Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles, #3)

by Shelly Laurenston

But their kind didn’t often do things like the full-humans who surrounded them. When his blood-related granddaughter had come to his Pack-owned home, she’d brought her half-sisters with her and all three had become his concern. His responsibility. His problem. And, to be quite honest . . . his entertainment. Because where the three of them went—whether together or apart—trouble didn’t simply follow. It nested inside them like a parasite. The trio were the Typhoid Marys of trouble.

;)

She clapped her hands together. “So we understand each other, right? We never have to have this conversation again?” Without meeting Max’s eyes, the Alpha shook her head. “No. We won’t have to discuss this again.” Max let out a relieved sigh. “That’s great. Really. But don’t worry. I promise you, we’re going to be out of here in another month or two. As soon as we hear from one of the many universities trying to woo Stevie to their campus but definitely after I graduate since Charlie’s made it a personal goal for herself that I get my high school diploma. The things she worries about, I swear!” Betsey scrambled back to her spot against the wall. She couldn’t hear Max moving, but her scent became stronger as she neared the stairs that led to the hallway. Max came up the stairs, entered the hallway, and headed down toward the kitchen. But when she was right in front of Betsey, she stopped. Slowly Max turned her head toward Betsey, then raised her forefinger to her lips. “Shhhhh,” she said, as she had the first time Betsey had met her.

:) I mean I hope she doesn't usually troll Betsey, her life in the pack is bad enough.

Zé took in the bruises on her face. The blood dripping down her swollen chin from her damaged lip. Anger welled up inside him. An anger he’d been well known for when he was a U.S. Marine. His anger and, as one fellow Marine put it, “your sense of annoyance at the very presence of most human beings,” had gotten him some nicknames that should have insulted him more than they did. “Lord Unhappiness” was a personal favorite and “Colonel Fussy-Bottom” was another that almost made him smile. But the one his former teammates used the most was “Captain Destructo.” Seeing this girl’s face made him feel very Captain Destructo.

:D

His confusion? He sincerely thought she was delusional. Then it hit her: he really wanted to help. Max was not a cat person, normally. Big or little, she wasn’t a fan. But she knew this guy was trying to help her. He didn’t belong with these full-humans: ex-military who turned from a life of good works and heroic risks to brutal mercenary work and murder for profit. But the cat . . . he was here to stop them. How did she know? He had that look. Her mother called it, “The good-guy look. You have to watch out for them, honey. For those good guys,” she used to tell eight-year-old Max. “Your gut will tell you what they are; then just look in their eyes. You’ll see it in their eyes, and you’ll be able to spot them a mile away. They’re the ones who’ll get in the way of your taking what you want. Don’t let them.”

0o

He didn’t know any of that, which meant Max had to protect him. Her mother hadn’t taught her that. Her big sister had. Charlie, whether she meant to or not, had that “good-guy look,” too. She cared about others. She didn’t want “innocents” caught in the cross fire of any fight and, if they were caught, she wanted to make sure they didn’t end up getting killed. It was one of the main reasons she was such an awesome shooter. The last thing Charlie ever wanted to do was to accidentally kill someone who didn’t deserve it. Although Max’s desire to protect innocents wasn’t as intense as Charlie’s or Stevie’s, she still felt a sense of responsibility. Especially to a fellow shifter. Max could have easily dug her way out of this hangar in seconds and disappeared into the surrounding territory, out of real danger. But if she did that, she couldn’t bring the cat with her. So she would stay. And she would help. Of course, Max’s idea of “help” was . . . well . . .

death ... lots & lots of death ... ;)

Hadn’t he? He couldn’t remember exactly. “Fuck,” Zé sighed, glancing down. Not sure what was happening to him. That’s when he saw them. Three pairs of eyes, staring at him. Just staring. “What?” he asked and the three dogs’ heads tilted to the side. “What are you staring at?” Not surprisingly they didn’t reply, so Zé focused on how he would get down from where he was—on this china cabinet? How the hell did he get on a china cabinet?—without breaking his neck.

