Page 771 of Love Bites

Eagan gauged him. Maybe they were going to throw down. A regular ‘ol cat fight in the kitchen? Hell, he hadn’t been in a physical fight in months. No, make that years. And yeah, he needed to blow off steam in a major way.

He sure wasn’t blowing it off in the bedroom.

Other cats in their clan satisfied their physical needs by finding temporary lovers in the guests that frequented the lodge. One night stands only. No mating. It was clan law. It was Magic’s law.

Unless you were Renner.

But Eagan had had enough one night stands to last him a lifetime. He wanted more. If he couldn’t have it, then yeah, bring on a fight.

“A sack of potatoes. That’s all you’re missing?” Magic growled.

“For fuck’s sake, yes.”

Magic blew out a furious breath, dragging a hand through his longish dark locks.

“And this is the first time you’ve noticed something gone?”

Eagan thought about it. It wasn’texactlythe first time. It was just the first time such a large item was taken. Little things went missing all the time. A block of cheese. Some caramels from the pantry. Cans of Pringles he hid on a shelf in the back. But he’d always assumed it was his clanmates.

Until today, when Magic went on his inventory rampage.

“Yes,” Eagan lied. “This is the first time.”

Magic narrowed his eyes. “You’re a horrible fucking liar.”

Eagan laughed like he always did when he was caught. “And you’re a horrible fucking interrogator. What’s your problem anyway?”

Magic let out a heavy sigh, tipping his head back. “My problem…” he muttered, running his tongue along his front teeth.

His problem was he needed to get laid. But at least he’d stopped yelling.

“My problem is we have athief.”

Eagan frowned. “What are you talking about? It’s just some food. Everyone here works hard—”

“I’m not talking about our cats. It’s something else.Someoneelse. If it was a cat, we’d have had a problem years ago.”

Eagan shook his head, not following. “Your shit’s all messed up over some missing food?”

“No. It isn’t just food. It’s batteries, flashlights, firewood, rope. Even guests are reporting an alarming amount of missing clothing and toiletries. Mrs. Clemweather’s goddamn house slippers went missing from her room last night. And let me tell you, she ispissed. Said they cost her ninety dollars at Neiman Marcus or some shit.”

“Who the hell buys ninety dollar slippers?”

“Hell if I know. You’d think she’d just grab those fuzzy fuckers from Target or something.”

“You’d think,” Eagan agreed.

“All I know is, if we don’t put a stop to this, it’ll ruin our reputation. If people can’t feel safe with us in the mountains, our business is fucked. Our clan is fucked.”

Eagan nodded. Magic wasn’t wrong. Lake Haven had a reputation as a safe place to bring your family to relax and unwind. The last thing they needed was a thief to turn up just before the busy holiday season started.

“Have Gash beef up the security,” Eagan suggested.

“He’s already on it. He’s putting cameras in the guest halls, and turning on the ones outside. Adding one to the back trail too.”

“Yeah. Good. But…” Something just didn’t make sense. “If it isn’t a guest. And it isn’t one of us. Who the hell’s doing this?”

Magic’s jaw ticked. He leaned in, his voice quiet. “Ask yourself this: if they’re sly enough to get past us this long, with our ability to scent, and Layna’s strict guest records… is there any way in hell they don’t know what we are?”

Eagan’s mouth went dry. Nobody knew werecats ran the lodge. If they were ever discovered, life as they knew it would be over.

“We have to catch this thief,” he breathed.

“Yes,” Magic agreed. “And fast.”

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