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CHAPTER3
The knife sliced through the onion in short, quick intervals that banged out a staccato rhythm against the cutting board. Eagan was in the zone as he whirled through the prep work for tomorrow’s meals. Normally he’d leave this job to Bailey, his assistant. But he’d been sticking around the kitchen more the past few days, keeping his eyes open for any clue that would reveal the thief.
Gash, the clan’s security guy, had beefed up the monitoring, but there’d been nothing out of the ordinary lately. No guests missing items that weren’t in the lost and found. No food had been pilfered. No people who weren’t on the guest register or employees.
But the thief would be back. And then the hunt would be on.
All the cats had been alerted. There would be plenty of shifter noses sniffing around for the bastard.
Eagan moved on to the carrots, slicing the entire bunch of them into uniform medallions.
He wondered how Magic would handle the thief when they caught him. Magic didn’t like dealing with the police. More likely, he’d scare the human half to death and send him on his way.
Layna burst through the swinging kitchen door with an annoyed look on her face. Renner’s sister was oddly like the female version of Magic. She took no shit, but she gave a lot of it. Eagan guessed it was why the two of them managed the lodge so well. He was the muscle behind the operation, and she was the brains, keeping records and schedules and making sure the guests were happy at all times.
She held the cordless phone out to him. “Destiny’s calling,” she said wryly. Then one side of her mouth lifted. “I’ve been wanting to say thatforever.”
Eagan frowned, wiping his hands on a nearby towel. “Destiny? Prego by an asshole wolf Destiny?”
Destiny was a bobcat shifter and member of the Dirt Tracks Dogs, the same hybrid pack that Tana belonged to. She’d stayed at the lodge for a short time after she’d become pregnant by one of the wolves. Eagan had—and he’d never admit this out loud—really enjoyed keeping her well-fed and cared for. There was something special about making sure a female had the necessary nutrients and energy to grow young.
Layna rolled her eyes. “Do you know another one? Besides yours I mean. Your withered future? Your fate. Your—”
“Give me that, you smartass.” He snatched the phone from her grasp and she let out a laugh that reminded him of a cartoon villain as she walked off.
Eagan pressed the receiver to his ear. “Hello.”
“Hey, Eagan, this is Destiny.” She hesitated as if gauging his memory of her.
“Knocked up pasta lover. Yeah, I remember you,” he said, sarcastically.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. I wasn’t sure if I’d made a mark.”
Destiny ended up mating the wolf shifter who fathered her young, and had recently become their Elder, a foreseer for her pack. It was a concept Eagan didn’t necessarily understand. The cats didn’t have wise people to guide them. And even though she was a werecat herself, she’d been chosen and trained to be a guide for her wolf pack.
“Barely,” he said.
“Hmm. I remember you being a tad nicer when I was visiting the lodge. Maybe I’m talking to the wrong Eagan. Is there another one around?”
“Nope. Just me.” He chuckled. “What can I do for you, Destiny? You got a prego craving? Need the recipe for that chicken marsala?”
Pregnant. Damn, what he wouldn’t give to have a female of his own to start a family with. Sometimes at night, he let himself dream about it. A female to love, belly swollen with a baby he’d put there. No midnight craving would go unanswered. Lasagna at 2am? No problem. He’d knock that shit out before she could blink twice. Then he’d feed her. She wouldn’t even have to pick up a fork. He’d love the fuck out of his female, and she’d know it.
Eagan’s thoughts turned dark.
The cats weren’t meant to love. Only to procreate. They weren’t monogamous. He’d only hurt any female he chose. He’d seen his father do it. His grandfather even. If Magic hadn’t shown him a different way, a mating abstinence, maybe he’d have done it too, sleeping with as many females as his feral jag desired while his female grew their cubs and warmed their home.
But when he lay in his bed alone at night, he didn’t feel like that kind of man. He felt like he could be happy loving only one female for his entire life, making her his queen, satisfying her every need. Like those goddamn wolves from DTD. Like… Renner.
“Actually, now that you mention it,” Destiny mused over the line, her voice turning dreamy, “Iwouldlike that recipe. I’ve beendyingfor just a taste…”
“You got it. I’ll have Layna email it to you.”
“But that’s not the reason I called.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, no. Um… I have a… well, I had a vision…”