:D

“You are just so cute!” she cooed at the dog. “Are you just visiting?” “Do you really expect it to answer?” Zé had to ask. Because he’d never understood people who actually spoke to dogs. Still holding the animal, she looked up at Zé. “What are you doing?” she asked instead of answering him. “Honestly, I have no idea.” She let out a breath, briefly closing her eyes. Then, with a very healthy bellow, “Max!” “It’s not my fault!” was the reply. “I swear . . .” the woman muttered before she yelled out again, “Who is this person on the china cabinet?” “That’s a cat,” was yelled back. “I rescued him!” “I thought we agreed. No more strays!” “Are you keeping that dog I see you holding?” “He . . .” She lifted the dog with both hands, confirmed its lower bits, and finished with, “He is just visiting.” “Well, so is the cat!” Rolling her eyes, the woman looked at Zé again. “I’m Charlie,” she said. “Zé.”

:D

“Except for this towel . . . yes. Not sure how I got this way, though.” “Let’s not think about it. You just stay there—I’ll be right back.” She put the dog down and went back the way she’d come. When she returned, the dogs were still staring at him and now she had the two large men with her. “I’m getting cats out of trees now?” one of the men asked Charlie. “That’s a cabinet and yes. Could you please get him down from there?” “How did he get up there in the first place?” “Why do you ask me questions we both know I don’t have the answers to? Why are you making this difficult? Is it because he’s naked?” “Well, that’s not helping.” “So you want me to help him down while he’s naked?”

;p

When Max focused on Vargas, he smiled around the big bite of roll he now had in his mouth. “Jaguar!” Stevie announced, triumphant. “He’s a jaguar.” She returned to her seat. “It took a second because leopards have similar markings but if you really look, you can tell the difference. And he’s definitely jaguar. A black jaguar.” She winked at him. “Kind of rare.” “What is happening?” Max demanded. Why were her sisters being so nice to someone who was being so . . . cat? He couldn’t be more cat if he was lounging in a tree with a gazelle carcass.

:D

And Vargas did see him. His expression didn’t change; it stayed artfully blank, but his bright green-eyed gaze was locked on the panda as Shen went up on his hind legs, used his nose to open one of the cabinets, and used his paw to knock down a few bamboo roots. He picked one up in his mouth, lumbered over to Stevie’s chair, and with nothing more than a thought, shifted from panda to human. He took the bamboo from his mouth so he could lean down and kiss the top of Stevie’s head. “I’m going up to take a shower. I’ll be down in a few.” “Shen,” Max said, gesturing to their “guest,” “this is Zé. Zé, this is Shen.” Shen nodded. “Hi, dude.” “Hi . . .” Vargas cleared his throat. “Hi.” Then, bless him, Shen put the bamboo back in his mouth, shifted back to panda, and lumbered his way out of their kitchen on all fours. Silently, the three sisters watched Vargas. Watched . . . and waited. After a minute, he glanced at his nearly empty mug and announced, “So you drugged the coffee, then.” Max threw up her hands and pushed away from the table. “I’m out.”

:D Not the delicious cinnamon buns?

“Now listen to me—” She held up the deflated ball right in front of her uncle’s face. “What I did with this poor basketball is just one of the many ways I know how to irritate her. You should know that over the years, I’ve discovered thousands of ways to irritate Stevie MacKilligan. You could almost say it’s been a lifetime project of mine. Do you want to stick around while I make her even crazier? Or do you just want to get the fuck out?” Still grinning. How could she say all that and still keep smiling? How could she not be angry on some level? But she wasn’t. Zé knew anger, and she wasn’t angry. Not even a little. “Because I can promise you that my sister can go from slightly hysterical to destroyer of entire worlds in a nanosecond. Can’t she, Dougie?” She looked directly at one of the men and, after a brief staring contest, he nodded. “Remember what happened in the Bronx that time, Dougie? Remember what Stevie did there?” She winked at him and crinkled her nose up at the same time. It was adorable and horrifying. “Oh, yeah. You remember.” “She’s right, Da,” Dougie said with his gaze fixed to the floor. “We should just go.”

:D

She could tell he meant it, too. He was going to push everything he’d experienced in the last twenty-four hours from his mind as only a cat could. Because when cats didn’t like something, they simply pretended it didn’t exist. And that’s what he was going to do. Pretend that she didn’t exist, her sisters didn’t exist, and that none of this had ever happened. But as always in the world of shifters . . . the bears came in and fucked all that shit up. It was kind of cute, too. The Dunn triplets did it sometimes, when they thought no one was looking. In their grizzly forms, they marched through the house humming “The Bare Necessities” from that old Disney movie. The three of them, in a line, lumbered through the living room with their big grizzly heads swinging, all three thousand pounds marching along . . . and humming. Humming “The Bare Necessities” song. Vargas watched them go by in silence. When they’d made it out of the room, Max expected him to grab the phone she had in the pocket of her basketball shorts but he just . . . walked out. Not out of the house, but upstairs. She could hear his bare feet slowly slapping against each step. A few seconds later, a calm but concerned Stevie returned to the living room and pointed in the direction of the stairs. Her furrowed brow silently asked Max what had happened. And all Max could do was cringe. “I think I broke him.”

