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Ziggy

Ziggy was pissed at his snake for taking the lead the night before and basically refusing to allow him to shift back.

In the end, Silas had staggered back into the cabin with them still wrapped around him, then placed them on a single bed.

Silas had stripped to his boxers, then laid on the other bed and opened his arms. It was disgraceful how fast his snake had gone and spread himself over Silas’s big body.

It was their first experience of sharing a bed and his snake had taken first dibs, lying on top of Silas.

He loved it!

Yeah, whatever, but tonight it’s my turn.

We’ll see.

No, we won’t.

They had pinned Silas down on the single bed to show him that nothing about what they’d discussed changed a thing. It was a memory Ziggy would never forget, especially when Silas held on to him.

It changed everything, and Ziggy was processing this along with the fact that he, as much as his snake, had wanted to bite Silas—to mate with him.

His snake was all about just doing it. Ziggy had to talk it around with the promise he’d have the conversation with Silas about their future.

Just not right now. That was why he’d become a little more enthusiastic at not being with the alphas today, when Ethan had rocked up and split them up.

They were spending time with someone called Cassidy for their first full day on the ranch.

Ziggy appeared to not be the only one looking relieved that they weren’t with the alphas.

He wasn’t sure what the others’ reasons were, besides the group chat revealing Wilder’s upset with Jupiter.

Ziggy wanted to feel guilty because he really should be the one sharing with Jupiter, but after the night he’d had with Silas, it wouldn’t be real.

Hollis checked his watch. They’d had breakfast early and had been waiting for over ten minutes for Cassidy, who appeared to be running late.

“The worker cabins are over there. Let’s see if we can find Cassidy,” Hollis suggested as he tugged on what appeared to be a crisp, brand new plaid button down.

“Do you think he’s forgotten about us?” Bowie asked, not looking up from the dirt that he was kicking at, appearing a little lost for some reason.

“No, I’m sure he’s got a good reason. But we’ll head over and ask the first person we meet.”

The PAs all followed behind Hollis, and Ziggy tucked his arm into Bowie’s.

“You okay,” he whispered, slowing his pace.

The responding head bob didn’t look convincing.

“Are you sure?” Ziggy persisted, getting an itchy feeling at the base of his neck, his senses picking up something.

Bowie cast him a quick glance. “I just thought we’d be with Ka—the others. You know, as a group?”

Ziggy put two and two together at the near slip up and gave Bowie a sympathetic smile. “Ethan said we were all gonna catch up in the bunkhouse at lunchtime, then we were all going to the paddock to get a proper introduction to the horses Silas has on the ranch.”

What that meant, his snake hadn’t quite decided. They were unsure how to approach being close to the horses when Silas clearly loved them. They were willing to try…

“Bubba, come on darlin’, you gotta wiggle that cute backside outta there.

You're makin’ me late, and Ethan will have my hide, never mind yours.

I have a group to work with today,” said a man on his knees, his ass in the air.

He seemed to be trying to coax out what sounded like a pig, judging from the loud squeaking noises and some grunting.

Ziggy’s lips quivered with how the guy spoke to the pig. It did not sound amused by his coaxing. The group came to a stop, all looking at each other. Ziggy contemplated if offering to help with whatever was going on was the right thing to do.

“Excuse me. Erm, can you tell us where we can find Cassidy?” Hollis asked as he stepped a little closer, minding where he was putting his boots. Hollis was quite fastidious and didn’t look quite comfortable.

In a fluid move, the man rose from where he was crouched, looking at the group. He tipped his cowboy hat and sky blue eyes twinkled. “I’m Cassidy. They call me Cass around these parts.”

“I’m Hollis,” he pointed to each one of them in turn, explaining who we were. “Bowie, Wilder, Monty, Frey, Isley, Lennon and that’s Ziggy.” They all raised a hand and offered him a smile.

“Nice to meetcha. I’m sorry, I’m runnin’ a little behind as Bubba is stuck. I’ve been tryin’ to coax him out from under the porch steps.”

“Bubba?” Frey asked, coming closer and crouching down in front of Ziggy to peer under the steps.

“A Kunekune pig I hand reared. He’s real clever, just not when it comes to judgin’ gaps, which gets him wedged under my cabin, more often than not.” Cassidy released a heartfelt sigh, and Ziggy’s lips twitched once more.

