Page 9 of Hellcat

"Sure thing."

They exchanged numbers, and she returned to work, grinning the whole way.

Chapter 6

Ian's senses caught the intruders well before they reached his door. He opened his fridge and pulled out two beers just as a knock came at the door.

"It's open."

Ari entered first—a beautiful curly-haired brunette, deceptively cute, and very much lethal. She was maybe five-foot-four, just taller than Ace, their alpha female, and she could kick his ass. Ian would have made a move on her if she hadn't been a member of his pride. She came from a family of margays and lions; while she shifted into the latter animal, she was as vicious and cunning as most margays.

Then came Theo. Like Ari, he was one of the newest members of the pack. He'd been with them two years now. Theo still hadn't shared much about himself, other than the fact that he was the youngest of three brothers, but Rye would never have let him join the pride without a full background check. Ian had performed the investigation. Theodor Albert Magnus the Third was the son of one of the very few warlocks in the world and of an ocelot shifter. His older brother, Henry, was well on his way to becoming as powerful as their father. He was the wizard royalty and celebrities went to for their spells. The middle brother, Vincent, was a professional gladiator; the one supernatural-only sport in the world. He competed all over the world, and mostly won. No wonder Theo had left that behind. He was strong enough, but there was no comparing him to Vincent; he had a little magic, but couldn't hold a candle to Henry.

The two shifters were also enforcers. They took the day shift when they could, and it was seven in the evening, so they'd headed to his place to chill before dinner.

They'd taken to hanging out with him in their spare time, probably because he was the only sad-ass original member of the pride who wasn't mated. Maybe they could dub their trio’ the third wheel united’.

"Beer?"

It wasn't really a question. He handed them a bottle each and reached up to the cupboard above his sink. He knew Ari liked a glass. He'd just done the dishes, so there were four clean glasses, but he couldn't help himself from showing off, pulling one of the pretty new mugs out instead. Ian smiled as he handed it to the woman.

"Hey, look! Homie got plates and shit," she said.

He only smiled broader.

"Nice, right?"

"Super nice. Where did you get them? Ace's damn lynx freaked out the other day when I came in the kitchen and I broke a bunch of shit. I need to replace them."

She didn't really; if they needed new plates, it would be ordered through the pride's account, but that was the kind of person Ari was. Straight as an arrow and responsible.

"Didn't buy them. Friend made them."

Friend was a bit of a stretch. Knowing Ari would dig if she sniffed a story, he changed the subject. "Who's cooking tonight?"

They didn't have to eat together every night, and sometimes on his days off Ian went off to the city, ate out, hung out at a bar; but that was mostly when he wanted to get laid.

"Ace," Theo replied, beaming. "Whole house smelled of cake when we left."

While their alpha femalewas a decent cook, she was a truly gifted baker. Suddenly he was looking forward to dinner.

"Hang on, aren't we questioning the friend thing?" Ari challenged. "You're an annoying know-it-all. You don't have friends."

Ian laughed. "Ouch."

She shrugged, unapologetically. "If the shoe fits."

"I have friends," he lied.

He had the pride, some employees in an office he’d never stepped a foot in, and family. Not because he was a know-it-all, but because he genuinely didn't have the time for anything else.

"No, you don't," Theo stated.

"All right. Well, I have a friend, and she gave me some plates she made." Knowing it was unavoidable, given the fact that he'd dug his own grave earlier, he added, "In fact, you'll meet her soon. I invited her over for dinner with us."

Theo spat out some beer, while Ari laughed."I knew it! I knew you looked ridiculously smug. You like the girl."

"For dinner. Here?" Theo asked."Why?"

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