Page 10 of Hellcat

Ian rolled his eyes. He knew every adult in the pack would have the exact same reaction. "Because I owe her for the plates," he replied casually. "I figured I could take her out, but restaurants are a pain."

He didn't mind eating out alone, or with other members of the pride, but it was rare that he got out in the city without having to take pictures or sign autographs; they often ran into fans, or just people who wanted to brag they'd met a real shifter.Then, there were sometimes morealarming encounters, with shifter haters, often violent or preachy.

The folks of Lakesides were fine, but there weren't any nice restaurants in town.

"I could cook here, but if any of you suspected I’d cooked and didn't make anything for the rest of the pride, there'd be a lot of whining. So, I figured I'd ask her to come eat at the main house. It's not forbidden."

He was right; inviting guests over was the prerogative of any enforcer, as long as it wasn't anyone officially labeled as an enemy of the pride. Ian didn't even have to ask for the alphas' permission, although he would, out of respect.

The thing was, no one actually did it. Clari had eaten with them a few times before she was turned, but that was about it.

"Look, there's no version of this where all of us don't try to dig for more information," Ari stated casually. "We're cats. Curiosity is in our nature. So, you either spill and tell us more, or we're going to drill the poor girl at dinner for details about every single interaction you've ever had. Your call."

He sighed, wishing Ari was exaggerating. "All right, I'm not repeating myself, so let everyone in the main house know. She's the vet we saw when we took Cutie to get checked the first time. She's hot, and I certainly wouldn't say no to a romp between the sheets, but it's not about that." After a moment of hesitation, he added, "She's in trouble. There's something that tells me she needs support right now." The smell of drugs and alcohol that didn't quite come from her, a shadow in her eyes...his animal was telling Ian that the woman was mixed up in some shit. "We're not currently being attacked by gods, werewolves, or anything else for a second, so I figured I have the time to play nice." He shrugged. "She's sweet."

Ari and Theo were done teasing him now. "Fair enough. I'll relay the message."

Chapter 7

Tania frowned. She'd stayed at her father's for over three months now, and from her experience, seeing other cars parked in the driveaway was never a good thing. She pondered her option. She could head over to a restaurant, maybe. Go to a movie?

But she needed a shower, to get changed and relax, and Princess needed her food. She sighed as she got out of the car, resolved to just say hello politely before locking herself in her bedroom.

When she walked in, the house stunk of cigarettes, weed, and alcohol.

As she arrived in front of the living room, Nigel accosted her."Here she is! My pride and joy. Smart, that girl. Always been smart."

She forced a smile."Hi, Dad."

Nigel Martin's state ranged from hungover to passed out. Right now, he was plastered, but not quite bad enough to collapse in his own vomit yet. There were three other guys around him, all drunk, big, middle-aged men with receding hairlines.

"Come here, come here."

She hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was to get closer to these guys and their roaming hands.

"I have to feed my cat."

Lame excuse if there ever was one.

"Come! Trevor is saying stupid things. I want you to tell him it's not true."

Trevor was the one in a white wife-beater and a pair of jeans he wore low on his hips. Ew. That just wasn't necessary.

She took one step forward. "What's your question, Trevor?"

The man slurred. "Heard you all at the fur clinic were serving shifters. Heard one of them cat people came."

His grin was nasty.

Tania knew better than to give a straight answer to that.

"We don't treat shifters, only regular animals."

"But at the pub, they're saying they're coming to you to treat their dog."

"That can't be true, right, Tania?" her father insisted.

She had a hard time preventing herself from rolling her eyes.

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