“I could shift and go help him, if he wouldn’t freak at my fox?” Frey sounded eager and got the reward of a smile from Cassidy, which transformed his whole face.

“Why, that’s mighty kind of you. Bubba’s not frightened of other animals.” Cassidy lowered his voice. “He’s got little pig syndrome.”

Bowie came forward, looking intrigued and Ziggy, knowing how literal his friend was, waited to see what he’d made of the comment. “What’s that?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Why, he believes he’s bigger than all the other animals.”

“Is that bad?” Bowie sounded worried and Ziggy stepped closer, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm while Cassidy replied.

“Nope, he’s a small pig with a big attitude. The other animals don’t hold it against him ‘cause he don’t mean no harm.”

Frey stripped off his shirt and then a moment later, in his shifted form, peered up out of his jeans as he wiggled to climb out. Frey sniffed under the porch, then he made a small, cute vocal noise before he crawled under.

Ziggy would have offered to shift, but few animals liked snakes, and he was positive the little pig would be one of them. His snake could be a lot to handle.

There was some grunting and more squealing, then Bubba darted out between Cassidy’s legs, his little black body wiggling with what appeared to be excitement.

Cassity laughed, scooping Bubba up to kiss his dirty snout, and Ziggy pursed his lips at the thought of kissing a pig, even a cute one.

“How many times I gotta say, don’t go under the porch?”

The hairy snout rubbed Cassidy’s cheek as Bubba appeared to recount just how he got stuck. Then Bubba caught sight of them and his grunt-snorts got much louder, as if greeting them all.

As a group, they all giggled at the antics, and Ziggy got why the guy was beaming at the pig. He was adorable.

“He’s cute,” Bowie murmured. “Do you think he’d mind if I stroked him?”

“He’s not a horse,” Wilder pointed out.

“He likes bein’ petted.” Cassidy strolled closer to Bowie. “Hold out your arms.” When he did, Cassidy laid Bubba in the crook of Bowie’s arm, getting a shy smile in response. “See? He’ll stay in the crook of your arm all day if you let him.”

Cassidy chuckled as Bubba rested his hairy chin on Bowie’s forearm and closed his eyes. He made a snorting noise when Bowie stroked a finger down his back.

“Frey, do you need a place to shift and dress in private?” Hollis looked about as Frey sat next to his clothes, a few cobwebs stuck to his brush.

“He can use my cabin, if that suits?”

Frey walked up the steps that Cassidy indicated and waited at the door. Ziggy collected Frey’s clothes and followed him.

“Door’s open, we’ll wait here for you. Then I can take you up to the henhouse to meet my girls.”

“Your girls?” Lennon asked.

“Yep, my chicks.”

Wilder went to Bowie and gave Bubba a scritch behind his ears. “I like this when folks do it to my raccoon.”

“Don’t I know it,” Bowie moaned. “The last time you wouldn’t let me stop for over an hour. My arm felt like it didn’t belong to me.”

Ziggy waited outside the cabin for Frey and watched Cassidy give them an assessing look, which moved between his friends. When Frey came out of the cabin, his hair was a little messier than it had been.

“I never thought my first job was gonna be helping a stuck pig.” Frey grinned cheekily as he came down the steps with Ziggy at his side. “Wait till I tell Emmy I got to rescue a pig.”

Frey had worried how he was going to cope with the separation from Emmy, with everything still being so new.

Lane and Derick’s assurance that everything was fine last evening had helped, but Ziggy knew it had to be strange to leave Emmy for a week.

The little girl had captured all their hearts in the time they got to care for her.

How would Silas feel about children? Did he want them?

See, you’re the one jumping the gun. All I wanted to do was bite him. You’re imagining babies!

I was thinking about Emmy.

Liar!

“Emmy?” Cassidy questioned, giving Ziggy a good reason to block his snake.

“My daughter. She’s at home with Derick and Lane.” His smile dipped a little before it brightened. “They’re having a blast with her from the number of pictures I’m getting. Do you wanna see?”

“Say no.” Wilder gripped Cassidy’s arm, feigning a look of horror. “Don’t let him drag you into that trap of cuteness. It’ll make your whole day disappear.”

“As Ethan would have my hide for that, what say we get started and then you can show me when we take a break?”

“Wise move,” Hollis muttered, giving Frey a look that suggested he should behave, which totally by-passed Frey when he pulled out his phone and flashed a picture of Emmy at Cassidy.

