AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She frowned at him, and he said, “Vegetarians smell like prey, and you smell like a warrior princess.”
“I was raised a vegetarian, once I came to America.” And there had rarely been meat in the orphanage, but she wasn’t in the habit of speaking of her time in China. “I eat meat now, but I rarely eat pork. I try to eat farm raised and humanely killed when I can, but it wasn’t always possible on the road. It’s easy at Homewood. Everything there is either from the farm on the mountain or from the bikers’ herd.”
“Gavin owns some farms in the area, and he makes sure all his people are well fed. I can stick a steak in the oven if you want more than eggs and biscuits.”
Lauren shook her head. “No need for eggs and meat. I usually eat one or the other, and not both.”
Dusty was in the dining area with coffee and his laptop, and he closed the laptop and said, “I have no idea if you’ll have to feed your hawk or not. For us, if we don’t feed the bear, it’s bad.”
They’d figured most of it out the night before, so Lauren had explained the situation to them. She was living in their home, she was technically a new supernatural — an unknown — so it was the right thing to do.
“So you’re saying I’m going to develop a taste for rabbits and squirrels?”
“No, just that a true hawk shapeshifter needs the nutritional requirements of both the human and the hawk, which means more protein than a human would generally eat.”
“Just keep it in mind,” Link said as he poured the already beaten eggs into a pan. “If you start having control issues, mind your food intake and your sleep.”
“Ambrose just pulled in,” Dusty said from the other room.
A little bar area allowed them to see each other, and Lauren turned to him to ask, “How do you know?”
“He’s on a custom motorcycle, so it’s easy to make out his engine over others. Your Hellcat is pretty distinct, too.”
A few minutes later, Ambrose walked in with a huge box of donuts and settled them on the table. “For the record, Mordecai and Gavin both spoke to me about shadowing you today, and gave me rules of engagement. Generally speaking, new supernaturals don’t get to go to work and be around humans. We have no specific reason to believe there will be a control issue, but with me close, I can intercede if any issues pop up. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Have you experienced anything besides better vision?” Dusty asked.
“I knew it was going to storm, and I knew the rain would arrive about when the sun went down. I think I have an idea of whether people are lying or telling the truth, but from what I gather, hawks see patterns in things, so that’s likely what I’m picking up.”
“A raven I know talks about his bird seeing micro-expressions,” Dusty said. “Ravens have a better sense of smell than humans, though nothing close to wolves or bears, but their eyesight is a thousand times better, plus the way their brains deal with patterns. It sounds like we need to get you in touch with a hawk shapeshifter.”
“Homewood has some hawks who work security. I know someone I can talk to.”
“We only worked with Cora a few times when we were with Drake Security, but I liked her,” Link said. “Professional and kind, which you don’t see very often, but I wouldn’t want her on my bad side.”
“Cora’s kind of like an aunt to me. It’s hard to explain, but her connection to my mom makes them closer than sisters.”
They all sat down to eat, and the conversation stayed on safer topics, thankfully. Lauren didn’t want to talk about herself anymore.
She thought she’d call Queenie from her car, but Ambrose informed her he was riding with her. So, she’d wait until she was in her office to close her door and make the call.
But first, a trip to the mall, where Ambrose was a quick study in what she was looking for, and she walked out forty minutes later with five outfits suitable for work, along with three new pairs of shoes.
Chapter 4
Lauren wore her jeans into the backstage area of the theater, and changed clothes in her office before sitting at her desk to call Queenie.
“Nick tells me you’ll be packing my things?”
“Yeah. Sorry. If you want to be on a video call with me while I do, I’ll understand.”
“I don’t have anything secret that you can’t see. It’s okay. I’m just not sure where to tell you to take it. I hadn’t planned to move in with Gavin, but it’ll probably take me a few days to look over apartments and find a place.”
“Ambrose is staying in the coterie house, but he has a nearby home he can go to when he doesn’t want to be around all of us. I know Gavin and Mordecai want him watching over you, so perhaps the two of you can stay there a week or two, until you get everything figured out?”
“Do you know why they want him watching over me?”
“I do not. I assume it’s because you aren’t with Nick anymore, so Gavin is wholly responsible for you now. No one wants to deal with your mother if something happens to you.”
