauses to stretch before he finally starts down the stairs. 

“Right behind you.” Gary calls out after him, collecting the last few socks from where they’ve hidden themselves. He tosses them on top of the stack, and then uses the wall beside him to pull himself to his feet. 

He sways back and forth for a second, leaning against the wall for support. Pins and needles prickle at his feet as the blood returns to them, and he waits a second to regain the feeling in his legs, and his balance, before he finally follows after Kyle. 

He’s barely a few steps down the stairs, with the hamper held at his hip and his hand on the railing, when he hears a splashing sound, and seconds later the feeling of wet clothing sticking to his thighs makes itself known. 

Instantly, shame floods him, burning his cheeks pink in blush that creeps beneath his collar. 

“What was that?” Simon demands, rushing to the bottom of the stairs. His eyes narrow in on the puddle steadily leaking down the stairs, only furthering Gary’s shame. 

“I- I had an accident.” Gary stammers, trying to hide behind the hamper. Of course, with a stomach so big he should have known that this would happen. It’s a miracle that it hadn’t happened sooner. 

“That doesn’t smell like piss to me.” Simon argues, rushing up the stairs towards him. Ghost yanks the hamper out of his hands, tossing it haphazardly down the stairs not caring when everything inside falls out and onto the floor. “Lets go sit down.” 

It is not a suggestion, Simon practically drags him down the rest of the stairs, past the puddle dripping down the steps and into the living room. Except, instead of letting him sit on the couch, he forces Gary to sit on some blankets he’s laid out on the floor. 

Panic begins to set in. There’s nothing wrong with him, right? He doesn’t feel sick, he feels fine. He would notice if something happened to him and the baby, right?

The laundry, and any pretense of cleaning the floors, have all been abandoned as all three men rush to crowd around him. The towels they had just folded together are now sitting on the still damp floor, collecting the soapy water in them. They will have to be put through the wash again. 

The first wave of pain hits him, running through his body from his very core, and his heart stops. Something is wrong with the baby. 

Gary reaches out, grabbing Simon’s arm so tightly his knuckles turn white, it must hurt. His eyes are wide in horror, and when he opens his mouth no sound comes out. Something is wrong , with the baby, with him, he doesn’t know what it is but they have to fix it. 

“It’s alright.” Price soothes, running his hand though Gary’s hair soothingly. Gary’s breath is stuck in his throat, heart hammering against his ribs like it wants to escape the cage of his ribs. 

“Something is wrong. It hurts.” He manages to squeak out around the lump in his throat. After all of this, after everything they went through together, he is not losing this baby. He fought so hard he is not going to just give up now. 

“It’s ok, nothing is wrong.” Kyle soothes, taking him by the cheeks and guiding him to face him, not allowing him to look as Simon tugs his pants down and tosses them out of the way. His boxers go next, tossed away haphazardly. 

“B-but the baby-” He stammers, trying to pull his face from Kyle’s hands to look between his legs. There must be blood between his legs with that much pain, surely. Is he having a miscarriage ? No, surely not. Not this late. Not when he has been so careful. 

But now, the thought has infected his mind, tainting his every thought with its corruption. Oh god, what if he loses the baby? What if, after everything, after learning to love his baby, he loses it? He can’t! He can’t lose this baby! All the time he had spent hating it, and now he is sobbing because he might lose it. 

“The baby is ok.” Simon assures him, and Gary visibly slumps with relief. “But it’s coming out right now.” 

“But it’s so early !” Gary protests, choking on sobs. It’s so early, not even six months yet. How will his baby ever survive?

“No, no this is just the right time for them.” Kyle assures him, wiping the tears away from his cheeks. “Remember, they aren’t human children. It’s going to be a little different, ok?” 

“OK.” Gary says, sniffling. He needs to believe Kyle. If he just believes enough, if he just has enough faith, his baby will come out alright. It has to. 

Another, more intense wave of pain washes over him, like he is being ripped in half between his legs, pain like he has never felt before. But Kyle and Johnny stay by his side. Johnny and Price have swapped places at some point while he wasn’t paying attention. They croon over him, and coo at him that everything is going to be ok, while Simon and Price kneel between his legs. 

“The baby is eager to come out!” Price announces, propping Gary’s legs wider. His heart nearly skips a beat, and he forces himself to swallow his fear. Everything is going to be ok, it has to be. 

