How to Trust a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls, #4)

by Shannon Mae

Someone had done this to Josh, and I wasn’t supposed to punish that person? I was supposed to wait and see if he could redeem his rotten, fucked up soul? It was the first time I had the urge to go against the tenets of hellhounds.

He wasn’t fully pack yet, but he would be—I would make sure of it. I could feel the stirrings of a bond, and it was nothing like the bond I had with my boys. This felt like so much more. It felt like endless possibilities, but it wasn’t quite realized yet.

I had all the time in the world, and I would make sure Josh was taken care of in every way he needed. It was time for him to find out what it meant to have someone actually support him and care for him.

Killing him was off the table if he wasn’t hellbound, but I knew he was at least somewhat rotten, and surely we could scare him a bit. Maybe some mild torture. Nothing permanent, of course. I could control myself. Hopefully.

It was probably kind of pathetic when your fantasies weren’t about getting bent over the nearest table and were instead about having someone make you dinner and smile at you.

I smiled indulgently and led my boys off to the cash register, happy to buy them some new toys. You were never too old to enjoy things that made you happy.

“Want me to kick his ass?” he asked. “I’m small, but I’m feisty as fuck.”

I knew how to make coffee. Of course I knew how to make coffee. I was a first gen hellhound, and I’d been on this earth since its inception. I could make fucking coffee. Just not with this… thing.

“Ok. We can figure this out. We’re hellhounds. We can make coffee. It’ll be easy.”

He may be a hellcat, but you’re like your plum blossom,” I said, motioning to the table. “Resilient and able to thrive in even the harshest conditions. A cat is no match for a tree, Mei Ume. You may get scratched up and battered by storms, but your roots are strong.”

“It was no sacrifice,” I rumbled gruffly. “You’re my boys, and every one of you is worth everything to me. You’re pieces of my soul walking around outside of this vessel, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You have all been a gift.”

Jude really needed to get a handle on dealing with his crush on the sheriff, because although he looked quite happy with himself, being handcuffed and pressed against a police car was probably not a good thing.

“Josh, if it’s okay, I’m going to kiss you now,” he said softly. I just stared at him. He was going to… What?

“I’m going to mark you up so everyone knows you’re mine,”

“So beautiful. So perfect. Such a good boy for me,”

“I will always hold you. You are strong and resilient, but the tree does not weather the storm alone. The earth keeps it in place, cushioning and nourishing its roots. Let me be the ground for your roots, Mei Ume. Let me hold you safe.”

“I love you, Wilder.” It felt good to say it. He gave me a hug. “I love you, too, Mei Ume. You are my world.”

Wilder and coffee makers did not get along.

“Yeah, well, Q looks like he’s about to eviscerate someone most of the time. And Liam just gazes dopily at him like it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen,” she said, spooning some food onto her plate. I laughed again, because that was a totally accurate description.

I wasn’t sure if Josh was ready to deal with the fact that one of his best friends was a grim reaper and death ferryman.

“So beautiful, my mate. So very perfect.”