Page 11 of Pack Scratch Fever
PIPER
“I’msorry,”Blair says as she locks the door to the rescue. “He smelled likecatnip?”
“I swear,” I laugh, my face aching from smiling. “And the kitten didn’t want to let go of him. Alvin was into him, too.”
“So, he smells like catnip, but he doesn’t like cats.” Blair smiles knowingly. “Duality of man. He’s cursed forever, I fear.”
I chuckle. “Good. He was rude as hell.” I read the paperwork he dropped off. “PoeCarlsen.”
“Sounds pretentious,” Blair agrees. “Like he’s some scholar that’s too good for everyone.”
“Yeah, he was acting like the form was an inconvenience,” I murmur. “It took him two whole minutes to fill it out, but obviously, his time is much more valuable than that.”
I skim the form he left. Poe’s not even ten minutes from here; it didn’t take him that much effort to visit.
According to his birth year, he’s thirty-nine years old.
Old enough not to be a douche.
“He was cute, though,” Blair says knowingly.
I look up. “Huh?”
“He was cute. You wouldn’t still be staring at his form if he weren’t.”
“No?!” I sputter. “What are you talking about? I was just reading it.”
“What did he look like?” Blair grins as she tidies up the reception area. “Cuter than Kyle?”
I make a face. “Okay, Kyle’s not cute.Anyoneis more attractive than he is.”
“Correction. Kyle isobjectivelyattractive, but he requires a lobotomy and personality change to be tolerable. So, wasPoecute?”
“Don’t be weird,” I murmur, unable to look at my friend.
Truthfully? Poe was handsome. Ridiculously tall, olive complexion, brown hair, piercing grey eyes, and a little scruff on his face. He had the occasional grey hair on his head, obviously from being an insufferable, arrogant prick.
“Ha. Hewascute. And he smells like catnip? He’s a perfect match for you,” Blair says.
“Please don’t try to set me up with anyone. Not after you’ve been hounding me about my suppressants,” I sigh.
“It’s just a little teasing,” Blair assures me. “It just sounds like a perfect scent match to me. You love cats, and he naturally attracts cats.”
I huff. “Yeah, I can see how catnip and catmint could go together. Too bad he’s not an animal person. At least he brought that kitten in safe.”
The sweet kitten is in her little quarantine cage until our vet can get her fixed and vaccinated. She is a purr machine, and from what Blair and I could tell, completely healthy. She has no fleas, and her fur is a pure, clean white.
There’s no way that Poe doesn’t have more kittens in his backyard. I wonder if I’ll end up seeing him again.
I shrug. “But it is what it is,” I continue. “I could never have imagined being with someone who doesn’t like cats.”
The thought makes my chest ache. I imagine a different scenario, where Poedidlike cats and our conversation earlier went differently.
Maybe it ended with him asking me out, realizing that we’re scent matches.
Maybe—
There’s a knock at the door, startling both Blair and me. I look up to see two handsome Alphas standing outside, one holding a cardboard box in his hands.
