“I’ll have to get a new car.”
“If you get a new car, I may not object to you driving yourself, especially should there be an unexpected pack meeting. Mostly, I like excuses to drive to Massapequa. It’s a nice area. There’s a beach in the backyard.”
“That property has a beach in the backyard?”
“It absolutely does have a beach in the backyard. Would you like to see some pictures?”
“I’m going to need to get the pixie dust out and have a hit now, because if there is anything in this lease that bars me from moving into a house with a beach, I might finally reach my limit.” I got up, grabbed my purse, and sat down on the couch, no longer giving a shit if my virus conned me into cuddling with Wayne if it meant a house with a beach. I dug out the vials, found the one with my name in it, and scowled at my lack of anything to add it to. “Shit.”
Laughing, Wayne got up and went to the television cabinet, opened a door, and revealed a mini fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water and brought it to me. “If you have that much of a problem with pixie dust, use only a sprinkling in water. A full vial might send you to the moon.”
“I’ll need a trip into orbit if my dumb ass loses a beach house being stubborn.”
“You’re not dumb. You’re cautious. There’s a major difference. You have a lot of good reasons to be afraid of male lycanthropes, and most lycanthropes you’ve met have been male. Had you even met one of the ladies before today?”
I shook my head. “The CDC said I’d pick fights.”
“That’s entirely possible. The ladies get vicious over potential males, and until you’re used to handling pack affairs, you might react rather negatively to the other ladies, especially if there is a male you’re interested in. Ladies are pretty vicious about defending their turf. That is true even after mating, although a wise woman stays away from another woman’s man. The males tend to become rather willing to correct a wayward female, and it can become violent quickly.”
“Great.” I followed his advice and tapped a small amount of the pixie dust into the water bottle before giving it a good shake. I chugged the entire bottle in one breath while Wayne watched with a raised brow.
“While that kicks in, let’s go through the rest of the paperwork. I tried to make this as mutually beneficial as possible.”
“Start with the part that’s beneficial with you. That way, if it’s a dealbreaker, I can take another hit of pixie dust and get over the disappointment while higher than a fucking kite.”
Unlike a full hit of the dust, the little amount I’d sprinkled in my water allowed me to relax enough I snuggled into the soft couch, tucking my legs up while making sure my claws didn’t tear anything. I grabbed the papers and flipped through them in search of the dealbreaker.
“I’m your landlord.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty bad, but it’s not quite a dealbreaker. The beach makes up for the owner of the beach.”
“The beach comes with a pier and a small boat, so you can head over to one of the islands if you’d like, too. If you want a jet ski or something like that, arrangements can be made. It’s nice to get away from the city sometimes.”
“Sometimes,” I agreed.
“When was the last time you got out of the city for a while?”
“Good question. I was taking a side job.”
“Did that involve kidnapping a stray lycanthrope, too?”
“Usually, the CDC asks me to lure them into ambushes so law enforcement can nail them. It’s pretty safe that way. You got special treatment. Hell if I know why.”
“You’re a single female hybrid. I’m a single male hybrid. This math is not all that difficult, Joyce. They probably noticed my attempts to get you to move out of your apartment, as singles like us are somewhat monitored. That you haven’t aggressively removed me from your turf was likely all the motivation they needed to poke their nose in our business. Also, because I’m a beta, even if you didn’t take an interest in me, I can integrate you into the pack. The CDC doesn’t like rogue females.”
“But I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That’s why they’ve left you alone. You’re a victim, and they don’t like to make things worse for people in a bad spot. You wouldn’t be the first victim integrated into the pack, so that’s probably why you were assigned my bounty. Now, that said, I’d really like to know who wants me out of town for a while and why. I don’t mind being out of town for a while. Your virus is going to have you on my lap in about five minutes, I thought you’d like to know. Your eyes have changed color, and that’s usually a good sign your virus is spiking to hell.”
To my surprise, the pixie dust hadn’t quite kicked on my virus’s need to cuddle. Being cozy, warm, and safe had settled her down, giving me space to read over the papers. “What color?”
“They were greener before, now they’re closer to an amber or brown.”
“The green or blue is her. The brown is more me. Well, yellow hazel. That’s my natural eye color. She’s usually green, but the blue can show more in the right light.”
“Wait. Your virus is always spiking? Your eyes have always been blue, Joyce. Or green, I guess?”
“Right. The CDC says it’s because of how I was infected. She’s always on guard, so she’s really active. She’s settled right now.”
