Текст книги "Speed Mating"

Автор книги: Jessica Sims

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 1 (всего у книги 4 страниц)

Speed Mating
Midnight Liaisons – 2.3
Jessica Sims

Estrella sat in the waiting room of her alpha's auto repair garage and tried not to throw up her lunch.

It was just nerves causing her stomach to churn, but that didn’t help matters. She perched on the edge of the plastic chair, sipping water from a Styrofoam cup and trying to distract herself from the sense of helplessness she felt.

A shadow fell over her. A pair of jeans and workman's boots moved into her line of vision, and Estrella almost choked on her water. She looked up and saw Vic towering over her seat. Massive, hulking Vic, who never failed to intimidate despite the fact that they were both the same height – six foot two. She always felt small around Vic, though. Maybe it was the immense breadth of his muscles or his thick arms sleeved with tattoos. Or maybe it was the fact that his usual expression seemed to be a displeased frown when she was around.

That frown was on his face at the moment as he wiped his fingers with a greasy rag.

"Morning, Estrella," he said casually, his attention more on his hands than her face. "You wanted to see me?"

She got to her feet, ignoring the eyes that glanced in her direction when she unfolded her legs and stood to her full height. She was a tall woman, healthy and muscular thanks to her liger background, but she wasn't dainty like human women. She never would be. Most men were intimidated by her size, which made it difficult to get a date. Add in the liger thing and she seemed doomed to live a life of solitude.

Well, until now, she thought, her gut clenching again.

Of course, why she was obsessing over her appearance at a time like this made no sense. It just went to show how incredibly distracted she was by...her situation. Oh, god, she had a situation.

She felt like throwing up all over again.

"Yes. I did. I...need to talk." When he continued to look at her with that patient-only-because-I-have-to-be gaze, she added, “In private. Please."

He gestured to the back office and she headed there.

Estrella didn't come in to visit Vic often. The were-tigers were a more loosely-formed clan of shifters than most, but they still got together several times a month for meetings and just general bonding. Being the only liger in the vicinity – hell, in the entire state – she didn't exactly 'blend' with the rest of her temperamental, fierce clan. She was only half tiger, but she fit in more with them than with the lions, who didn't welcome her at all. But even at the gatherings, Estrella hung back, quiet and watchful. The tiger clan didn't mind her around as long as she didn't cause trouble.

And she went out of her way to not cause trouble.

Vic's office was a small, glass-walled room at the back of the shop. It boasted a desk covered in scattered, smudged paperwork, a fan, and the world's oldest computer monitor. He moved to the far side of the desk and sat. "Let's make this fast. I've got someone dropping off an engine rehaul, and I'm going to need the time."

"This won't take long," Estrella said nervously, sitting down in the chair across from him.

He picked up a pencil, grabbed a stack of paperwork, distracted. Vic waved a hand in her direction, indicating that she should begin.

She swallowed hard. The words stuck to the roof of Estrella's mouth, and she stared at him mutely as he checked over a purchase order. His dark hair was sweaty at the temples but attractive. He was tanned, and his jaw (and neck) were wide. He looked like a big, mean bruiser. He wasn't, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

When she didn't speak, he glanced up and gave her an impatient look. "Well?"

Now or never. She forced the words out of her throat. "I'm going into heat."

The pencil snapped.

Estrella didn't wince. She didn't even flinch. She just sighed, heavily. "I know."

He rubbed his jaw for a few minutes, saying nothing and clearly trying to compose himself. "Well. This wasn't the conversation I was expecting to have this morning."

Now she was genuinely confused. "What were you expecting this to be about?"

"I was expecting," Vic began, then cleared his throat and continued, "to hear that you'd taken an interest in someone in the clan."

She snorted.

He scowled. "I'm serious."

"So am I. They haven't shown the slightest interest in me, and you know it."

"They're tigers. You're tiger."

"No, I'm liger. Big, overgrown crossbreed of lion and tiger, remember?" She'd never forgotten that she didn't feel as if she belonged with the tigers. They'd been welcoming enough, but wary, and she suspected that the only reason they'd been open to her joining them was because she was female and they only had one other in their clan. But then again, she was sterile. All ligers were more or less ‘mules’ because of the crossbreeding, and they couldn’t have children. At least, that was what she had always been told.

So why bring a sterile woman into a clan? It didn’t make sense, and she’d never been able to figure it out, hence her unease around the other tigers. If she wasn’t mate material because she was barren, what was she? Just a pair of bouncy tits to have around to look at?

Not an endearing thought.

Not that it mattered. Most of the tiger clan? Just not her type. They were too cocky, a little too confident, and with the exception of Vic, she was pretty much the only one over six feet tall.

She never knew how to interpret Vic, either. He always seemed to be scowling and bad tempered about something, but he was still courteous to her. It was a mystery.

"Big, overgrown, sterile crossbreed, I could have sworn," Vic drawled. "You sure about this heat thing?"

