Page 74 of Fangs and Fudge

She slumped a little in her chair. “No.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slipped it out to look at the message a moment before someone knocked on the front door.

Cross: MC is here. Also, you should stop allowing others to use your phone.

I looked at the previous message that Vena had sent on my behalf.

Me: Someone sweet-talked Everly out of her virtue a few years back. But that’s not really any of your business, is it? Who she lets play on her playground is her decision, not yours. And she seems to like Shepard a lot.

I lifted my gaze to glare at Vena.

She smirked at me.

“Vena!” her mom called. “There’s someone here for you.”

Vena raised a confused brow at me before heading to the door, but Shepard cut her off.

“Stay here,” he said. “I got this.”

Vena’s brow rose a fraction more before she settled next to me. “What is going on?”

I turned my phone so she could read the text from Cross. Vena bolted to her feet. I grabbed her hand before she could leave and tugged her back down to the seat next to me.

“There might be an important reason he’s here.”

“What reason?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced at Mr. Hunter to find him already nose-deep in a thick book. Whispering, I said, “It could be about the vampires or Anchor. Let Shepard find out. MC will be gone soon.”

“He better be. I don’t need Missing Common sense showing up at my house to harass me.”

As soon as those words left her lips, Mrs. Hunter arrived in the living room with her arm threaded through MC’s.

“We have another person joining us for dinner,” she said with a grin. “Won’t this be fun?”

With the way both Shepard and Vena were glaring at MC, it definitely would not be fun.

“I’m going to go check on dinner,” Vena said, standing.

Mrs. Hunter smiled politely but shook her head. She didn’t want her daughter to turn the food into ash.

“Fine. Then, I’ll go see what Miles is up to.” Vena marched out of the room.

MC watched her go but didn’t look too fazed by her angry departure. Either he wasn’t a man who took hints or he was as dumb as a troll because he merely smiled at Mrs. Hunter and took a seat across from Mr. Hunter.

“Tell me all about yourself,” Mrs. Hunter said to MC as she sat down. “Blur sure has some handsome men working there.”

While she interrogated, I motioned for Shepard to follow me to the kitchen.

“Why is MC here?” I asked as soon as the door was closed.

“He wanted to tell me what his pack found at the club.”

“He could have called you to tell you. If he’s here to harass Vena--”

Shepard pulled me toward him in a loose hug as he rubbed my back in a soothing motion. While part of me hated that he was placating me, another part liked it. A lot. At my core, I was a hugger. So, I soaked up all the comfort that Shepard was trying to give me.

“I was about to tell him to leave,” he said softly, “but Mrs. Hunter was too fast and invited him to dinner. I’ll get rid of him as soon as it’s done.”

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