Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,40

“You’re apologizing to your duck? That thing just attacked me!”

“She doesn’t like visitors,” Lafe says with a smirk. He looks like he’s thoroughly enjoying himself. “You’ll have to excuse her bad behavior. She’s very territorial.”

“Who even has a duck for a pet?” the woman asks indignantly.

“She’s got a point,” Penn mumbles.

My duck snaps at his finger. “Ouch!” he exclaims, shaking his hand. “That’s it. You need a time out,” he tells me. “Herrick, say goodbye to your friend.”

To my utter surprise and delight, Herrick mumbles, “Sorry, I gotta go. Nice meeting you.”

Blondie shrieks. “Nice meeting me? You asshole!”

She wrenches off her heels and chucks them at his head one after the other. They land like four feet away from him, but at least she gave it the ol’ college try. With one last huff, she storms to her car and peels out of the driveway. My duck holds her beak up high in victory.

When the woman is finally out of sight, Penn puts me down on the grass. All three guys surround me like hot towers of doom.

“Alright, Addie. Shift back,” Penn orders.

My duck looks at him like he’s an idiot. She ruffles her feathers and starts waddling around the lawn instead.

“Look at her ducking go,” Lafe snickers.

“Aderyn Locke. You will shift back right now,” Penn says sternly, trying to order me around all alpha-like. My duck doesn’t listen of course, but I think it’s pretty hot.

Ignoring him completely, my duck struts right past them and through the open front door. She half-walks, half-flies to the kitchen. Before the guys can stop her, she raids the cupboards and knocks over a box of crackers. My duck goes to town on those bad boys.

Lafe watches with amusement as she buries her head in the box and starts chowing down. “I guess she wanted a quacker,” he jokes.

I can’t even appreciate his attempt at lightening the mood. My duck is pissed that Herrick brought home another female, and to be honest, so am I. The very reason he’s in a rut is because of me. The only one that should be reaping the benefits of his constant arousal for the immediate future is yours truly.

It’s an unspoken shifter rule. You don’t just go out and do the dirty with someone else when the female you rutted with is still riding her heatwave. And even more than that, you never, ever have sex with someone else when you’ve just answered a mate-call. I feel utterly betrayed. And my duck is feeling very territorial. And when she feels territorial…

One second, my duck is finishing off the last of the crackers and the next, she pops a squat, bears down and…

“Quack!”

Lafe’s mouth drops open. “Did she just…”

Penn blinks. “Lay an egg on the counter? Yup.”

Yeah…my duck kind of lays eggs when she’s feeling territorial. It’s her way of breaking in the nest, so to speak.

The guys just stare at it. Awkward.

My duck looks down at her impressively-sized egg and nods once in satisfaction. She gives her mates a look, quacking reproachfully like, “Here assholes, I laid you an egg. Leave that there so bitches know you’re taken,” kind of thing.

Finished with her crackers and laying (literally) down the law, my duck flies down from the counter and waddles into the bathroom. Then she hops into the bathtub and waits politely.

“What is she doing now?” Lafe asks, as the guys file into the bathroom.

Penn smirks and then reaches over to turn on the water. My duck honks at him until he gets the temperature just right. Then she quacks contentedly and starts to paddle her legs in the water.

“So, she’s just gonna…” Lafe motions his hand at me. “Wade around in the bath?” he asks, and I notice that he’s holding the egg in his hand.

“She likes the water,” Herrick mumbles.

As if they guys suddenly remember he’s there, Penn and Lafe turn on him. “What the hell were you thinking bringing another female here?” Penn snaps.

Herrick stuffs his hands in his pockets and actually looks a bit guilty. “I wasn’t thinking. I just needed to take the edge off, you know?” He darts a look at me before looking away again. “I didn’t think Addie was coming back.”

My duck quacks aggressively at him. Yes, that’s also a thing. My duck’s quacks can be downright menacing.

“That was a dick move, and you know it,” Penn says. “Whether you like it or not, you’re mated to her. We all are. Show some respect.” Penn shakes his head at