Technically the triplets did?

The badger stared at him a moment before replying, “Yes.” Then, without another word, she easily hefted the more than two-hundred-pound cat onto the back of her neck like she was putting on a stole, and returned to the streets run by bears. They all watched her go. In silence. She wasn’t running. She wasn’t fearful. She was just . . . a honey badger with a live but unconscious cat around her neck. Glad the drama was over, Imani looked at the bears and ordered, “Mind getting your walking bear rugs off my territory?”

:)

Zé woke up and quickly realized that he was, again, naked and on top of the china cabinet. How did he keep winding up here? What was that about? At least this time he wasn’t alone. He had a furry companion cuddled up to his side. Not the dogs, thankfully, but the stray cat that Max seemed to hate. The cat was sweet to him so he didn’t understand what her problem was. “Why are you up there again?” Zé looked over the side of the cabinet. Max stood below. “I really don’t know. Is this normal for cats?” “I have no idea. Are you hungry? You must be hungry.” “I could eat.” “Do you need help getting down?” “No,” he said quickly. This time he didn’t even have a towel. It was just all him . . . hanging out for the universe to see.

:D

She waved his obvious concern away. “The kid’s fine. His father and uncles are a little pissed but the Kapowskis are always pissed. They’re like the pissiest grizzlies on the block.” “I think I’d be pissed, too, if someone tried to eat my kid.” “Allegedly.” He frowned and Max explained, “In case there’s any legal trouble. We go with ‘allegedly.’ ” “Legal trouble? As in getting arrested for eating a child? That seems like something one should go to prison for.” “Allegedly eating a child . . . actually, allegedly attempting to eat a child. And you were having a rough moment. We thought you had completely healed up but it seems the damage to your brain was worse than we thought, so it took a bit longer for your recovery. You feel fine now, though, right?” “Even if I can’t tell whether this is reality or a fantasy world where I’m a cat?” “Christ, we’re not still arguing about that, are we?”

:D

“Max!” Stevie barked again. “Can we talk to you outside?” Charlie politely asked. “No.” Charlie pointed at the back door. “Get your ass outside!” she snarled from between clenched teeth. With another eye roll, Max walked out of the kitchen, her sisters following. A minute or two later, Stevie’s boyfriend came in, took a large stash of bamboo from one of the cabinets, and sat down at the table. “Hey,” he greeted, biting into the bamboo at the same time. “Hey.” “Where are the girls?” “Outside. Yelling at Max.” “So a typical morning, then?” “Based on what I know so far. . . probably.”

:)

“You know,” Nelle went on, “his adjustment doesn’t have to be time consuming, especially with all the girls here at the same time because of the playoffs. We round everybody up and we help you help him. It’ll be just like old times.” “I guess that’s an idea.” “Come on, Max. Lighten up. Just be glad your sisters give a shit about this kind of stuff. I wish I had that kind of relationship with my sister. But instead . . .” When she didn’t finish her sentence, Max asked, “But instead what?” Nelle walked over to a small closet and opened it, revealing Nelle’s sister trapped on the floor, hogtied and gagged with duct tape. Most likely by Nelle herself. “Dude! What the fuck?”

o0

He shrugged at Tock’s question. “I’m just . . . entertained, which is not something I say very often. Because most people do not entertain me. But you guys . . . ?” He nodded. “Entertainment.” “Awwwwww,” Streep said. “You guys, we have to keep him nowwww. He’s adorable!” Nelle closed her eyes, shook her head. “He’s not a rescued kitten, Streep.” “But still!” Zé glanced over at Max, one brow raised. Her response? Mouthing, Oh, my God. Sorry. And that only made Zé laugh harder.

:D

Whether it was homework, team practice, or wild boar hunting. When she booked practice, she expected all of them to honor the time commitment. And that expectation hadn’t changed in the last sixteen years. “We have practice tonight in Manhattan. So what are we doing about Zé?” Tock demanded. Streep stopped sobbing and glared at Tock. “Does my pain mean nothing to you?” “I didn’t book time for your pain.”

