Chapter Five #2
Brodie winces. “We will be involved in the parade and party tomorrow. We’re pulling security for the parade, and our bond has been invited as guests to the party. That’s okay, we will come in on Monday and talk to her.”
Violet walks away, and Liam growls at Brodie. “What the fuck are you playing at? You think I’m bad for showing interest in Gianna, but that’s not as bad as sniffing around a human.”
Liam is right. Brodie should forget about the human.
Sure, she was pretty, and she wasn’t easily intimidated when we collected Archie, but she’s not for us, even if she smells delicious, like cupcakes and cream cheese frosting.
My dragon would like to give her a lick to see if she tastes as good as she smells, but we won’t.
That’s only a road to heartbreak for all of us.
“Gods, you’re such an asshole.” Brodie flips Liam off, and Gem watches eagerly, like he’s waiting for them to brawl in the café. Our phoenix is mischievous and likes to stir up trouble.
“But he’s right.” I agree with Liam, even though it hurts to admit it. “Colbie is human and isn’t for us.”
Brodie’s aggravation drains away, and his whole body slumps. “I know, but my wolf likes her. He wants to roll around and cover himself with her scent.”
“Huh.” Gem sounds surprised. “That is unusual. Humans usually don’t smell like anything to me, but you’re right, she does smell nice, like cupcakes.”
“And frosting,” I add, my dragon licking his lips.
“It doesn’t matter, she could smell like the best thing ever, and we still couldn’t do anything about it. If I have to forget Gianna, who is at least a shifter, then you need to forget about the pretty human baker.”
Brodie smirks, but Liam hasn’t even realized he admitted he found the human attractive.
We fall into an uneasy silence, all lost in our own thoughts as Violet returns with our sandwiches.
We all ordered chicken schnitzel and cheese BLTs, and the rolls that are placed in front of us need two hands to eat so the filling doesn’t fall out.
Violet tells us to enjoy the food before serving another group who just walked in, and we eat our meal in companionable silence.
I watch as humans and shifters come and go.
Some stay and eat in the café, while some just get takeaway orders, but all have excellent things to say about the bakery and its food.
“Why haven’t we ever eaten here before? This is fucking delicious,” Gem asks, taking a sip of his soda, half of his sandwich already gone.
“Probably because it’s human owned. We tend to favor shifter establishments because we are supporting our people,” I reply, acknowledging our slight prejudice, but it’s not about shifters being better than humans or anything, just that we’re shifters so we should support our shifter brethren.
“Well, clearly we’re idiots,” Brodie says after swallowing his mouthful. “I wonder if they will deliver to the night watch tower in the evenings?”
“I’m sorry, but we aren’t open for evening meals,” Violet says, hearing his comment as she hurries back and forth from the counter to the tables. “We close at five.”
Brodie groans his disappointment.
“But you can order earlier, and we can deliver to you. You would just need to keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it,” she suggests, and he perks right up. “The menu is on our website.”
She disappears into the back with the dirty dishes, and Brodie takes out his phone.
I can see him googling the bakery. I’d bet my last dollar that he is trying to find out more information about the owner.
I can’t wait for Gryffin to return from wherever he went.
Bryson said he asked to go into witch territory to look for Archer, frantic about his nephew missing, but Gryffin has also had a personal preoccupation for the last couple of years, and he uses these trips for another reason.
We’ve told him to give it up, but he refuses to.
He should return soon though. We messaged him that Archer had been found, I just hope he got it, because cell phones are notoriously unreliable between kingdoms. Something about the magical borders disrupts the signals.
Hopefully he can help talk some sense into Liam.
His bear has always responded well to Gryffin’s tiger.
Between Gryffin and Gem, they will balance our bond mate, and not a moment too soon, because the next few weeks are going to be busy with all the royal engagements, and I’m sure by the end of it, both Gianna and the pretty little human will be off everyone’s minds.
Suddenly, our phones all start to ring with a specific tone—that’s the night watch alarm. We’re all on alert as I pull it out of my pocket and look at the screen. “Fuck.” A wave of adrenaline washes through me at the message. “A group of ferals have been sighted.”
The four of us stand up. Gem tosses a handful of bills on the table to cover our meal and tip, and then the four of us hurry out of the restaurant.
“It’s been a few months since we had a feral problem,” Liam comments as we run toward night watch headquarters.
“And a group of ferals is something we’ve never dealt with. Usually they are solitary creatures.” Gem sounds devastated. He hates the part of our job where we have to put a feral shifter down. He’s a healer at heart, so killing a feral who didn’t ask to be that way always destroys him.
“If only we could trace a feral back to the shifter that tried to turn them, then we could punish the real culprit.” Brodie’s face is stone cold. The cheerful, joking man is gone, and in his place is someone who is prepared for what we might face, but he still hates it.
Ferals are the worst part of being in the night watch.
They usually escape to the neutral or human zones, and we have to put them down.
Very rarely do they stay in the shifter zone, where they are dealt with by the shifter armed forces.
They know being a feral is a death sentence.
Although they start off fairly rational, the mental deterioration happens quickly, making them aggressive and dangerous.
They don’t have the king’s magic to balance them.
It is an ongoing bone of contention for the shifter community and the only issue that causes the royal family grief.
It obviously needs to be addressed again, but with the royal handover, the new king or queen is going to have to be brought up to speed swiftly.
Thankfully the outgoing royals will be able to advise, because it isn’t a decision that should be made by someone who’s uninformed.