Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 135321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 541(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 541(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Done sweeping, Havana blew out an upward breath, making her bangs lift. She’d worked extra shifts at the center over the past week, hoping to ease her devil’s annoyance. The animal was in a super foul mood.
It wasn’t until Havana stalked out of Tate’s house that she realized her devil had expected him to ask Havana to stay. The devil had believed he’d offer Havana more; that he wanted her bad enough to overcome whatever commitment issues he had. When he’d instead let her go, he’d pissed the devil off to such an extent that she’d slammed a mental door on him. She’d been in a huff ever since, and Havana couldn’t seem to snap her out of it.
The devil hadn’t reacted quite as dramatically when Dieter got all cozy with an eagle shifter, nor had she seemed surprised. Maybe the devil hadn’t expected him to commit. Really, Havana shouldn’t have hoped for it either, given that Dieter disliked the lone shifter lifestyle and wanted to join a flock.
He’d been born to an eagle shifter couple who were loners, so he’d never known anything different. He wanted that sense of belonging that came with being part of a flock. He had this grand notion that his life would be a bed of roses if he was ever accepted into one. He didn’t understand why Havana liked being a loner.
Unlike him, she hadn’t been a loner all her life. She’d once been part of a devil shifter clan. Contrary to what Dieter believed, being part of something didn’t always give you a sense of “belonging.” The members didn’t always look out for their own. Didn’t always take care of you. Sometimes they even took from you … leaving you all alone in the world.
The heavy door swung open, making the hinges creak. She turned to see Corbin walk inside. The grizzly had opened the center many years ago in memory of his younger sister, Celine. Their parents had been lone shifters, so there’d been no one to take in Corbin and Celine when said parents died in a house fire. The children ended up living on the streets, and poor Celine later died a terrible death at the hands of a hyena clan. Corbin tried to help others in the way no one had helped him or his sister. He was gruff on the outside but gooey on the inside.
He’d taken many loners under his wing over the years, giving them whatever support he could, providing jobs for them at the center, and helping them find safe accommodation—sometimes at the local homeless shelter for lone shifters. He was seriously ace, in her opinion.
“Almost done in here?” he asked.
Havana smiled. “I think so, yeah, we—Bailey, get off the maintenance trolley.” The weirdo was balancing on it while spinning in circles. Havana didn’t know if it was a black mamba thing or a Bailey thing, but the female had a seriously short attention span. Bailey’s mind switched context fast and often, so she had a habit of blurting out questions that were usually unrelated to whatever was happening around her. Most people found it kind of endearing.
Bailey pouted, which somehow looked cute. “Fine, fine.” She hopped off the trolley and flicked her sleek hair—which she’d recently dyed a striking silver that suited her perfectly—over her shoulder. She was a pretty thing with her deep-set eyes, oval face, and the high cheekbones any female would envy. It was clear she had some Asian ancestry.
Mambas possessed the same notoriously bad temper as devil shifters and often picked fights purely for shits and giggles. But people tended to assume that Bailey wasn’t as fierce and feisty as her inner snake. Mostly because she looked so sweet and innocent. Yeah, she really wasn’t.
With her default unimpressed expression, Aspen looked aloof and disinterested in people. Yeah, she absolutely was. But that was a bearcat thing. They gave zero fucks about what went on outside their own little world—they didn’t like to complicate their lives.
What bearcats really didn’t like was to be cuddled. But because they were so adorable, it was often the first thing people tried to do. In truth, that cuteness was a weapon—it suckered you in, made you move closer, made you think you were safe. But there would be no snugglefest from these cantankerous creatures who had uber-sharp teeth and a chomping power that could crush bone.
Honestly, Havana was no more a fan of cuddles than bearcats were … which was why she tended to snarl if anyone tried hugging her. She’d always been that way, according to her late mother.
Corbin folded his arms. “I was hoping to speak with the three of you.”
Feeling a lecture coming on, Havana asked, “About what?”
He tilted his head. “You really can’t guess?”
Aspen arched her brows. “We have to guess? Ooh, this could take a while.” She hummed. “You want to chew a chunk out of our asses for shoving dead sardines down the seat tube of Jackson’s bike? If so, I’m not apologizing. He totally deserved it for cheating on Bailey—and with Ginny, of all people.”