;)

But he still didn’t have to sound so bitchy when he said, “I’m not a wolf.” “Then why are you called that?” “Maned wolf is its own species.” It was a statement but he said it like it was a question, with the last word going up a notch. As if he was questioning her intelligence, which just annoyed Dez even more. “But that doesn’t make sense because you have wolf in your name. Are you, like, half wolf and half lion because of the mane?” “No.” “Are you a werewolf?” There was a moment while all three men gawked at her until the maned wolf arrogantly informed her, “There’s no such thing as werewolves.” “I’m not sure why the tone? I was told there were no such things as shifters, too—and yet here we are.” Imani cleared her throat behind the lion but Dez kept her gaze right on the maned wolf. Even if the women weren’t particularly close, Dez knew that if just one look passed between them, the hysterical laughing would begin. “Miss MacDermot—” “Captain,” she corrected the lion. “Captain MacDermot.” “Gurl, did you get a promotion?” Imani happily asked, leaning over so they could see each other.

<3

Nelle spun in front of them. “Thoughts? Concerns? Opinions?” “No,” they both said at the same time. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I bother.” “Neither do we,” Max informed her friend. “Can we just get him clothes? Please.” “Fine.” Nelle motioned to a sales person. “I’ll take this. And we need clothes for this gentleman.” “I’m not wearing clothes from here.” “Why not?” “One reason: I’m not European. And I feel like you have to be European to shop here.” “He has a point,” Max muttered.

:p

Max sat back down on the bench. “I wasn’t, but then . . . he came out in those jeans and T-shirt . . . goddamn!” “You know what it was? He didn’t smell like Dutch anymore. I told you he smelled like Dutch!” “I don’t mind Dutch’s funk. Unless he’s gone to a wolf party. All that tequila does not come through his pores well.” “No. But Dutch might as well be your brother. He’s not someone you’ve ever had a thing for. And Zé was covered in that brotherly funk. But now he’s in clothes that only reek of this horrible place, which allows you to drill down to his natural musk.” She grinned, crinkling up her nose and nodding her head. “Musk.” “Did you have to say that twice?” “I totally did.”

o0

Not these people, though. They let their bigotry hang out there for the world to see. It wasn’t color or religion they reacted to, though. It was species and breed. According to Max, wolves didn’t like dogs; dogs and wolves didn’t like cats; bears didn’t like dogs, wolves, or cats; and absolutely nobody liked honey badgers. “And none of that covers the internal bigotry.” “Internal bigotry?” “Tigers think very little of lions, lions think very little of jaguars and leopards, grizzlies tend to slap around black bears, jackals find African wild dogs really annoying . . . the list goes on and on.” Max took another bite of a burger that was nearly the size of her head before muttering, “It’s endless. Just do what we do . . .” “Which is?” “Which is?” “Ignore it,” the two women said together.

:)

“You don’t remember me, do you?” the woman next to him asked. He looked at her again. She was black. Older. Beautiful. Her dreads were brown, blond, gold, white, and gray. Her eyes dark brown. She wore an African-style necklace made of wood and ivory that looked, at least to his eye, expensive. Her bracelet was white gold and diamonds. But despite the money around her neck and wrist, she wore only casual shorts and a worn Bob Marley T-shirt. The flip-flops on her feet probably only cost her three bucks at an Old Navy summer sale. “I’m sorry. I don’t.” “Well . . . you were in the middle of recovering from brain damage.” When he frowned, she added, “You came to our street when you got busted trying to eat a bear cub.” Horrified, Zé closed his eyes and lowered his head. If he could have, he would have disappeared into his seat, never to be seen again by any decent person. “Don’t feel bad,” she said with a smile. “If they don’t want their cubs eaten, bears shouldn’t let them get so juicy looking.” Zé was looking at her again. Gawking might be a better word.

mmmm .... alrighty then

“Sooo . . . you really didn’t know that you were—” “No.” “Wow. This must be hard for you. I mean, I’ve known all my life. Was raised to understand both sides of myself. I can’t imagine finding out about all this when you’re . . . ?” “Thirty.” “Thirty! Wow.” He really wished she’d stop saying “wow.” It was giving him a complex. She was silent for a bit—thankfully—until she asked, “Do you feel safe?” Zé frowned. “In life?” She chuckled. “With the MacKilligans. Those sisters have made quite a name for themselves since they came to our neighborhood.” “The bears don’t seem to mind them.” Wait . . . did he just say that? Why had he said that? What the fuck did that even mean?