"I know how to interpret my own body, thank you," she said, trying to keep the growl out of her throat. "I've been feeling...things. Different things. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what it's leading up to." Things like waking up with her nipples erect, her hands between her thighs, and a pulsing in her blood. Things like her libido revving at the sight of a man’s tight ass. Things like a constant, all-over sensitivity to her skin.

And she was moody as hell. She bared her teeth at him in annoyance.

He regarded her with a stern expression. "Feeling things?"

"I'm flippin' horny all the time," she exploded at him. "Is that what you want me to admit? I could rub one off against just about anything or anyone that walked past, and nothing helps. It gets worse every day." When he continued to regard her, she added, "And I'm a bit moody."

"A bit?"

"A bit."

He rubbed his jaw again, looking for a moment as if he wanted to smile, then thought better of it. "I don't smell anything yet. How long do you think you'll have? We need to make plans."

Her face turned bright red. This was the conversation she'd come here to have, but at the words "I don't smell anything yet" her mind had frozen. Was he going to smell her when she went into heat? Ugh. What did it smell like? God, she didn't want to know. "I’m not sure. This is my first time in heat."

Vic set down the broken pencil and linked his hands behind his head, all enormous biceps and tattoos. Her mouth went dry at the sight. Vic had such big, strong arms that he clearly worked out. A lot. Most of the tiger clan tended towards bulk, but Vic carried it like an Olympian. She...liked all that muscle. Quite a bit.

Down, girl, she told her libido. He's the alpha. No, no.

Lord knew that if any man flexed in front of her, she'd drop her panties to the ground in a flash, unable to control herself until her heat passed. It sucked.

"Are you going to have it?"

"Huh?"

A momentary flash of annoyance crossed his face. "You're going to be in heat," he said, words crisp and succinct as he sat forward, hands moving to the desk (and no longer flexing so attractively). "Heat means one thing – you're fertile. Are you going to have the child?"

"I...don't know." She raised a hand to stop him. "Before you can give me the spiel about how having a child has the potential to impact the entire clan, I want to remind you that it's my uterus, and I'll do what I want with it – or not. If I decide to have a child, it's going to be my idea, not anyone else's."

He scowled. "I don't care what you do. I just need to know so we can plan accordingly."

"Oh." That had gone a little smoother than she'd thought. For some reason, she'd anticipated...a protest. Shifter children were rare enough that an unattached female going into heat was a big deal. A heat only happened a few times in a shifter's life, and each time was impossible to predict. A woman would have no way of knowing how many times she'd go into heat in her life. And if she used birth control and rode out the heat? It was impossible to predict if she'd ever go into heat again.

It was a gamble. Worst of all, Estrella was single. She didn't even have a romantic interest. All she had were some rather short tiger clan cousins and...Vic.

Her stomach went queasy with nerves again.

"If you decide to have this child, do you have a father in mind? Tiger, I hope?"

"It doesn't have to be tiger," she protested. "I just want someone that will love the child and care for it."

"Tiger is preferable–"

"My uterus," she warned.

He gave her a piercing look. "Anyone in the clan would be thrilled to become a father and to take you as a mate."

She rolled her eyes. "If I decide to get pregnant, I'm going to pick the man I like the most, since we'll be tied through the child. I don't want to leave things to chance and just assume that the right guy will be around when the heat hits me. If I do this, it's going to be planned in advance. Right guy, right place, right time. I want my baby to be bred off of the best possible father. Just because I'm going into heat doesn't mean I can't have control of this."

This time, his mouth quirked, as if he were amused by her declaration. "It sounds like you've already decided."

"Maybe," she said defensively. "But if I can't find the right guy, I'm not going to go through with it."

"You'll need someone," he pointed out. "Pregnancy or not, the heat's still going to happen."

Her face flushed. "Yes, I know. Someone'll do regardless." And if it wasn't someone she could desire and respect, well, a lot of alcohol in advance would probably do the trick. There was no way around the situation–it had to be dealt with.

"I’m here to help you, Estrella. Know that." The look in Vic's dark eyes was intense. "You're part of my clan and we take care of our own."

"Thank you. I appreciate that, Vic."

"How much time do you think we have? Honest answer. Think you can hold out until the next week?"

Like she was directing her ovaries. But she didn't feel desperately horny yet. Not yet. Way hornier than normal, yes...but it wasn't dire. "I think I have at least until then. Maybe a bit longer."

"Good. I'm going to put the others on alert and instruct them to be ready to leave the territory at a moment’s notice. The last thing you want is five horny tigers showing up on your doorstep when the time comes."

Well. In actuality, that didn’t sound so bad. But she knew that was just the heat talking. "Thank you, Vic. I appreciate it."

"Quit thanking me. We're clan. That's what we do." He picked up his phone, and then paused. “You don’t have anyone in mind? You sure? You can tell me.”

She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “I’m clueless.”

He grunted. “Fine. You'll tell me who you choose?"

She nodded.

"Keep me posted, then."

* * *

So she was going to do this after all.

Estrella exhaled as she left Vic's office, her hand straying to her stomach. She'd gone in there to argue with him about how it was her body and her right, and she'd ended up going on and on about the father of her child as if things were a given. Maybe they were.