The minutes tick by, and the spaces between contractions become shorter and shorter. His heart hammers in his chest like a pounding drum, adrenaline flooding his veins. Stress isn’t good for the baby, it had been drilled into his head since he first started showing. But now the baby is coming out, and none of his usual methods of calming down are working. 

Johnny brings him ice to clutch in his fists to drown the pain of contractions, but the cold is a drop compared to the ocean of discomfort that comes with each contraction, and the ice melts too fast. 

Tears stream down his face as Price and Simon watch the baby inside of him, traveling further and further until Gary is sure that he will never walk the same again. Surely, his body will never recover from this! But it doesn’t matter. As long as his baby is ok, he will bear any scar or injury. 

The pain is almost unbearable now, but Gary grits his teeth and squeezes Johnny’s hand until he feels like it might break. He has to do this. He has to bear this so that his baby will be ok. Anything for his baby. 

With one last grunt, and a wave of pain that makes him feel like he is dying, he feels something slide out of him. His breath catches in his throat. Shouldn’t it make some sound? Shouldn’t it cry, or scream? 

Price is holding the baby in his hands, and god, it’s so small and red. Its skin is so bright, and it has hair, vibrant red hair just like his own. The baby is dwarfed by Price’s huge hands, almost engulfed by them. He cradles her so gently, looking down at her, crying. 

Gary’s heart has stopped in his chest, he cannot move, cannot even breathe. And then, all at once, the baby starts crying. 

Time finally resumes as he lets out his breath, tears streaming down his face. His baby is ok. Everything is ok. The pain doesn’t matter anymore, the fact that he is sitting in the living room, naked from the waist down, doesn’t matter. All that matters to him is the fact that his baby is ok. 

“You did so good.” Kyle soothes, pressing kisses all over his face. He must look like a terrible mess right now, but neither of them seem to mind. 

Simon rushes to the kitchen to grab the scissors and a clothing clip, and Gary watches with wide eyes as he cuts the cord, and clips it off. The baby is still crying, waving its little arms around in distress. 

“She’s a girl.” Price tells him, bursting with pride as he carefully puts their little baby in his arms. 

She weighs next to nothing, his arms practically swallow her whole. But when she spots him, she stops crying, staring up at him with brand new eyes, reaching towards his face with arms that are too short to reach. 

She’s perfect . 

“What is her name going to be, my love?” Johnny asks, looking down at her like she is his entire world. Somehow, he knows she will be so well taken care of. 

“Margaret.” He declares, holding her up a bit so that everyone can see her. She is so beautiful and so perfect, with curly red hair and a little button nose. “And you aren’t allowed to call her marg, or maggie, or peggy, we have to call her Magpie.”

“Of course.” Kyle promises, nodding along fervently. “Anything you want to call her.”

“Lets get you off the floor, darling.” Price urges, and Simon holds his arms out for the baby. 

He doesn’t want to hand over his baby right after giving birth. He wants to hold Margaret in his arms for days, until he can’t hold his arms up anymore. But he knows he can’t do that, so he places his little Magpie in Simon’s arms as carefully as he can, watching the man cradle her to his chest. Yes, they will take such good care of his baby. 

Price helps him to his feet, and then sweeps them out from under him to carry him the few feet into the bedroom. The rest of the pack scramble to set up the bed for him, arranging the blankets around him like a nest, and propping up the pillows for him to sit up on them.

Price sets him down so gently, tucking the blankets around him, and making sure that he is comfortable. The moment he is settled, Simon is setting the baby back in his arms, and she is grabbing at his shirt eagerly. 

Tears well in his eyes as he looks down at his precious, perfect child. How could he have ever hated something so small and innocent? She never did anything wrong. He will never, ever let her feel like he doesn’t love her. 

Someone brings him water, and pain pills to drown the aching between his legs. Towels are placed under him to catch the leftover bleeding as the last of the debris is cleared from him. The entire pack rallies around him to make sure that he is ok after the birth, but Gary only has eyes for his Magpie.

Chapter Text

Gary sits in bed all night, cradling his baby in his arms. She’s scrunched herself up so small, pressing her face to his chest. At some point, he had unbuttoned the top of his shirt to let her rest against his skin. She had stopped crying after a half hour of being rocked and coo’d at, and then had promptly fallen asleep in his arms. She’ll be hungry soon. 

