Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,53

an impression on me. It might sound weird, but yeah, I trust her.”

He nods at my words. “There are two things you always trust. Your gut, and your animal,” Hugo says, holding up two fingers.

“Yeah, well, my animal mated with three shifters who don’t want me, so what does she know?” I mutter.

Hugo grunts something unintelligible. “You could invite her to join our pack.”

I blink at him in surprise. Hugo always keeps his doors open to shifters who feel like they don’t belong anywhere, but it’s always done carefully. He usually invites them to stay as a guest for a few weeks while the pack gets to know the shifter, before he offers to become their alpha. He likes to make sure he knows their character before inviting them to become one of us.

“You’d invite her? Just like that?”

“No, I’m saying you can invite her. I trust your judgment. Whatever you decide, I’ll support.”

His words mean more to me than I can admit, and I won’t take this responsibility lightly. “I’ll get to know her again, just to make sure. But I think she’d be a great addition. She could fit in well here. Besides, she has nowhere else to go, and being a rogue while her troupe master is after her won’t be easy,” I tell him. “You sure you’d be okay with having that heat brought down on us? If he finds out that she’s joined our pack, he could press charges.”

Hugo lifts a shoulder. “He could try, but even though collaring shifters is legal, it’s frowned upon. And I won’t technically be breaking any laws.”

“You won’t?”

He shakes his head. “Her collar is gonna fall off all by itself. Nothing against the law about that,” he says with a cunning grin. “Also nothing against the law with her joining—as an uncollared shifter.”

I laugh and shake my head. “You cat shifters are so sly.”

“And you duck shifters are flighty,” he says, changing the topic. “You can’t avoid them, Addie.” He wheels his chair closer to the desk so he can lean his forearms against the top. “You have to meet up with them and talk.”

I blow out a breath. “They know what pack I’m in. They could’ve contacted me anytime, but they didn’t. That gives me my answer.”

“Severing all three bonds at the same time could kill you,” he says, not pulling any punches.

“It won’t,” I say with far more confidence than I feel. “Trust me, I don’t want to be miserable, and I definitely don’t want to die. I’m not a martyr. But I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that. I’ve known shifters who have died after a single mate bond was severed. Need I remind you that you have three?”

“Yeah, but those bonds had probably been formed for years, or at least months. Mine has only been activated for a week. It’ll be fine. After a bit, the bond will break, and we can all move on. It’s for the best.”

He looks at me dubiously. “You’re a stubborn duck.”

“Yup.”

He shakes his head and waves a hand toward the door. “Alright, get going. Take care of Jetta and see that our packmates don’t swarm her.”

I get to my feet with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. Jetta can take care of herself.”

Hugo grunts and starts pulling out papers to go over. “Yeah. Just make sure you do the same. If the pain gets worse, you call me. That’s an order from your alpha,” he says sternly.

I salute him before slipping out of the office, his words trailing behind me. I’m determined to do exactly that—take care of myself. So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get through this, just like I’ve gotten through everything else.

I don’t need three preds who don’t want me, and I refuse to live in a loveless—hell even a like-less—bond.

I steel myself for the days to come, knowing it won’t be easy, but at least now with Jetta here, I’ll have some distraction. Especially since the pain in my chest continues to twinge with every breath I take. I let out a shaky breath cursing at how much it tingles.

My mates really ducking suck.

I really hope Hugo isn’t right about breaking these bonds. But to be honest, I’m surprised it hurts as much as it does. We were only together for a single night. I’ve never heard of a bond being this strong so soon. But maybe that’s because I have three of them instead of one. At least, that’s the only reason I let myself think of