:D

when he was, in fact, another . . . well, Dutch was here for him. At first, the cat just stared at him. Frowning. He didn’t say anything. Just kept staring. Dutch was used to breeds that stared. Cats were big on staring. Lions, tigers, bobcats. All of them tended to stare. Even when Dutch tried to involve the man in the conversation by asking whether he’d always lived in New York . . . Zé continued to stare at him. For at least a good minute. Then, with his gaze still on Dutch, Zé slowly reached over and, with a flick of his wrist, knocked Dutch’s soda out of his hand. The Ako Pride She-lion sitting on the other side of Zé threw her head back and laughed as Zé returned his gaze to Max’s team practice.

;)

Max adored her. “Why were you five late?” Coach demanded once they were standing in front of her; her massive shoulders always made her appear as if she was ready to tackle any one of them like a linebacker for the New York Giants. “Why are you asking?” Max questioned. “You know we’ll just lie. We’re very good at lying.” “I’m not,” Tock admitted. “I believe in painful honesty. The kind that destroys your soul and breaks your mind.” “I was just going to blame my period,” Streep interjected. “Talk about my cramping. Then double over, with lots of sobbing.” “While I would quickly move to help Streep and rush her to the bathroom, begging everyone for a tampon as we ran.” Nelle looked around and called out, “Anyone have a tampon? Anyone? Dear God, she needs a tampon!” Everyone stared at Mads but all she did was shrug and softly say, “I would have just walked away. I always walk away when I don’t want to answer something.”

:D

She pointed and they all turned. In the audience seats, two of their teammates—both cheetahs—were sitting on either side of Vargas. And they were talking to him. Talking! Max narrowed her gaze on the two bitches and started over there to slap the shit out of them—merely on principle—but Nelle grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back. “That is not the way to handle it.” “Look at ’em. Talking to him. Whores.” “Wow,” Mads snorted. “You went misogynistic fast.” “Christ, you’re right.” Max put her hands to her head. “What’s wrong with me?” “You like him,” Nelle reasoned. “That’s all. There’s no shame in that.” “Isn’t there, though? When, you know, it makes me call my teammates whores?” “Max, don’t overthink this. Enjoy that first flush of liking a guy . . . before you find out what an asshole he really is and dump him by throwing him out a third-story window like you did to Danny Parker in tenth grade.”

o0

She stormed off and was halfway down the hall when she spun back around, now grinning, and happily told Max, “Oh, and tell Stevie I said ‘hi’!” Max nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. When Blayne was gone, Max muttered, “That bitch is a nut.” A minute or two later, Bo returned. He stopped just below, gazing at them, and asked, “So was the kid on the ceiling?” Afraid to reveal anything, Zé and Max merely stared back but he seemed to see through their clever silence. He nodded his head, started up the final steps. “Yeahhhh. Blayne thinks I don’t know. But I know.” “Let me guess,” Max said. “You thought that with both of you being hybrids, your varied genes would just wipe each other out and you’d end up with full-human children. Right?” “Yep. That’s what we thought.” He glanced back at them. “Instead . . . we have children that can run on the ceiling. Like lizards.” “They can all do it?’ Max asked. “Yeah. They can all do it. Blayne hasn’t figured that out yet, though. She’s probably in denial.”

:D

“Cat?” the driver asked Max. And Max’s response was just to throw her arms up in faux exasperation, her hand nearly hitting his nose. He pushed her hand away. “Do you mind?” “Are you mad about something?” Zé thought a moment, finally admitted, “No. The food, as you promised, was amazing. The drink . . . delicious. Your teammates were not nearly as annoying as Nelle’s friends. And Nelle’s friends went out of their way to avoid me.” “That’s because you don’t look like you have money.” “Good. Anyway, all in all, it was a pretty great night.” “Then why are you so cranky?” “This isn’t cranky. At least not my cranky.” “Dear God, what is your cranky?” “Me,” he answered, “but more.” “What’s terrifying is, I kind of get what you mean.”

;D

“Look, my father, bastard that he is, is really pushing me to find your father . . . bastard that he is. I could use your help.” “If he were here, you know I’d tell you. So would Charlie. But he hasn’t come near us since Charlie threw him in the street and he got run over by a truck. You know, after that funeral.” Zé glanced off, not sure he’d heard that story correctly. “All right, but if you do see him . . .” “Wait.” Max looked at the house. “I’m gonna check the house. Stay here.”