Kyle is next to him in bed, leaning over his shoulder to watch her sleep. He has been running his hands through Gary’s hair for a while, now, soothing him almost to sleep. But Gary has to stay awake. What if the baby needs something?

“Do they always come out so small?” Gary whispers, afraid to speak any louder and wake his Magpie. “How could anything so tiny even survive?”

“All babies.” Kyle confirms, smiling at him so full of pride and adoration. “But you will take care of her, and she will get bigger.”

Gary looks down at Margaret again, frowning. She doesn’t look like she will ever get much bigger. Of course, logically he knows that she will. He knows that once, a long time ago, his own mother held him just like this, probably thought the same thing about him.

At that moment, Magpie opens her little eyes, looking around at both of the men leaning over her. Then, she opens her mouth and begins to wail. 

Gary sits bolt upright, eyes wide and panicked. He has to do something! But what does she want!? 

“She’s probably hungry.” Kyle explains, reaching for her and guiding her face against Gary’s chest. Gary watches as she latches onto him, and instantly goes silent as she gets what she wants. “There we go.”

“Thank you.” He whispers, tears in his eyes. He doesn’t know what he is doing, or how to take care of his baby. Without his pack, he would be helpless. But they are here for both of them, to help Gary take care of his baby and keep them both safe and happy.

Price returns to the room with blankets fresh from the dryer, carefully laying them over Gary’s legs to keep him warm. He’s careful not to disturb the baby as she nurses, huge hands that are meant for violence trying so hard to be gentle. 

“Do you need anything? Food, water, more blankets?” Price asks, fussing over his pillows. When Magpie sees her, she lets go of Gary’s chest to gawk at the man.

Magpie reaches out as far as she can, grabbing Price’s hand and dragging it over for her to inspect. Price is smiling down at her, letting her poke at his hand with her little fingers, and chew on him with a mouth with no teeth. 

“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing?” Price asks her, voice so syrupy sweet it’s almost sickening. Magpie looks up at him, smiling and cooing. 

Now that she’s been fed and given attention, she is in a great mood. 

“Why don’t we let Price hold her for a while, so you have time to rest?” Kyle suggests gently, a hand resting on his shoulder. 

Gary hesitates. Little Magpie has only been alive for half an hour, that feels like nothing. He wants to hold his baby forever, but he can’t. Kyle is right, he is tired. He needs his rest, what if he falls asleep and drops her? 

Begrudgingly, he hands over his little baby to Price. And even though he knows that Price will take such good care of him, even though he cradles her so gently and lovingly, it feels wrong. His arms feel empty without his baby in them, even though he’s only had her for such little time. 

Gary lays back in bed, letting Kyle tuck the blanket all the way up to his chin, and cuddle up to his side. That’s nice. Gary doesn’t think he can sleep on his own anymore. 

Price takes his baby upstairs, so that if she cries he won’t wake them up. But Magpie is giggling and waving her little arms at him excitedly, so happy that she is in his arms. She’s taken quite a liking to him, in the short time she has been alive. 

With the comfort of Kyle beside him, and the knowledge that his baby is safe in his pack’s arms, he is able to go to sleep easily. He knows that when he wakes up, the wolves will be waiting for him with his little baby safe and sound. 

He isn’t sure how long he sleeps, tucked into bed with Kyle by his side. He is woken by the sound of his baby crying, and three voices whispering frantically, trying to quiet her. 

“Shh, shh, it’s ok darling we will find you something to eat.” Johnny coos frantically, rocking her back and forth. No amount of soothing will placate Magpie, though, and she wails loudly. 

“We’re going to find your formula, don’t worry!” Simon whisper-yells, searching through the pantry with a panic stricken look in his face. In his haste, he knocks a can from the shelf and it clatters to the ground with a loud thud that makes everyone flinch. 

“Just bring her to me.” Gary yawns, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. However long he slept, it must have been enough, as he isn’t tired anymore. 

Johnny slinks up to him guilty, placing Magpie gently into his outstretched arms. He looks like a puppy caught chewing on something he isn’t allowed to have. 

“We’re sorry, we tried to keep her quiet.” Johnny whispers, grimacing as Magpie wails again. 

