Page 28 of Hellcat

Ian doubted she would ever take him up on his offer. Roxanne was very different from every other shifter they knew. Even stranger than Ace, in her own way. And Ian was pretty certain that her nature meant that she didn't miss being part of a pride, unlike every other loner out there.

"Be glad she won't come. Puss and Ace in the same room? That's how planets explode."

Chapter 18

Determined to be friendly and perfectly civilized, after rushing out the door like a heathen earlier, Ian walked in, said hello to the kids, who'd come back sometime during the last three hours. Then he planted himself in front of Tania.

"Look what I got for you!" he said, triumphant, showing the suit off.

Ace and Cali gasped. As for Tania, she grimaced and said, "I'm not wearing that. I'd look ridiculous in it."

Ian sighed. Why had he assumed that she'd know what it was? Or that she'd be excited about it if she did. Maybe regular human women weren't into fighting gear. He literally was the equivalent of an eager cat showing off a dead mouse.

"All right," he said, having found that agreeing with her was often the best way to go about it. "But if you were to wear it under your clothes, that suit would absorb blows, stop blades, and even gunshots."

NowTania gasped, suitably impressed. "Okay, that's pretty epic. Maybe open with that next time?"

Not the worst idea. Christ, he really didn't know what he was doing.

"That's the stuff PIA agents wear, right?" Niamh asked excitedly. "Tria has one. How did you get one?"

"From Roxie."

"Can I have one, too?"

"And me!"

All the kids chanted the same tune. "Maybe! They don't come in mini-people size yet, but Roxie said she might mention it to her boss, see if she can convince them to make kid ones."

Niamh rolled her eyes. "I'm basically Aisling's size."

"But you're not getting one if the others can't," said Rye. "Come on, guys. My turn to cook. You can help."

Ian didn't mind Rye's basic cooking; he'd make mac and cheese or something equally unchallenging. But this was the second night his mate was spending on pride territory. They could do better than that.

"I'm still on duty for two hours," Ian said. "I'll throw together a chili if you want me to."

Everyone did want him to, unsurprisingly. Ian moved to the kitchen. He hadn't even been there for a couple of minutes when Tania joined him, followed by Clari.

"Are those onions supposed to be diced or sliced?" the beta female asked.

He hesitated.

"Come on, control freak. It's not like I can mess up onions that badly."

He nodded. "Diced, please. Thank you."

Tania chopped peppers and then stirred the pan for him. Turned out, having some help was making things a lot faster, and considerably more companionable.

"Hey, I could have heard wrong, but did you say you used to be regular before? I'm not sure I understand."

Clari chuckled nervously. "I kinda hoped you'd missed that. We're moving into pride-secret territory. Rye?" She called out loud, turning her neck to look at the living room.

"Tell her. Also tell her what happens if she betrays our confidence."

"Right, so some shifters have the ability to turn regular humans into one of us. I was bitten by a turner a couple of years back. We keep that secret from the general population because they'd freak if they knew about the turners."

No mention of Zack. That was smart of Clari, but Ian didn't like the semi-deception. His mate was trustworthy, he felt it.

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