;)

“He’s not in there,” she said, around the thing stinging her while she offered the bag’s contents to her cousin. He happily pulled out another live scorpion and immediately bit its head off. “I appreciate you taking a look, cousin.” “Well, I know MacKilligan luck. I swear all over the place he isn’t there, you leave, I go inside, and BAM! There he is.” “Yeah, that is our luck.” He swallowed the rest of the crunchy scorpion. “But if you hear from him . . .” “I’ll let you know. Unless Stevie sees him first.” “Oh, come on.” “You know how she is when it comes to our dad. And she knows what your dad is going to do to him. I can’t be the one who rats the fucker out if that happens. But if I see him and she hasn’t . . . I’ll call.” “Thanks.” He motioned to the plastic bag. The one that, to Zé’s horror, he now realized was a wiggling plastic bag. “Can I have a few more?” “Oh, here, take it. I have more in the basement.” “Aw, thanks, luv.” He walked off, waving as he went, another scorpion hanging from his mouth. Max smiled at Zé. “So,” she purred, “where were we?”

yeah -- that's a turn off *shudder*

“I get that. What I didn’t expect was to see you snacking on live scorpions! Like, ‘Hey, want a Twizzler? Maybe some M&Ms? How about a live scorpion?’ How are you not worried about dying? And before you say”—he dropped his low voice even lower—“ ‘I’m a honey badger,’ there has got to be more to it than that!” “Uh . . . okay. When I was born, still in the cradle and, you know, before my mother went to prison, she used to give me live scorpions to play with. They’d sting me, I’d cry, but eventually I built up a tolerance for their poison. Now I eat them as a tasty snack because scorpion venom doesn’t hurt me. I barely feel their stings against my skin. And, to be honest, they are really tasty. And crunchy. Like tortilla chips. Tortilla chips that wiggle and attack me.” When Zé didn’t say anything for almost a minute, Max guessed, “This isn’t helping, is it?” “No. Not helping.”

point to him

“Hey, Kapowskis!” she called out to the four grizzly bears about to drive their kids to shifter summer day camp—including the one almost eaten by Zé. “If you want my sister to have those honey buns ready for you when you get back”—she pointed at her father—“he needs to go.” Those big grizzly heads turned, those cold brown eyes locked on Freddy MacKilligan, and their grizzly humps abruptly grew, giving their already powerful arms and shoulders even more strength. Freddy glared at his daughter. “You evil little—aaaaaaaaaah-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” he screamed, running from the four bears chasing him down the Queens, New York, street. With a smile, Max went back inside and closed the front door. “All done.”

:D

Zé shook his head, forcing himself to not look disgusted about a man offering him what seemed to him to be nothing more than a piece of a cheap chair, and simply replied, “No, thanks.” Shen motioned behind him. “Wanna climb a tree with me?” At that point, Zé couldn’t do anything but look as confused as he felt. “Why the hell, as an actual adult, would I want to climb a tree with another man?” Shen simply looked at the tree and so did Zé. It was a good-sized tree with a wide trunk. The branches were extremely thick and covered in lush leaves. “Oh, my God,” Zé gasped out. “I want to climb that tree.” “At this time of day, it’s best to do it as human. But at night . . . all bets are off.” “Pandas climb trees?” “I don’t really climb,” Shen admitted. “I just hang from the lower branch and eat my bamboo.” “And that makes you happy?”

;)

Max had scented the kid coming. Felt his light footsteps coming through the floor. Heard the way he rubbed his nose sometimes instead of twitching it like a normal jackal. So when he put himself between her and Charlie, Max wasn’t bothered or surprised. Charlie, however . . . “Jesus Christ, Kyle! ” she practically screamed, her entire body leaping backward so that she slammed into the oven. “What the fuck, man?” Kyle Jean-Louis Parker blinked a few times as he stared at Charlie. “Sorry you’re so unobservant . . . ?” “Don’t be a smart-ass.” Charlie brushed her jeans off for no reason Max could see, then did that thing she did when she was startled. Barking at the person who’d scared her just like a dog startled from its sleep. “And where the fuck have you been? You’ve been gone for days. For all we knew, you could have been dead!” “Would you have cared?” Kyle wisely asked. “That’s not the point!”

