Page 37 of The Buck Stops Hare

“I won’tfreak out.” He gave me a stern glance, bordering on a glare that melted into hesitation. “I don’t think. Storm never did…”

“Good thing to put on a list to ask. Man, I have so much I need to ask Rayne… Brook was helpful and so was River, but they’re opposite. River’s the omega in their partnership and Brook wasn’t human to begin with.” I chewed on my lower lip and offered Buck a half smile when his eyes met mine. I couldn’t imagine him being shy or unconfident in himself, not with how he was, but there he stood, looking to me for answers when I’d only been on this earth for a blink of time in his eyes. “Maybe need to figure out when my heats will come… River said it was really dependent on the god and the aspect.”

“And we’ll need to decide what we do for the next one. We can repeat what we did or use some of the herbs the wolves use to halt conception.” Buck rubbed his chin. “Back in my day, preventatives were more…offensive than defensive, if you comprehend.”

I did. “Yikes.”

He nodded sagely. “Far easier to be proactive than reactive. Less painful, too.”

“Need to ask about that. I’m not going to have a period or something…bleed or whatnot?” My cheeks burned and Buck shook his head. “Different mechanisms. Omega wombs don’tform an implantation layer until insemination and ovulation occur, so yeah. It makes the process a little less successful in the long run, but no bleeding. If you do end up bleeding, it means that you ovulated, and implantation or life was unsuccessful.” He said the latter very tactfully. “It can happen. Life is precarious and, in the beginnings, all life is tenuous, even for the gods.”

“Shouldn’t happen. Not to anyone, even people.” I frowned.

“We’re people.” Buck’s low tones made me hesitate.

“Yeah. More people than most.”

Chapter Seventeen

Buck

Rayne paced his living room, Vida laying in his arm, mesmerized by the ceiling as babies were known to be. Eve’s voice bit out in sharp tones from Cliff’s phone on the coffee table as they shouted at one another.

“You could have told me!” Eve said for the third time, at least. At some point in the argument, Cliff had found his way to the couch and next to me, leaning in so flush that he might as well have been in my lap. All the while, Rayne did a kindness and avoided commenting.

“I could have, but thanks tomummy dearest, I was under the impression I’d sound like a damn loon. How was I supposed to know you’ve been living like Buffy the VampireLayerout here?” Rayne stopped his pacing to shake a finger at the phone like she could see him.

“Are vampires a thing?” Eve halted her rant, and Cliff glanced over at me.

I shrugged. “In some scope. Are there creatures that suck blood? Yes.”

“Yeah, but like the wholeblehh, sexy vampire want to suck your blahhhd.” He made a strange accent, and I had to think about the context. Rayne had made me watch one of the movies with sexy vampires, and I recognized it.

“Oh, well… There’s not really a creature that can bite you and turn you into things. There are bites that can enslave you or claim you. But…yeah. Vampires aren’t really a thing like that.”

“There is that penanggalan thing from the Philippines, yeah?” Storm gestured ambivalently as he watched Rayne pace and complain. I had to admire his passion, but that was a thing for storms and fire. I liked my passion slow and fierce inunderstated ways. I liked Cliff’s benign curiosity and willingness to sit back and let Rayne hold the anger for him.

Cliff pulled his phone out and searched for six different spellings ofpeenanga, penguilin, penepenepangolin… Philippine vampire. His skin paled. “Please tell me these things aren’t real.”

Storm and I exchanged glances. “I can lie. Or I can tell you that there’s so few of them in this part of the world that the likelihood of meeting a sasquatch far outweighs that of a penanggalan.”

“People have run into Sasquatch, I’m pretty sure!” His whisper-shout made me chuckle.

“Unless you’re a pregnantwomanor a child, you’re fine.” Storm huffed and eyed Rayne in his pacing once more, complaining to Eve about their mother not answering her phone again.

“Did she even tell you what she is?” Eve’s tones settled down as the conversation deescalated.

“Latent wolf or something. I dunno. She isn’t a witch or shifter and is pretty pissy about it.” Cliff sulked more into my side, and I wrapped an arm over his shoulders, relishing his growing comfort with me. In turn, he rested a hand on my knee.

Pecker milled about at his feet, tugging his shoelaces curiously.This is thing my hens can eat? No. Maybe now? No.

I eyed the bird and he eyed me back.Not scared.

I bared my teeth at him and earned a fearful cluck and scattering of feathers as he scrambled off.

Storm’s eyes followed Pecker aimlessly as he mouthed a silentthank-you.

Jacque burrowed in the couch cushions beside Cliff for a moment and came out eating something, a piece of cereal. Nobody saw fit to stop him.Butt treats.

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