“It’s ok.” Gary sighs, tucking Magpie against his chest. Instantly, the wailing stops as she latches and begins to feed. “She’s just hungry. I don’t mind.”

“We have to go into town tomorrow.” Price sighs, and Kyle, Johnny, and Simon all go still. “The baby needs shots, and to see a doctor. And it will look suspicious if we come without her other parent.”

Gary understands what that means. It means that they are all going to town. That Gary will be alone with nurses and doctors as they check up on him and the baby. He could tell them everything, could be whisked away from this situation and returned to his apartment…

His apartment with no crib, no formula, no baby supplies. His life, where he has no one to support him and the baby. He has probably been fired from work by now, and his rent is automatic so his savings would be drained by that until someone reported him missing. He would have to find a new job, and send little Magpie to daycare away from him all day while he was out. 

That is, if he even gets to keep his baby. 

What if the court declares him unfit? What if they take his baby away and give her to someone else, and Gary never sees her again? It isn’t so bad here, is it? With his baby, everything the two of them need. The pack has been so kind and caring to them. Gary cares about them. And Magpie loves them, they are the only thing she had ever known in her short little life. They’re her family. 

“I won’t be a problem.” Gary assures them, holding his baby close to his chest. She has finished nursing, and is now scrunched up in his arms, struggling to stay awake. “I can’t risk losing her.”

“We will be with you the entire time.” Simon tells him, and it doesn’t sound like a threat. 

Even though he shouldn’t, Gary feels comforted by the words.

Chapter Text

Gary is filled with anxiety all day. It starts in the morning, waking up in his bed, surrounded by his pack with his baby in the crib upstairs for the night. She hadn’t settled into it well, wanting to be held by someone all night. But Simon and Kyle had spent hours promising him that it would be ok, she would learn that he would always come back for her. 

He sleeps fitfully, himself. His mind is racing with thoughts of going into town, being all alone with a stranger in the hospital, finally somewhere he can tell someone about what happened to him. And knowing that he has too much to lose if he does.  

The pack had truly chosen the perfect mate in him. 

Magpie wakes them up three times that night, crying and wailing because she needs something; first, she soils her diaper. Then she is hungry. After that, she needs to be rocked back and forth by Simon to fall back asleep, because she is tired but something has woken her up. Each time, one of the wolves goes to handle it, leaving him and Kyle to go back to sleep. 

Gary is already awake when the sun starts to rise, worrying the blanket between his fingers. His anxiety is obvious. As is becoming a habit now, Gary is awake before anyone else. There is a thick layer of snow covering the ground outside. Half of Gary is tempted to get up and pace around the cabin, damn how much it hurts. But, of course, that isn’t a good idea. And he knows he will regret it the second he is up. 

So he waits. It's excruciating, having to sit there and wait for someone else to wake up with him. He isn’t so desperate that he would lean over and wake one of them up - it’s far too early to wake up poor Kyle, and if anyone else woke up, they would disturb his sleep - but he counts down every second until, finally, they begin to wake.

Simon opens his eyes first, yawning so wide his jaw pops and stretching his arm. That is enough to stir the rest of them from their slumber.  That, finally, starts their day. Gary waits as patiently as he can for the men to get up and out of bed, stretching their limbs and shuffling through the house. 

Johnny stays with him, while Simon, Kyle, and Price venture into the kitchen, the two wolves pouring canteens of coffee for everyone but Kyle. For him, they mix another mocktail of sprite and orange juice. 

Price puts himself to work packing them lunches; sandwiches, sliced fruits and vegetables, and some chips. Simon ushers them into clean clothes and fusses over Kyle’s shirt for a few minutes, smoothing out the wrinkles and making sure his jacket fits him correctly. 

Johnny helps him into warm clothes, bundling him up nice and warm so that the cold cannot reach him for the brief few seconds he’s out in the snow. Gary watches them rushing around the house, so eager to be in the hospital, to make sure he and the baby are ok. Personally, he is far too nervous to be excited. 

Simon brings Magpie down from the nursery when she wakes again, roused from her sleep by the sounds of them downstairs. She stops crying the second she is in his arms, as far as Gary can tell, and by the time she is at the bottom of the stairs, she is giggling. 

They bundle her up in one of the hand made onesies from her closet, and wrap her up in blankets so thick she is dwarfed by them, before she finally makes it into his arms. 