:D

The lion smirked before correcting Streep. “Benjamin.” He gestured to a grizzly. “This is Oliver.” Then pointed at the shifter beside him, whose animal scent Max didn’t recognize. “And this is Bryan.” “Benji, Ollie, and Bri!” Streep cheered. The three men glared at her but the lion quickly continued. “Anyway, I know you’re wondering why you all have been brought here and—” Tock pointed at the black woman, who was now quietly sitting in a corner, drinking from a large travel cup. “Who’s that?” “That’s Imani. She’s here to observe.” “Why didn’t you introduce her? Are you dismissing her very presence because she’s a woman?” Uh-oh. Tock was putting on what the entire team called her “Feminist Warrior Wear—trademark pending.” Unfortunately, Tock always seemed to aim her anger-spears at the wrong targets.

Well ... Tock has a point

“Ohhhh, shit,” Mads breathed out, cutting the cat off, and Max saw the color drain from her teammate’s face. As one, they all looked at the front of the room through the glass and Max immediately realized that things had just gone to shit. * * * Dez watched Smitty pull back a bit. “Do y’all see that?” Smitty said in his Tennessean drawl. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a honey badger show fear.” “Who is that?” Mace asked, enjoying the bag of popcorn he’d brought with him. Dez had invited him and his best friend, Smitty, because she sensed there would be drama and her hubby, lion male that he was, did love drama that he was not involved in. Smitty had also brought along his cousin Dee-Ann, but unlike the boys, she saw the woman standing outside the conference room and instantly shook her head, pulling out her phone. “Who are you calling?” Smitty asked. “Everybody,” she muttered. An answer that Dez found particularly disturbing.

:D

Weapons were drawn but Benji quickly threw up his hands. “No! Don’t shoot her!” Because he knew that if he killed Max’s sister, the only thing he’d be doing would be running for the rest of his life. Max wouldn’t stop until she killed him. And if he killed her, her teammates wouldn’t stop until they’d killed him. Benji and his crew would need to manage Charlie without killing her and, Max had to admit . . . she couldn’t wait for them to try.

:D pompus dick

Max walked across the room and immediately Dee-Ann backed up, throwing up her hands. “Woman, do not kiss me again!” “Awwww, Dee-Ann. What about our love?” “Get your sister out of here before these cops get real cranky.” Laughing, Max walked out and caught up with her friends and sister at the elevator. Her teammates were huddled together against the wall but Charlie was just standing there, quietly, seething. She was quietly seething. Max decided to take over. “You guys find a cab when we get downstairs and we’ll—” “No,” Charlie said, watching the numbers on the wall that told her which floor the elevator was currently on. “They’re coming with us.” “Why?” Nelle asked, her voice ridiculously shaky. Slowly, Charlie looked at the four of them over her shoulder and growled out between clenched teeth, “Because I said so.” Max didn’t really think much about her sister’s statement until she realized that her teammates were silently crying. From fear. Good Lord! The drama with these idiots.

o0

At that point, Miki had turned around in her chair again. “Live without skin? What now?” “Yes! She promised to skin us!” “You know it’s not really that easy to skin a person, right?” “What?” “I’m a hunter,” Miki explained. “Me and my girls—” “My girls and I,” Irene corrected. “Stop it. We go hunting all the time. And it’s not easy to skin a deer, and they have that thick hide you can pretty much grab and pull. But humans . . .” She lifted her left hand and with her right began to simulate removing human skin. “Our skin is so thin, you’ve gotta be real careful about removing it. It’s not like skinning an orange.” Holtz turned to Irene. “Why are all our full-human friends weird?” “I didn’t major in psychology,” Miki said before Irene could reply, “but I’d say you draw weird to you.” “No one asked you, tiny female.”

:D

“Oh, God. They know about the cupcakes.” Her gaze scanned the street. “They know about the cupcakes . . .” * * * Charlie placed another two trays of cupcakes on the dining table to cool and returned to the kitchen. She reached into the cabinet above the fridge and took out several jars of honey. She placed them on the kitchen table with all the other items she needed to make the cupcakes and the icing. Wiping her hands on a towel, she walked back into the dining room and stopped, staring at the grizzly who’d opened her window and was stretching his long arm inside, his fingers attempting to reach the cupcake trays. Placing her hands on her hips, Charlie asked, “Whatcha doin’, Lloyd?” The bear stopped, his gaze locked on the floor, refusing to look up at her. “Uhhhh . . . nothin’?” “Is that a statement or a question, Lloyd? Because it sounds like a question. Like you’re not sure. Are you not sure what you’re doing, Lloyd?” “He’s sorry,” his wife said, pulling him away from the window. “He’s sorry. We’re just going to sit out here and wait until you’re done.” “Sit out there?” Charlie walked to the window and leaned out. They were everywhere. Sitting around her yard, in the summer sun, chatting and waiting—for her cupcakes.

