Brooklyn had been in denial of course, claiming he was just in need of extra snugs and kisses, but Niall, Jack and I had seen the truth of it.
Niall jerked awake, a blade he’d gotten from fuck knew where pressing to my throat so fast that I didn’t even have time to block it and I cursed at him beneath my breath as he blinked himself awake and took in the state of things.
“Ah, shit,” he murmured, withdrawing the knife and reaching out to pet the big dog’s body, a look of genuine grief crossing his features which bonded us together for a moment as we accepted that the brute really was gone.
Niall’s eyes turned to Brooklyn who was curled up against Jack’s chest, his eyes open and fixed on us as he took in what had happened.
“We can’t let her see him like this,” I murmured in a low voice and Niall nodded.
For years we’d all been trying to convince Brooklyn to release the dog from her vow of suicide in the event of his death, but she hadn’t budged an inch. And as much as I loved my insane woman, I was certain that she would truly end herself over this loss. She really was that loco. But there hadn’t been much we could do in preparation for it aside from make some loose plans to try and cover up what had happened.
“Love,” Jack breathed, placing his hand on the dog’s head and surprising me as a tear slipped down his cheek in grief over the animal.
It made something deep inside my chest tug and I swallowed thickly again. We were a band of fucked up souls and I hated these two men at least as much as I cherished them, but Brooklyn had been right about one thing – we were a family of sorts. And Brutus had been a part of that for a long time.
I was going to truly miss him.
Niall reached out to clasp Jack’s shoulder and I frowned as the lump thickened in my throat before turning my attention to the dead dog once more.
“He went out of this world surrounded by those he loved,” I murmured uncertain of who I was even trying to reassure as I ran a hand over his fur again, feeling the scars of his past beneath the soft grey hair. I was glad we’d killed the man who had hurt him, glad we’d offered him a fresh chance at life among other souls who had seen too much suffering in our pasts. He’d had it all for a good while there. And that was all that any pup could ask for.
“That he did,” Niall agreed with a sigh.
We all looked to Brooklyn again where she continued to snore in Jack’s arms and the need to hurry pressed in on me.
“You have the distraction ready?” I asked Niall and he nodded, getting out of the bed and crossing the room.
He opened his closet and withdrew a box from the back of it, setting it on the nightstand to reveal a fresh box of Coco Pops, a big bar of chocolate, three brand new vibrators, a sparkly pink butt plug and some of her favourite lube, plus a note which told her we love her and want her to enjoy some alone time.
Niall turned the TV on next, leaving it muted and hooking it up to his phone before playing a video compiled of sex tapes the four of us had made over the last few years since Brooklyn decided she wanted to be able to remember our sex life in HD at all times.
My gaze caught on the screen as I watched Brooklyn take my cock into that tight ass of hers and I licked my lips at the look of pure ecstasy on her face while I fucked her like a man possessed.
I dragged my eyes from the show, needing to get on with our task before she woke and realised what had happened. She could never find out that the dog had died, which meant we had work to do.
The three of us carefully got out of the bed, dressing silently and tucking the blankets around her before I gently lifted Brutus’s huge body into my arms.
The bastardo weighed a damn ton and his limp weight was a struggle to carry, but I nestled him against me and managed it, following Niall out onto the landing with Jack close at my back.
We headed straight outside, following the slope of the hill down to the very bottom and stepping into the trees there before I set the dog down on a white sheet which Jack had laid out for him.
The three of us stroked him one final time, saying silent goodbyes and feeling the hurt of his loss for a few minutes before urgency forced us into action again.
“I’ll head to the pound,” Niall said firmly, taking a set of keys from his pocket.
“Make sure the dog you pick looks just like him,” I warned. “If you fuck this up then it could mean death for our woman, and you’d better believe that I will make your agony last on eternally if you cause her end.”
“Yeah, yeah, you big donkey,” Niall said dismissively, waving me off. “I don’t need no telling from the likes of you. The pound is full of mean old dogs just aching for a home like the one we can offer. I’ll find a nice new pooch to fulfil her needs. She’ll never know the difference.”
Jack handed me a shovel as he strode away from us and I muttered a thanks to him as we both started digging, the grief of our loss making us maintain the silence as we did this one last thing for our four-legged friend.
***
It took us a couple of hours to dig a grave large enough for the beast and we had lowered him into it gently, covering him over again and exchanging stories of the men he’d killed with us and the scars we bore on our flesh from his teeth. It had been a bittersweet kind of goodbye. Brutus had been very old and in the last year he’d been struggling with basic things, his mind clearly fading too, until he did little more than eat and sleep and bite the occasional finger. The simple fact was that it had been his time and though we would miss him dearly, we knew that he had lived well with the four of us in our godless house.
Jack had surprised me by fetching a large sack of flower bulbs as we finished off and I’d helped him plant them over the grave, all kinds of beautiful blooms ready to spring up above Brutus’s final resting place as the seasons changed and reminded us of him every time we laid our eyes on them. I couldn’t say I’d ever done anything so soft, and yet it seemed right to honour him in that way.
The sound of a car pulling up the drive made me turn and we spotted Niall’s truck heading towards the house.
I stripped my shirt off, using it to wipe the sweat from my brow as I said a final farewell to Brutus before turning and striding back up the hill beside Jack.
Niall stepped out of the truck as we made it to him and I fell utterly still as I spotted the odd little creature which was perched over his left arm.
“What the fuck is that?” I demanded, pointing at the dog which couldn’t have looked any less like Brutus if it had been a damn cat.
“This is Brutus,” Niall replied, waving the dog before my face as if it was obvious and I just gaped at him, wondering if he was having some kind of episode.
The dog was black with white patches and looked to be a Pomeranian, like one of those little handbag dogs fancy bitches carried about. Its top lip seemed to be snaggled over one tooth and its eyes were unfocused, staring either at me or at something behind me which it seemed to be both utterly fixated on and yet entirely uninterested in at once.
“Take it back and find one that looks like Brutus,” I snapped, pointing a finger at Niall which the dog instantly lunged for, drawing blood with its sharp little teeth and making me curse as I snatched my hand away again.
“See?” Niall said defiantly. “If he doesn’t have Brutus energy, then I don’t know who does. All the other dogs in that place were wet fishes without a drop of water in sight. They had no flare, no pizzazz. Brooklyn won’t be fooled by some two-bit finger licker.”