“Just for a few minutes.” Simon warns him, carefully setting her in his arms. “We just need to get her carseat ready.”

Gary holds his darling Magpie to his chest and they both watch as Price and Simon pull a disassembled car seat out of the closet, and struggle to get it put together. He can’t help but laugh quietly to himself as the men puzzle over how to put the pieces together, and fight with them to get them into place. 

Of course, Gary probably wouldn’t fare much better himself, but it’s fun to watch them struggle. And, when Gary laughs, Magpie laughs along with him. 

When the car seat is finally put together, Price takes Magpie from his arms and situates her into it, buckling her in and adjusting the straps until, finally, they are happy with how secure she is. 

Magpie is no longer laughing. Now, she is staring up at them wide eyed and slack jawed in wonder. It’s so extraordinary to him that she is witnessing everything for the first time in her entire life. She’s never seen any of this before, never felt the cold, never been in a car. A hundred little things that Gary has always taken for granted are brand new exciting experiences for her. 

“Alright, i’ll carry her to the end of the driveway.” Simon says, bending down to take the seat by its handle. 

“I want to carry her!” Johnny protests, giving Gary his saddest eyes. “You can carry Gary. I’ve barely been able to spend time with our baby.”

“Alright.” Simon relents, though he doesn’t seem too upset about it. He seems more happy to be able to carry Gary, than anything. 

Roach sits patiently as Simon carefully scoops him up, making sure that he is comfortable and that nothing hurts. Price packs away a few bottles of pain medicine, and then they are off. 

He has never been down the driveway before. He’s only been around the back of the house, or in the front when they had played in the snow. Gary keeps his eyes peeled as they slog their way through the snow, down the winding path. They are lucky that it has only snowed, not iced, or else it would be much harder to get down the path. 

“I called a cab while I was packing your lunches.” Price tells them, adjusting the bag on his shoulder filled with supplies for their outing. “And I’ve called ahead to the hospital to let them know we are coming. We are going to be seeing Dr Garcia.” 

“She’s delivered my babies before.” Kyle assures him, clinging onto Price’s arm as they both shuffle through the snow.  “She’s a great doctor, good bedside manner. Very kind.”

Gary swallows down his anxiety, forcing himself to smile. Everything is going to be alright. The hard part is already over, he’s already had his baby, she seems healthy. All he’s doing now is making everything easier for himself. 

But it’s been so long since he was allowed off of the property. Since he was allowed to be around people, been allowed in a car, he’s been cut off from the world for so long. 

The taxi is already waiting for them when they make it down the driveway, engine rumbling. Steam pours off of the hull as he idles in at the end of the drive, smog sputtering from the exhaust. It’s bright yellow, with a black and white checkered line, old and dated like something right off an eighties TV show. 

“Some weather we’re having.” The cabbie grunts, cracking the window just barely as the six of them pile into the car. 

All four of them end up squished in the back next to the carseat, with Price putting himself on the other side of it when he is done packing them all in safely. Kyle is the lucky one, getting to sit in the passenger's seat because of his pregnancy. 

When they are all packed inside, the cabbie starts the meter, and pulls away from the curb, rumbling its way down the road. It’s so novel to be in a car again, Gary presses his face against the window and watches the scenery fly by. 

The woods are much the same, no matter what side of the house they are on. But then, the trees become more sparse, and he sees his first house. It’s a cabin much like their own, but to the side it has a small red barn with cows inside of it, peeping their heads out as traffic passes. And then he sees the next house, a little ranch with two horses roaming outside. And another, this one with chickens inside a covered, heated porch, roosting next to each other for warmth. And then the houses get closer and closer together as they drive into the actual town. 

Then, his eyes land on it; Sherleys Diner. An old building with a faded front and a parking lot full of cars. The smell of fresh coffee and pancakes just barely makes it into the car as they whizz past, but it's enough to make his stomach growl loudly. 

The cab slows as they reach the small hospital huddled between a pharmacy and a dentist’s office, pulling to a stop in front of the sliding doors. The entrance is shielded under an awning, and the pavement has been salted and cleared of snow. The cabbie is nice enough to stop the meter then and there instead of waiting for them to get out. 

Stepping out of the cab onto the pavement feels like a dream. Never in a hundred years did Gary think that he would be in the middle of town, carrying his brand new baby around. The cold barely manages to touch him through the layers he’s been bundled into, but he still hurries inside for Magpie’s sake. 

