species, I deserve a lion. It’s good to tame the second best in the cat world. Or are lions third best? Tigers are pretty amazing. What do you think, Mr. Mane?”
“Lions are far superior to tigers.”
“Spoken like a true lion.” I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel of my father’s truck. “What do you think the male lynx father of a bazillion children but only one daughter would do to a filthy lion scented near his only daughter?”
“Murder comes to mind. That tends to be what lycanthrope fathers do to males who come near their daughters without their permission.”
I heaved a sigh. “But I don’t want my father to kill you. If you’re dead, you can’t roar for me, Sumners. This is important to me. Pissing you off and making you roar is one of my joys in life.”
“Once the daughter is happily mated, the fathers tend to only beat a little rather than attempt murder,” he replied. “This is a well-established fact about lycanthrope males, accepted as a hazard of picking a lycanthrope female rather than a human woman. As there are so few single lycanthrope females, most convince a human woman to settle down and accept the virus, as your brothers will do because you’re the only single female lycanthrope lynx alive.”
“Lynxes can be happily mated?” I frowned. “But there’s so much fighting. Also, I’m an endangered species, and this sucks.”
“But is your mother happily fighting?”
Oh. Right. “Yeah, okay. That is an accurate statement. She joyously fights with my father, which is why she’s pregnant with yet another litter.”
“I recommend you actively select the man you wish to be mated to. Part of my job as your supervisor is to make sure that right isn’t taken from you. I’m also responsible for making sure you follow the rules when it comes to acquiring your mate. The CDC has opted for a more intimate approach for agents and bounty hunters like yourself.”
“Ew. I don’t want the CDC all up in my business!”
The lion dared to laugh at me. “Until you’re happily mated, that’s precisely what is going to happen. When you’re happily mated, you’ll be asked about testing a new perfume to help hide your status as a mated female. The idea is to use female agents as bait to catch out-of-control lycanthropes, partnered with their mates. It should lower incidents of forced matings in the field.”
I grimaced, as I’d had a few close calls I’d put a lethal end to. Virus contamination didn’t matter if the would-be suitor died, and I took care to make sure I eliminated anyone stupid enough to try to force me. “You have read my file, I see.”
“I already told you I had read it. Five counts of lethal force to prevent unwanted mating. I don’t care what your other supervisors said, but well done. If you could hurry up and find a male you like, that’d be exceptionally helpful.”
“My face makes that hard, Mr. Mane.”
“I’d say there’s nothing wrong with your face, but anytime the CDC wants to offer full reconstructive surgery to address severe self-esteem issues in an exceptional bounty hunter, there’s something wrong with your face. Personally, I don’t see what everyone has a problem with. They’re scars, and there’s something to be said about a woman who can stand proud in spite of them. But I’m onto you. You hate when people flinch when they see your face. You cover it by doing stupid shit, including making me roar at you.”
“Oh, I just make you roar because I like it.” Otherwise, I resented how accurate he was about my life. “Enjoying your roar is not stupid.”
“There are far better ways of making me roar, so yes, it is stupid.”
While I had the relationship experience of the average rock, even I recognized how his comment could be taken as flirting. Puzzled, I frowned, checked the navigation system, which put us at forty minutes away from our goal with a delightful amount of empty space to drive through. Delaying by an hour or six wouldn’t make much difference in my schedule, as we’d gotten an early enough start—and I had their home address and could commit murder wherever I wanted. “I haven’t painted my nails.”
“You haven’t what?”
“Painted my nails.” I held up one hand, careful to keep the other on the wheel, showing off my nails, which I kept neatly trimmed and at a good length for scratching people, unless I needed to adopt my hybrid form. “They’re my best