Lola’s head whipped from Riker to Callon and then to Sam.“What is shit?Why shit?What is the Dire?And why is that shit?Why is that worse than an entire pack of wolves?”
“It might not be,” Riker offered.
“Or,” Sam said slowly.
“Or, or, or, or?”Lola chanted, practically jumping up and down.What the hell was wrong with these people and giving up information?Had they never heard of waterboarding, toothpicks under the fingernails, or literally any other torture to get a person to talk?Do theynotwatch crime documentaries?Probably not because they don’t have a Katy for a BFF.
“The Dire is awho,not awhat,” Riker explained.
“How do you have this information?”Callon’s head tilted slightly as he pinned Riker with a steely glare.
“I have a friend who owes me.”
Callon frowned.“Owes you for what, Riker?”
“No disrespect, Callon”—Riker bowed—“but not everything is your business.I assure you there is no threat to our kingdom, nor would I ever betray KOC.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Callon said immediately.
Lola could feel his sincerity.
“Then trust me when I say that if this wolf is telling me that Nox isn’t sending the pack, it’s the truth.”
Lola and Sam looked at each other and then at the two males.Finally, Callon nodded.
Lola raised her hand.“I still would like to know who the heck the Dire is, please and thank you.”
Callon chuckled and pulled her to his side.“Transactions, Little Cat.Tit for tat.You get information based on performance.”
She frowned at him.“You’re going to make me perform tricks to get a treat?”
Sam giggled and then slapped a hand over her mouth when Lola shot her a glare.“Sorry,” the other woman mouthed.
“Consider it motivation.”Callon walked her over to an empty square of grass.“Now, Sam, what’s first?”
“Okay.”Sam clapped her hands together and then rubbed them, looking like an eager child.“Lola, the process is actually quite simple.When you and Callon bonded—” She paused and looked between the two of them.“Youdidbond, right?”
Lola couldn’t stop the blush if she wanted to.“Yes.”
“We bonded,” Callon growled.
Sam narrowed her eyes and rested her hands on her hips.“How bonded are we talking?”
“Dammit, Sam.”
“Prince…” Riker warned.
“Sex.”Lola blurted out for some reason she will never ever know.“There’s been no sex.Okay.There.I said it.Happy?Our tattoos are identical and are like two matching glowworms.”Lola spun in a circle as she waved her hands in the air while wiggling her fingers as she spoke.“Just glowing it up in the night.Having a little glowworm lovefest.But like lion glowworms, because they’re not worms at all.They’re lions.So more like a lion lovefest.But since there’s no such thing as a glow lion, I couldn’t use that analogy because it wouldn’t make any sense.”
“You done,Sazzi?”Callon asked, as Lola’s circle came to a slow stop, and she lowered her arms.
“Umm, yup.Totally done.”She slipped her hands into her pockets and rocked back on her heels.“So, how about this weather?It’s great shifting weather.Or so I hear.Not because I’ve ever shifted and know a damn thing about shifting.For all I know, it’s better to shift in the freezing cold.”
“She is flipping adorable.”Sam grinned.“Where’d you find her?”She didn’t give anyone a chance to answer.“Your tattoos match and they glow?”Sam’s voice got louder as she spoke.“They’re identical?How identical?”
“I think there’s only one kind of identical,” Lola said as the other woman walked over to her and started gently tugging at Lola’s shirt.
“Samantha,” Riker huffed.“You can’t expect her to show you her tattoo.”