The lobby is as warm and inviting as it is old, comfy seats fill the room, and an old vending machine whirrs away in the corner. Behind the admissions desk, two women are pouring over charts and entering the information into ancient computers on the desks in front of them.

The rest of his pack follows in after him not even seconds later, and the two women finally look up from their work. 

“Hello there!” One of the women greets cheerfully, setting her clipboard aside. “You must be here for Dr Garcia, she told us to be waiting for you. I’ll call a nurse down to bring you up.” 

Gary smiles and nods along with her, but his heart is racing. He’s spoken to two entirely brand new people today. It’s new and exciting, and terrifying at the same time. After so long being isolated, it's overwhelming. 

Price wraps his arm around Gary’s shoulder, holding him close. 

“Are you alright? Do you need more pain pills?” He asks, rattling the bottle at Gary like a bag of treats. 

“I’m alright.” He assures Price, leaning against him for support. The pills have yet to wear off, and he has the feeling that the doctor might not like it if he’s already on medicine when he comes in. “Let's just get Magpie checked out.”

At that moment, the nurse arrives, a wheelchair by her side and a smile on her face, ready to guide them to their room and rescue him from the conversation. 

Gary practically leaps into the wheelchair, letting Price take Magpie from his arms. The nurse wheels them down the hall to an elevator, which takes them all the way up to the third floor. He had forgotten how these felt, how they made his stomach feel like he was leaving it behind on the floor. 

There’s a room waiting for them, with a window and a bed. The nurse helps him climb into bed without aggravating the injuries he has, but can’t feel. 

“Do you have any allergies or preexisting conditions we should know about?” The nurse asks, scribbling down on her clipboard. 

“None.” He answers. He could say anything to her. He could yell that he’s been kidnapped, that he needs help. But he won’t. He can’t. 

“Any medications?” 

“These, you prescribed them for Kyle after his birth.” Price tells her, juggling the baby and the pills. “The birth was a surprise. Our little Margaret wasn’t due for another few days.” 

“Why didn’t you come in when you went into labor?” The nurse asks, giving them a confused look. The whole room goes still, he could cut the tension with a knife. 

“I wanted to keep the baby with me for a little bit.” Gary finally speaks up, plastering a smile on his face to placate her. “It was early in the morning, and both me and the baby were fine. I just wanted some time to rest with my baby.”

“Well, why don’t we take a look at her?” The nurse asks, holding out her arms for Magpie. Price hesitates for a second, before begrudgingly setting down her car seat and unbuckling her. 

It feels wrong to watch his baby disappear into the hallway, and then completely out of view. Despite himself, his heart hammers in his chest and he itches to have his hands on her again. He has to remind himself that the nurses will take good care of her. 

No one here will ever let anything bad happen to his baby.

Chapter Text

Dr Garcia enters the room only a few minutes after the nurse has left with their baby. She’s a kind woman with an easy smile, and wrinkles around her eyes and mouth from years of laughing. She greets each of them one by one, shaking their hands and introducing herself. 

“How about I have your family step out of the room so I can conduct a physical exam?” The doctor asks, and Gary goes still in his bed. He was expecting this, of course, but he’s still worried. All alone? With a fourth brand new stranger?

He’s seen so many new people in such a short time after being alone for so long. He knows he should be afraid. They’re doctors, nurses, the last thing they would ever do is hurt him or his baby. But Magpie is so young. If they keep her for even a single day, it will be a third of her entire life. 

He watches as they all shuffle out of the room, looking just as nervous as he feels. The tension is palpable, but he knows he has to keep it together. For Magpie. 

Dr Garcia makes sure the door is closed behind them, pulling the curtains on the windows beside it closed so that no one can see into the room, and then a second curtain between the door and the room, so that when the door opens, nothing is revealed. 

“You all seemed pretty worried when they had to leave the room.” The doctor comments idly, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. Her back is turned to him, so he doesn’t have to keep his face neutral anymore. 

“We’re all very worried about the baby, and they’re concerned about me.” Gary tells her, and it isn’t exactly a lie. They are concerned about him, they are always fussing over him, making sure he is ok. But now they are afraid of losing him. Worse, if he says something, they would lose Kyle and Magpie too.