“She’s a cutie for sure,”—Cassidy started walking, herding them in the direction he wanted them to go—“and will be a real heartbreaker when she gets bigger.”

Frey showed him several more pictures, getting groans from everyone, though they all wore the same sappy grin as Frey. How could they resist when she was, in essence, a part of their family, too?

The rota idea that Lane had suggested to them had worked so well. They had all juggled their time to support Frey and now Lane had found a space within the building for creating a creche, so other workers could bring their children to work and know they could pop in to see them too.

Everything had changed in Ziggy’s life since he’d moved to Hazardville and met Lane Starling. Would he readily accept Ziggy into his family? Was it possible another family would want him? He shook off the thoughts when they took the shine out of the sun.

They stopped at the pigpen and Bubba was placed inside with the others, grunting and squealing his protest at losing Bowie’s arms, who looked equally displeased at having to put the pig down.

Ziggy moved back to his side. “We’re here for a week, I’m sure Cass would let you hold him again,” he murmured quietly, as they walked behind the others.

“Ya think?”

Ziggy nodded distractedly as they came towards a large fenced off area they’d walked past the day before that Ethan had pointed out.

It was full of unusual looking chickens but when no one pointed out the strange little outfits some chickens wore, Ziggy had kept quiet.

He didn’t want to say the wrong thing when he was clueless why chickens needed knitted outfits…

unless it was some sort of breeding thing—maybe?

When they came to a stop, things became a little crazy and rather deafening when the chicks all greeted Cassidy.

“Has that chicken got a tutu on?” Isley peered over the fence, his eyes so wide that Ziggy had to refrain from laughing aloud.

Cassidy, his lips twitching, grinned at them, and went to open the gate. The chickens went wild and rushed towards it, wings flapping, squawking, showing off the knitted outfits.

“That one’s got a sweater on,” Lennon whispered. “Oh, and that one.”

“Where would you buy something like that?” Bowie questioned, leaning over the fence to get a closer look, sending Ziggy into fits of giggles.

Cassidy grinned, not appearing at all thrown by their questions. “I knit the sweaters for them and make the tutus. My girls like to look pretty.” Heading through the gate, he shrugged causally, like he was talking about the weather.

The noise the chickens made as they gathered around him, like a pack of wild animals, halted the rest of them from following. They’d been wild before he’d stepped inside, but now they came across crazed. Ziggy’s snake wasn’t keen on getting peeked.

“Now come on girls, you know that ain’t how we greet visitors.”

The squawking and wing flapping dropped down a notch.

One of them made a beeline for Bowie, who hovered in the gateway. Bowie got down on his knees and offered her his finger, seeming braver than the rest of them. “She’s so tiny.”

“She’s a Seramas frizzle. Frizzle means she got all those pretty wild colored curly feathers.” The tiny bird pecked at Bowie and fluffed out her feathers as Cassidy spoke. “I breed various kinds. There’s a market for chicken feathers.”

“Feathers?” Bowie asked, as three more of the chicks went over to show interest in him.

“Feathers. They have a lot of keratin, a protein which, when harvested from the feathers, can help balance plastic structures and make the plastic stronger. It’s big business, if only on a small scale for Darling Ranch.

” He gave a sheepish smile. “I really just love having lots of little chicks of my own.”

“What type is the one in purple?” Frey asked, finally braving stepping through the gate, side stepping Bowie and the chicks.

Cassidy didn’t look towards the one wearing a purple knitted outfit. “Lynda is a La Fleche.”

“She looks… interesting,” Wilder muttered, lifting his feet, watching the chicks as they darted around him.

“Ya mean the satanic-looking feather display?” Cassidy whispered. “It’s why she prefers to wear her sweaters.”

Lennon muffled a giggle behind his hand.

Cassidy continued to talk about his chickens like they were his family, while he grabbed pails and handed them out. Ziggy took the one handed to him and eyed it and the number of chickens, getting what was coming next.

“We need to collect eggs first, then clean out the hen houses before feeding.”Cassidy glanced at the group, and whatever he saw made his eyes twinkle. “That okay?”

“We are in your hands,” Hollis answered, apparently for everyone, because Ziggy wasn’t sure wading through chicken poop and collecting eggs was what anyone wanted to do with their hands.

“Great, then let’s get crackin’.”