Page 26 of Last But Not Leashed

I considered kicking him off and using Jerome as a mop instead of his mate. “Thanks, Jerome.”

“Anytime. So, Ethel. Any candidates?”

“Maybe a few.”

“Like who?”

Ethel sighed and rested her cheek against my chest, which did a good job of sparing Jerome from being kicked across his house for daring to question her. The information would be useful, and it’d gotten her to come closer, something my virus and I agreed was a good situation.

Jerome cleared his throat. “Well, Ethel? Who?”

“My father’s a decent candidate, and my mother would encourage him. I think they like Dale more than they like me.”

“I’ve never met your parents. How is that even possible?”

“They adore you. You put up with me without running away.”

“Are they aware you’re my boss? Not running away from my boss is part of my job.”

“I told them I paid you to put up with me. That only encouraged them. They’ve been trying to get me to settle down for years. I was born infected, and I’ve been told I’m the pickiest female alive. They’re convinced you might be my only hope. That alone makes it pretty probable they’re the assholes behind the bounty. They’d do that. And they’d set the condition I wasn’t to be hurt because they’d probably kill anyone who hurt me.” Ethel took a step away from me, much to my disappointment, and wrinkled her nose. “Damned lycanthrope parents.”

I understood that complaint well enough. Once my parents found out I had purple fur to go with my hybrid form, they’d probably start pulling similar stunts on a much tighter budget. “How illegal is it to set a live bounty on someone anyway?”

Ethel snorted, then she laughed. “It’s illegal to kidnap someone, but it’s not illegal to set a live bounty. It depends. With the right terms, it’s not illegal, and the kidnapping charge can be paid off with a match of the bounty to the victim.”

If my parents had the money, I could see them throwing funds at ensuring I continued the family line, although their approach would likely involve paying girls to try to befriend me and get into my pants as often as possible until I found a woman I couldn’t resist.

She stood in front of me, another reason I hadn’t visited my parents in a shamefully long time.

“Are you telling me that you might be the cause of all this mayhem, Ethel?”

I hoped she said yes. If she said yes, I’d have a good excuse to press her buttons, rile her up, and lure her closer with the goal of making her a permanent fixture in my life.

“My parents might do something this idiotic,” she admitted.

“And get away with it?”

“I probably wouldn’t press any charges if they gift wrapped you for me.”

Jerome snickered. “Of course you wouldn’t. You’d be too busy playing with your present. Dale wouldn’t press charges, either. He’d be too busy being your present and in a mating frenzy.”

Killing Jerome would get in the way of making his predictions a reality, but the thought tempted me all the same.

“That had crossed my mind, too,” Ethel admitted. “I’ll need to look over the bounty rules and double-check the laws. My parents typically follow the word of the law while the rest of my family would do it just to piss me off. However, no one in my family would attack a human to infect him. Those two incidents are likely unrelated.”

“The timing implies otherwise,” I said.

“Well, if it’s my parents, they heard about the incident at the mall. I could see them deciding to do something about it.” She smiled. “If my family is involved, I will enjoy murdering them. But in good news, we’ll have an easier time identifying who attacked Mr. Jones and why. And my family, while annoying and deserving of death if they’re responsible for this, wouldn’t intentionally hire a black duster. I’m willing to bet if they’re behind it, the bounty terms would’ve made that filth avoid the job.”

“Interesting.” Tired of the pack climbing all over me, I leaned forward and shook, shedding people like I’d remove water from my coat. Bending down, I grabbed Jerome by the back of his neck and peeled him off my leg. Clyde released me and scrambled out of reach. Picking up my alpha, I relocated him to his kitchen counter. “For that much money, I’d do a lot,” I confessed. “Why wouldn’t someone else?”

Ethel growled at me. “The terms should’ve dissuaded him.”

Licking Ethel from chin to scalp would either annoy her even more or distract her, and I hopped forward, giving her a full dose of my breath and a rude amount of wolf slobber. She squealed and backpedaled clapping her hands over her nose. “Damn it, Dale!”

I pursued her, my laughter rumbling in my chest. After her displays of interest, I deemed it acceptable to rub my nose against the gentle curve of her throat and breathe in her scent. “Let me see if I understand this. You have how many family members willing to pay how much for me to have you? You deserved being licked for that.”

Allison giggled, then she false whispered, “Dale being assertive is really creepy, babe.”