“Well, I saw her in the hallway and she looked very healthy, why don’t we check on you?” Dr Garcia turns around, a big, bright smile on her face. It’s enough to calm his nerves just a bit. “I’m going to inspect you now, ok?”

Gary nods, clenching his fists at his sides to keep himself calm. She is far from the only person who has seen what he looks like down there. But it is nerve wracking because she is new. Everything here is new. 

Dr Garcia is patient with him, carefully removing his pants, waiting until he is ready to actually begin the exam. It doesn’t hurt, thanks to the pain pills they had given him, and if he closes his eyes he can pretend that he isn’t there. 

“I don’t see anything to be concerned about.” The doctor announces after a few minutes of uncomfortable inspection. “But I want to hold you for the rest of the day to make sure no complications arise later.”

“A-alright.” He stammers, closing his legs and covering back up with the thin blanket provided for him. 

“I am going to leave you to get some rest, now. Do you want me to let your family back in?” Dr Garcia asks, and she is giving him a critical look, like she is judging his response. 

“Yes, please.” Gary sighs in relief, watching her leave. She holds the door for the four men waiting outside, and Gary has never been happier to see anyone. 

The moment they are in the room, all four of them are crowding around him, fussing over everything. Simon helps him pull up his pants, and Johnny has a bottle of water for him from their bag, pressing it to his lips. Kyle manages to locate his canteen of coffee for him, to help him keep awake. 

“Are you ok, darling?” Price asks, petting his hands through Gary’s hair. It's gotten a bit long, he will need a haircut soon. “Do you need anything?”

Gary opens his mouth, and then closes it. He shouldn’t ask, really. They had packed lunches this morning. The hospital would have food for lunch and dinner. But he doesn’t want any of that. He wants to be spoiled and have something warm. 

“Anything you want.” Simon urges, rubbing his shoulders soothingly. “Promise.”

“We passed a diner on the way in…” Gary trails off. It’s stupid, but he had asked for a lot of stupid things when he was pregnant, and they had never once complained. “I want pancakes. And hashed browns with runny eggs.”

“Of course, sweetheart, anything for you.” Simon tells him, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead. And god, doesn’t it feel good to be kissed by him. “Kyle, do you want anything?” 

“Same order, but with boiled eggs.” Kyle answers immediately, from where Johnny has settled him in one of the two chairs for visitors. “And apple juice.” 

“Anything for my two beautiful husbands.” Simon croons softly, making sure to give them both one last kiss before he goes for the door. 

“What about your third beautiful husband?” Johnny asks, batting his lashes at the man. 

“My third beautiful husband who isn’t pregnant?” Ghost asks, innocently. Johnny sighs in defeat, only for Simon to chuckle. “I will get everyone else their regular.” 

Simon finally sets off into the town for their food, leaving just the four of them together. The room seems just a little bit bigger without the hulking mass of a man looming over him. 

But Johnny is there to fill the gap that he left, bringing a blanket from home to drape over him, and everything is alright again. They are all so sweet to him. How could he ever live without them, now that he’s grown so used to it all?

“Thank you for not saying anything.” Price whispers, pressing his face against Gary’s affectionately. “I don’t know how we would have coped if we had lost you and the baby.”

“I don’t know how I would have coped, either.” Gary admits, tears streaming down his face. Now he’s done it. Gone and become attached to these men. “I…love you.” 

It’s damning and he knows it. It's one thing feeling it, but saying it? Now it’s out there and he can never take it back. Now, it feels more real than ever, because they all know. And the worst part is that he doesn’t even want to take it back.

Chapter Text

The nurse brings back Magpie, screaming and crying with three new bandaids on her. The nurse looks apologetic as she hands over the baby, wincing as she wails even louder. Gary practically leaps from his bed to take her, cradling her to his chest and cooing at her. 

Magpie is far too upset to calm down, but Gary could never be upset at her. She’s only a few days old, this might be the scariest, most painful day of her entire life. This is a brand new place she’s never been to, the first time in her entire life she’s been alone with strangers. 

“I’m sorry, Maggie.” Gary whispers, rocking her back and forth in his arms. She’s still crying, but she’s quieted a little bit. “I know, it was so scary.” 

“Does she need a stuffed animal?” Simon asks, rummaging around the bag and pulling out one of the hand knitted ones that Kyle had made for them. He tries to hand it to her, but she smacks it out of his hands and cries louder. 