:D

Max took a step back. “You knew?” “Of course I knew.” “But you never said anything.” “What was there to say?” “That you were disappointed in me. That you were disgusted. That you were—” “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Charlie came around the table. “I would never say any of that to you because I never felt that way. All three of us have done whatever we needed to do to keep us going. The money you brought in kept us solvent, allowed us to watch out for Stevie when she was in countries where we could never afford to go to without funds.

<3

“Ma.” “Sorry, sorry. Just a little jealous.” Without moving her gaze from Max, Renny jerked her head in Zé’s direction and asked, “Who’s the cat?” “That’s Zé Vargas.” “He’s cute. You fucking him?” “Not yet.” “I’m feeling objectified.” “Shhh, pretty kitty,” her mother said, ignoring the follow-up hiss. “No one’s talking to you.”

o0

“You want my sister to work for you.” “Yes.” “And her teammates.” “Yes.” “By blackmailing them?” “No. I never would have gone that route, but you know what they say: boys will be boys.” “That’s why you didn’t do anything. You were letting them fail.” She shrugged. “A She-lion teaches the younger generation by letting them get their asses kicked. Usually the ass-kicking comes from a clan of hyenas but you did a very good job.” Charlie rested her hands on her hips. “So what is this? You’re hoping I’ll force my sister to work for you? You’ve got something on me you think you can use to get me to help you?” “Look, kid, I know you can’t be blackmailed. I know you can’t be forced. And I fully understand the extent of your dangerous nature.” She smirked. “That’s why I want to hire you.”

o0

Mads frowned. “Seriously? ‘Hey, honey. Boy, have I missed you these past two decades. Let’s go rob some people’?” “I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that,” Nelle argued, shoving Mads aside with a very nice hip bump. “She was just probably really excited to see you and wasn’t thinking.” “I’m sure that’s true,” Max agreed. “Anyway, I’ll see her again later. I’m not going to worry about it right now.” “So,” Streep interjected, “we’re not going to talk about the fact that on our off-time we’re all thieves? Except for Mads, I mean.” “I steal magazines from doctors’ offices all the time,” Mads admitted. “Why are you in doctors’ offices?” Tock asked. “To steal magazines.” “Okay.” Max went over to the metal shelf where she kept still-boxed basketballs and took one out. “Let’s go practice a little before we eat.” “Why?” “So when Coach is busting our proverbial balls about not being at practice today, we can tell her—without lying—that we still practiced.” “Niiiiice,” her teammates quietly cheered before heading outside.

:D

He’d never tasted anything so amazing before and he was a connoisseur of dark chocolate. Whether it was truffles or cake or ice cream. A very picky connoisseur, in fact, but Charlie had made a believer out of him. She even used a proper dark chocolate ganache on those cupcakes. When he went to grab four more and some polar bear attempted to get between him and what he wanted, Zé bared his fangs and hissed. When the polar paused to wipe the spit from his eyes, Zé grabbed his treats and walked away.

:p

They went out the back door into the yard. Kyle was already up and setting off on a jog, with Dutch along to keep the kid out of trouble. Although Shen had been officially hired to protect Kyle, they all kind of kept an eye on him. None of them really minded. The kid was obnoxiously cute, with ego enough to fill Penn Station, but there was still something about him that stopped at least Max and Charlie from killing him. “So,” Bernice began as soon as they were alone, “which one of you geniuses told your Uncle Will your father was back in town? ” Stevie raised her hand and Charlie blinked, eyes wide. “You did?” When Stevie nodded, Charlie and Max began to politely applaud.

:D

“What’s happening? ” Max asked Charlie. Like her older sister, she was stunned and impressed by Stevie’s outrage and ability to explain it without breaking down into sobs or shifting into a two-ton animal that could destroy the neighborhood. Bernice pointed an angry, damning finger at Stevie, and Max waited for the vitriol that would follow. But, after a few seconds, she lowered her hand and softly admitted, “You’re right. We were cunts.” “Seriously, Charlie,” Max said, turning to her sister, “what’s happening? ”

;)

“Don’t sweat it. We’ve all got family members that make us want to go back in time to destroy that particular bloodline.”

Truth