Page 3 of Cats and Dogs

Chapter 2

Curious Things

"Ineed a vacation. And a massage. On you," she added, glaring at her Alpha. "I didn't sign up for that much stress when I joined this bloody pride."

There was a chorus of agreement coming from everyone in the room.

They'd only just survived an attack from basically every shifter on the continent - and some from abroad, too - and now, the most powerful members of the pride were heading to Italy, for an offensive against a hidden city.

Christine was staying home because someone had to take care of the kids. The enforcers who remained with them were going to be busy patrolling the territory night and day until they were sure no enemies had remained behind. Her job was making sure that their nine kids remained sane through the mess.

Did she get paid enough for this? Probably. That didn't mean she wasn't going to complain, though.

Rye just chuckled. "No, you signed up for starving in a moldy motel for regular humans."

He wasn't wrong. They hadn't had a lot of prospects at the time; not until Rye's grandma turned up with her shiny checkbook, anyway.

"But you can have a vacation."

"And a massage," she reminded him.

"Don't push your luck."

Christine stared up at the Alpha and pouted, making her eyes bulge in her face.

Homeschooling the kids meant that she spent more time than anyone else in the whole Wyvern Pride with the little troublemakers. Every day, at least one of them sent her that look, the sad and hopeful baby face. She wasn't nearly as good as Lola, but her imitation of the kids' weapon was efficient, nonetheless.

Rygan winced. "Alright. And a massage on me, as soon as we get back."

She did a victorious fist pump, and, behind Rygan's back, Jas took a bow. Ace, Rygan's mate and their alpha female, mouthed, "Teach me."

Like she needed another weapon. The woman was lethal, but small and extremely cute. If her other charms didn't work, she could bribe people with the best cupcakes in the universe. If she added the look to her arsenal, she'd be unstoppable.

"You guys take care, okay? We'll be alright here. Especially since we have three new pride members.” They’d recently accepted four new recruits: Sawyer, Theo, Ariadna, and Luke. Sawyer, like Christine’s old friend, Tracy, hadn’t survived the attack on their pride. The three others had jumped right into their new duties, picking up patrolling, cleaning up, and babysitting shifts. They wouldn’t quite make up for the Alphas’ and Betas’ absence, but they weren’t left defenseless. “Plus, Rain and Vivicia are also staying."

Vivicia Crawley was a badass werewolf loner and Rain Phillips was one of the strongest witches Christine had ever encountered. Which might not mean as much as it could, given the fact that she hadn't encountered many witches. Or like, any, except for Rain. When the Wyvern Pride needed the assistance of a witch, one of the enforcers made contact. As the official carer among them, it was nowhere near Christine’s list of duties.

Still, Rain was powerful; Christine had felt shields before - the royal pride's territory was surrounded by a cocoon that only those who were invited could pass, for instance. That shield was nothing compared to the immaterial wall Rain had erected around Lakesides, their town.

Sometimes she wondered why Rain was a loner; witches generally remained in their covens, where their powers were at their strongest. But she'd never asked because that seemed rude.

They all bid their pridemates goodbye on the doorstep, and then Jas announced, "I'll take the first patrol. Rain, come with me. Then, you can tell me all about why you're a loner."

Christine's mouth fell open. "Not fair! I wanna know, too. Can I patrol with you?"

"But Christy, you said we could play in the garden," Jasper, one of the kids, protested.

Shit. The kids couldn't go out without her. Her shoulders sagged.

Ian patted her shoulder. "Go. I'll take them to the garden with Vivicia.”

She hesitated a second. Ian was just as responsible as anyone in the pride, and he pulled his weight with the kids, but Christine knew he wasn't that good with Lola.

At three years of age, the child had her favorites: Rygan and Christine. She misbehaved with everyone else, taking great pleasure in hiding and making their blood pressure rise just for the fun of it.

"Go. Vivicia will protect me from your mini-devil and you can come save us in a couple of hours."

The she-wolf winked and waved her away, gesturing her to go.

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