“Is she hungry?” Johnny asks, but when Gary puts her against his chest, she doesn’t stop crying for even a second to try and nurse.

“Why don’t I take her to watch the snow falling?” Price suggests, holding his hands out for her. Gary doesn’t want to let go of her so soon. He just got her back. But he knows that he will take good care of their baby. 

Gary listens to the two of them traveling down the hallway, Magpies crying growing fainter and fainter until he can no longer hear it. That leaves just the three of them, and a room that feels far too empty. 

“They always cry when they go to the doctor.” Kyle assures him, giving him a knowing look. “She will get over it. Eventually.” 

“It just feels wrong letting her spend so much time away from me.” Gary sighs. He knows that he can’t hold onto his baby forever. Eventually,  she is going to grow up, and Gary is going to have to let her go. But when she is so young, so vulnerable, he wants to. 

“Johnny, why don’t you go help Simon with lunch? He should be back soon.” Kyle asks, giving the man a look that leaves no room for argument. 

Johnny opens his mouth to complain, but quickly shuts it and obediently exits the room. Now, the room feels far too cold and empty without his pack. He wishes they would come back.

“It’s scary.” Kyle tells him, rounding on him as soon as the door shuts behind Johnny. “God, I know that it’s scary. But one day she is going to grow up, and you are going to have to live with that.”

“She was with me for so long, how can I just let her go?” He asks, swallowing thickly. For so long, it felt like Magpie was the only person on his side. They’ve barely even been apart, he isn’t used to this yet. 

“You have to, or you will smother her.” Kyle answers earnestly. There is something in his eyes, like he has been through this himself a hundred times over. And Gary knows in that moment that Kyle is right, and he can trust him. 

At that moment, Johnny and Simon push their way through the door, arms laden with bags of food from the diner. That effectively ends their conversation. Gary discretely wipes the tears forming in his eyes before anyone other than Kyle can see them. 

Simon and Johnny take the little rolling table for his bed and set it up, making sure that the wheels are locked in place before setting anything on it. One thing that Gary had missed while pregnant was coffee, so he doesn’t hesitate to down the rest of his canteen before it can go cold. 

Now that most of his family has returned, the room no longer feels so cold and empty anymore. He can’t wait to go home. 

Lunch is nice. It almost feels like being home again, being surrounded by his family and able to finally relax. Price returns with Magpie about halfway through, and she has finally cried herself to sleep. And, though Gary wants to snatch her from his arms and hold her close to him, he doesn’t. 

Kyle is right. Magpie is her own person, separate from him. Gary lets the wolves hold her for as long as they want, passing her around the room to be coo’d over and crooned at. She’s in a better mood after her nap, no longer crying and screaming. The poor thing is still tired, though. Hopefully she will sleep through the night.

“Kyle should be due for his baby, soon.” Price points out around mouthfuls of food. “He’s a bit late, maybe we could ask about being induced?” 

“Ugh, no.” Kyle grimaces, wrinkling his nose at the idea. “I’m having my baby at home, like I always do. I’ve done this enough times that I know what I’m doing.”

“You’re the boss!” Johnny mocks salute, leaning over to press a kiss against his cheek. 

“Should be any day now. We’d better hurry out of here if we don’t want him to go into labor in the hospital.” Simon warns playfully, dodging when Kyle throws the discarded stuffed animal at him. 

“I’m having my baby at home.” Kyle says, putting his foot down on the situation. “I’ve done it every other time. Gary did it. I am doing it.”

“Of course you are.” Price assures him, ending their little argument. 

Finally, Magpie makes her way back into his arms, all tuckered out from her crying. He looks down at her, her rosy cheeks, little button nose, and the dusting of red hair around her crown. She doesn’t really look like any of them. Though, he supposes it’s too early for her to look like a person at all. 

He can’t help but wonder, though; which one of them is truly her parent? They all treated her as if she was their own, even Kyle. He can only hope that it doesn’t become a problem in the future. What if, when she gets older, she begins to look like one of them and the others lose interest in her? 

Gary hugs her tightly. They have to love her, right?

He glances at all of them, too caught up in each other to notice him watching them. They’re all so sweet to each other, and to him. Surely they would still love her. They are a pack.