my surgeon thought he might cut the costs down to five hundred thousand or less, which I could afford, if I found myself a lycanthrope male willing to put up with me for life. After laying claim to a male, my virus would go into remission for a while to recover, which would allow the team needed to do the operation with minimal risk to them while also requiring less heavy-duty magic.
Or something like that. I’d tuned out most of the specifics about what a man might do to help with the procedure, as I had no intention of claiming a mate for such a reason. It seemed wrong to use a man to fix my face, so I dodged that whole problem by avoiding the males of my kind and making sure they didn’t get too close while sniffing around my territory.
In the wee hours of the morning, twenty minutes after I’d started tidying my home and packing my bags for the week, my cell rang. I checked the device to discover my father’s number. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, I answered, “Hi, Daddy.”
Calling him my daddy calmed him and his damned, overprotective virus—and tricked him into believing there wasn’t anything amiss. With how my life tended to go, if he’d rubbed his damned brain cells together with even a hint of vigor, he’d see through my bullshit.
My daddy was an idiot sometimes, but I loved him anyway.
“How is my little kitten this morning? I hope I didn’t wake you, but I wanted to catch you before you leave for your trip.”
“Pretty good,” I lied, grateful my father couldn’t sniff out the truth over the phone. “The boss is happy with me because I performed well on the phones today. I got an extra unpaid day tacked onto my vacation, too, so I’ll be out of town a little longer than planned. Please don’t panic while I’m enjoying my stay out of town.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, and I’ll make sure all of your brothers are aware. Will you be visiting us before you head off to your resort?”
I’d given myself two days to get to my destination, which I intended to use on scouting, as I had three good targets not far from the resort deep in the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio. “I could be talked into visiting, I suppose. Delaying for a few hours won’t change my drive much.”
“Your brothers have been whining.”
“Which ones? There are a lot of whiners in the family, Dad. Some days, you happen to be one of them.”
“Pretty much all of them. I’m definitely one of the whiners, and I’ll be very happy if my little kitten comes home for a visit. It’s been over a month.”
For fuck’s sake. In my planning, I hadn’t anticipated my entire family melting down because I dared to take a week off to go to a luxury spa—on my family’s dime, as a customer service representative couldn’t afford a stay at a resort or spa, let alone a luxury one. My father, through careful conning of my herd of brothers, had made them all contribute to my vacation, thus resulting in me staying somewhere nice rather than my initial plan to stay out on the streets while a lynx when I wasn’t doing my work. My stay at the resort pleased them—and gave me a good cover for being in Cincinnati for so long. “Which one hasn’t been whining? Put that one on the phone, please.”
“I suppose Jace has been whining the least. Hold on.” My father drew in a breath, and I held my cell away from my ear while he screeched for my younger brother. While I waited for the yowling to quiet, I checked my list of brothers.
Ah, right. Jace counted as the clan’s keeper of the peace, as nobody was brave enough to piss off the attorney who enjoyed making certain hardened criminals remained behind bars. Of my brothers, Jace would freak the most if he discovered his little kitten of a sister killed people for a living. It didn’t matter I’d been born three years before him. As the only girl of the lot, I would forever be the little kitten of the family.
Mom and Dad needed to have a litter with at least one girl so I wouldn’t be stuck as the little kitten forever.
The yowling stopped, and I returned the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Harri,” my brother greeted. “Looking forward to your vacation?”