“So,” her mother struggled with conversation. “How’s it been going?”

What should she tell her? Well, my best friend’s a shapeshifter and my other best friend is in love with one and having his baby. Plus a pack of hyenas tried to kill me. And who knows what the hell the lions are doing? And I’m temporarily living with a tiger who seems to have the hots for me. And you?

She didn’t, however, want to talk to her mother. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to hang up the phone either.

“Fine.”

“Anyway, there was one other thing.” She should have known better. There had to be a reason her parents suddenly called her out of the blue.

“What do you want, mother?”

“I just needed some information on your grandmother’s estate.”

“You know I don’t deal with that. Uncle Ernesto’s handling everything. Has been for years.” Her grandmother had given Angie a good portion of her money when she graduated college. The old woman knew then her daughter and son in law would make it difficult for her granddaughter. Universities didn’t pay much and it cost a lot to keep some of their digs going. When she died, the will gave control over to Angie’s uncle who still lived in Brazil, but Angie already had her money and never expected any more.

“You’re much better with him than I am.”

“He’s your brother.”

“Yes. But he enjoys speaking to you.”

“What are you asking from me, mother?”

“Well…”

Angie jumped a little when big fingers gently pried the phone from her hands. She looked up to see Nik staring down at her.

“This, Sugar, is called the power of the hang up.” He closed the phone with a snap. “Now, how about some breakfast?”

***

She didn’t say much, even as she followed him down to the kitchen. But she wouldn’t let him near her either. She shied away from his touch worse than when she first arrived. Damn parents. He’d gotten so far with her and they’d pushed him back about twenty feet. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear what happened just this morning with her groaning and coming like an express train never took place. But he knew it had. His head still hurt from where she’d ripped hair out of it.

But hell, how do parents forget their kid’s birthday? Maybe a father, but a mother? Didn’t she have to push Angie out of her? Usually women remembered that stuff, and most never let you forget it. At least his mother never did. Especially when she found guilt such an effective method of getting what she wanted from him and his brothers.

And his parents always celebrated their kids’ birthdays. One of the few things they willingly did together. From the party he had with a cowboy theme, to the party the twins had involving aclown they scared to death and chased into the woods because it was fun to watch him scream, his parents made sure each and every one of their children felt loved and protected.

And the tiger females who raised their kids on their own made sure their children understood this. No matter how many daddies were involved.

Now he understood why these two women she kept talking about were so important to her. They were the only family she really had. Even a Pack of dogs as kin was better than those people she’d been talking to.

While she ate, he went back to her room and retrieved her phone. He ran through her phone book until he found what he wanted. He pressed the Talk button. After three rings, “It’s fuckin’ nine in the mornin’ so this better be fuckin’ good.”

Good God.

“Uh…is this Miki?”

“Yeah.”

“This is Nik. Nikolai Vorislav. I have Angie.”

“Oh, yeah. The hillbilly kidnapper. She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. Yeah. She’s fine.”

“Then what do you want, Jethro?”

He took a deep breath. It was one thing to take insults from Angie, who made his cock hard from simply crossing and uncrossing her legs, but he wasn’t about to take it from some dog-loving bitch. “Her parents called today.”

“Why did they call?”

“I think to wish her a happy birthday.”

The pause lasted a good thirty seconds, then “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me? Her birthday was fuckin’ three months ago. I swear to God these people are fuckin’ idiots!”

Wow. What an interesting young lady. With such a colorful vocabulary.

“Could you put her on?”

“Yeah. Hold on.”

He returned to the kitchen and handed Angie the phone. She looked at it with dread, like she expected it to be her parents again. Although he had a feeling she wouldn’t hear from them again for quite awhile.

She took the phone from his hand. “Yeah?” She scowled. Then she smiled in relief. “You’re such a bitch. I never said that. No I didn’t. No I didn’t. No. I did not.”

Nik shook his head as he walked out of his kitchen. He expected her friend to soothe her, make her felt better. Not start a fight with her. But as she put her feet up on the table and barked, “You’re so full of shit, Kendrick!” He realized that was exactly what she needed.

***

Forty-five minutes of arguing over everything from whether Angie promised to call the night before or not, to the planned gift they arranged for Sara and whether Zach would play along, to Miki stating that if she had a boy she was naming him Bartholomew, went a long way in making Angie feel a part of something again.