Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,41

him and then looks back at Lafe. “What was Addie doing back here, anyway?”

“I sorta followed her to the motel,” Lafe admits.

Penn sighs but doesn’t look surprised. “You bribed her to come back?”

Lafe shakes his head. “No. She was running from someone. I saw her in the parking lot and I was her getaway. There was a guy in a SUV who tried to tail us, but I lost him after a couple of miles. I think she might’ve been attacked.”

“She was what?” Penn barks, instantly furious. His body tenses, and even Herrick’s face darkens with anger. “What do you mean you think she was attacked?”

“Well, I actually didn’t get the details yet. I’d just gotten her inside and we were going to talk about it, but…” Lafe trails off, running his fingers over the egg in his palm.

…But we started feeling each other up and were about to get it on, and then Herrick brought home Blondie, so my duck lost her shit.

I guess Penn realizes what Lafe isn’t saying, because he narrows his hazel eyes on him and clenches his fists. Geez Louise. Does he hate me so much that he doesn’t even want Lafe to be around me? That’s pretty shitty, to be honest. It’s not like I purposely triggered the mate-call to trap them into being with me. It just happened and all of us went with it. The logical thing to do is to at least try to see if we can build a relationship.

If we just sever the bond, then our animals will be crushed. We might never be able to mate with anyone else for as long as we live, and shifters can live for hundreds of years. That would be a lonely existence. I’ve always dreamed about the day I’d find the shifter that my animal and I would want to send out the mate-call to. I always pictured it would be someone I’d been dating for awhile—someone who accepted my animal and me. Not a trio of predator outsiders who don’t want me. It makes this whole thing even worse, considering the bonded shifters that I know in Pack Aberrant always seem so amazing together.

Mate bonds are special. The bond connects you in a magical way. Some shifters have such strong mate bonds, that they’re able to communicate telepathically. It’s rare, but it happens. Aside from that, it’s supposed to be like finding your other half, and the sex is supposed to be off the charts. That last one at least, I can claim as true.

Now that my duck has eaten and she’s happily wading around in the water, she loosens her hold on the control over our body. Finally. In a flash, I shift back into my human form and stretch out in the full-length bathtub with a groan.

All three guys look down at me, startled. Their eyes go from concerned about my possible attack, to heated as they take in my naked body. I bristle a little. They want me, but not my duck, and it just doesn’t work that way.

I decide to ignore their lustful looks and chalk it up to my heatwave and their newly formed bonds. Speaking of heatwave, I think my temperature is rising again. Which means I might be entering into my second wave pretty soon.

“Could someone pass me the bubbles?” I ask.

Lafe and Penn both dive for the bottle, but Penn smirks when his hand closes around it first. Lafe grumbles, but turns on the water again while Penn pours in some soap. Bubbles quickly collect around me and I dunk my head under, flattening my hair back before coming up and sighing contentedly. At least they have a big jacuzzi tub. Silver linings and all that. “That’s your cue to leave,” I tell them, closing my eyes as I lean back.

“But the attack—” Penn begins to argue.

“I’ll tell you after I’ve finished with my bath,” I say with a pointed look. “Oh, and you can just put that egg in the fridge or toss it,” I tell Lafe.

Lafe holds the egg against his chest protectively. “What? No. Isn’t it…you know…our chick?”

I raise a brow, doing my best not to laugh. “Duckling. And no. It’s not fertilized. I’m on shifter birth control.”

“Oh. Well, it’s a nice egg,” he says, studying it.

“Thank you,” I say proudly, my duck smug as shit. It is a nice egg. “But I’m still pissed at you guys,” I add, glaring at Herrick in particular, then I cock my