out and stand on the bathroom floor mat, dripping water all over the damn place. I don’t dare steal someone else’s towel because I will definitely catch shit for that, so I snatch up the hand towel and use that instead. It’s a bit ridiculous, but it’s better than nothing. Where did my goddamn towel go?
Still damp in some places, I yank on my t-shirt and jeans, and then head out of the shared bathroom, making sure to take the now dirty hand towel with me. I use it to scrub the water out of my hair, but the thing is so damp that I’m not really sure if it’s helping.
Stopping in my room, I toss it in my hamper, tug my socks and shoes on, and then close my door and head across the metal catwalk to the staircase.
My feet clomp down the metal steps, and since the entire warehouse is wide open, I can see everyone below. Some of my packmates are talking shit to each other while they play video games together. It’s early, but they’re all enforcers, so they’ve been up doing the night shift at the perimeter. They like to come here to Warehouse One to decompress after their shift change.
Today, it’s Stinger and Jenson from Warehouse Three, plus Toby and Lulu, who both live here with me and the others. I play video games with them sometimes, but I’m usually more content to tinker in my shop.
I pass them by where they’re clustered around the couches, and head for the industrial-sized kitchen. Seeing what’s there, I quickly grab some ingredients, throw some eggs in a pan and then, when those are done, I pile everything on my plate before popping it in the microwave for a few seconds. I chug a can of soda while I wait for it to beep, and then I sit down at the stool on the other side of the concrete countertop and dig in.
“You eat the weirdest shit.”
I glance up at Regina as she shakes her head at my plate before grabbing a cup of coffee from the maker.
“You know you want to try it,” I say with a smirk.
She makes a face. “Who eats nachos at six o’clock in the morning?”
“They’re breakfast nachos.”
She snorts and tucks her hair behind her ear. Her hair, I realize, that’s no longer just natural brown. “You let Zoey get to you?” I ask, nodding at the new purple, pink, and teal highlights she has dyed at the bottom.
Zoey works at a hair salon, and she’s always doing everyone’s hair. I’ve also learned that it’s not always just artistic drive, either. She once waxed Garth’s calves and dyed his eyebrows rainbow while he was sleeping, because he pissed her off. Garth doesn’t piss her off anymore. You should never make a stylist angry, because they have the power and the supplies to make you look like shit.
“It looks cool, huh?” she beams, threading her fingers through her hair.
“Sure.”
She rolls her eyes and chugs more coffee down. “Whatever. Explain these breakfast nachos to me.”
I point to my plate, because it should be self-explanatory. Tortilla chips, scrambled eggs, bacon bits, and nacho cheese. It has some major food groups in there. Plus, I don’t have to use silverware to eat it, which means one less fork I have to wash. Win-win.
The microwave beeps again just as I shove another few chips in my mouth. Regina arches a brow at me. “More?”
I look at her incredulously. “You think this would fill me up?”
With a dry laugh, she moves to the microwave and pulls out my second plate of nachos. She frowns down at them before sliding it in front of me. “And what kind of nachos are these?”
“Dessert nachos.” Tortilla chips, cinnamon rolls crumbled over it, and some nice icing drizzled over the top. Plus some strawberries. To keep it healthy.
Regina shakes her head at me as I start digging in. “News flash, you’re not supposed to have dessert after breakfast. And you should be about three hundred pounds by now from eating that shit.”
I grin and pat my fit stomach. I might not work as a pack enforcer, but I make sure I hit the gym with some of them. Besides, shifter physique makes it really easy to stay in shape.
“You want more curves on me, Reg?” I tease.
She narrows her eyes on me. “Don’t be annoying, or I will let my llama spit on you,” she threatens.
I grin wider. “Kinky.”
Her cheeks turn bright