In a week or so, her entire life was going to change. Damn. She'd best get started.

* * *

"Man, you're so freaking lucky."

Estrella picked up a fry and gave her friend an inquisitive look. "What makes you say that?"

"Look at you. You're all boobs and legs and you're eating a burger and fries." Jayde Sommers stabbed at her salad with a vicious move. "If I smell one of those fries, I'm going to gain a pound. But not you. And now on top of this, you're going into heat." She shook her head. "Some people have all the luck."

"I don't feel very lucky right about now," Estrella confessed, grabbing a salt-shaker and dousing her food with it. "I don't have a guy, remember?"

Jayde waved her fork dismissively. "You're gorgeous. Someone'll turn up."

"I'm six foot two. Do you know how hard it is to find someone that's going to date a woman that's taller – and occasionally broader – than he is? Do you know how long it's been since I've had a date? Four years."

"Maybe that's why you're going into heat," Jayde said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at her friend. "It's a desperate cry for attention from your girl parts. They figure if they don't speak up soon, they'll be forever covered in cobwebs."

"Oh please," Estrella said with disgust. "Lots of people go a long time between dates."

"Four years?"

She bit down on a fry and ignored Jayde. Okay, so her track record wasn't great and four years was a long time. A really long time. But what was she supposed to do? Fling herself at any man over six foot three that passed her way? Jayde probably thought that was a good idea.

But then again, her friend had never had trouble getting dates. Her problem was keeping them once they got an earful of her acid tongue.

Estrella sighed. "I just don't have any likely prospects to be a father."

Jayde's hand crept over the table and stole a french fry from the corner of Estrella's plate. "What about that sexyhot alpha of yours?"

"Vic?"

"Tattoos, right? Dangerous looking? Mmmm." Jayde's approval was practically a purr. "I wouldn't mind going into heat with him around. He could put a mate mark on me any time."

For some reason, Estrella squirmed in her seat. Hearing Jayde consider Vic in a sexual way made her feel...weird. Possessive. Which was stupid. And the mate mark thing? She hadn’t even considered that. Shifters marked their mates on the neck with a love bite that only other shifters could see. It would brand her as someone’s property, someone’s cherished mate, and chase off all others.

Holy shit, she wasn’t in this for just a baby. She had to consider a mate, too. Estrella swallowed hard, then shook her head. “Not Vic. He's not interested in me like that. I don't think he finds the liger thing appealing."

"Who does?" At Estrella's glare, Jayde chuckled and stole another fry. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. In all seriousness, would it be so bad to ask your alpha to sire a kid? You know he's responsible, right? He's got a business. You'd never have to hunt the guy down for child support or worry if your kid has a place in the clan."

It all sounded nice, but Vic hadn't shown a bit of interest in her. If anything, he'd looked alarmed when she'd given him her pronouncement. And while Vic was attractive in a scowly, aggressive sort of way, she didn't plan on dragging someone into this 'heat' thing with her. She felt trapped enough as it was.

"Not Vic," she said one more time, and firmly. "I'll have to find someone else. I don't suppose you know of anyone?"

Jayde shook her head, reaching into her purse. "Nope, but I know someone you can call." She pulled out her wallet and produced a small business card, holding it out to Estrella.

She took it from Jayde, examining the small half-moon logo. "Midnight Liaisons. A dating agency? Seriously?"

"A dating agency for, you know." She sniffed meaningfully as if pointing out her unique shifter scent, and gave Estrella a firm look. "You should call them."

"I don't know. Like they're going to have more luck finding me a guy who wants to be a dad as of next week?

"Just do it," Jayde told her. "I've gone out on lots of dates through them. There's a lot out there if you don't mind a little....variety in the gene pool."

"Mind? Remember that you're talking to a liger?"

Jayde pretended to crane her neck to stare up at Estrella. "Oh, I didn't forget."

* * *

"All right, ladies! Gather around and we'll begin." The too-chipper blonde at the back of the room waved a hand tipped with hot-pink nails, indicating that they should all move closer to her.

Estrella took a deep sigh to settle her nerves. She got up from the empty table she was occupying and moved to the center of the room, in front of the blonde. She counted five other women clustered nearby, and sized up the competition. Badger, rat, lynx, fox, and harpy, if her nose told her anything. Okay, well, she was the largest predator of the group. She supposed that was good.

She was a foot taller than anyone except the harpy, whom she only towered over by six inches. Damn. She was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

"Hi everyone! My name is Ryder, and I'll be the coordinator for our event tonight." The event hostess flashed them all a dimpled, candy-pink smile, her big blue eyes bright with excitement. "For those of you that have never participated in the 'Speed Mating' event, I'll go over the rules of our game very quickly. Does everyone have their name badge?"

Estrella touched the "Hello, My Name Is #6" badge stuck to her sweater, trying not to feel like an idiot. An optimistic idiot, which made things worse, because this was a set-up that seemed bound for failure, and yet the dating coordinators had assured her that they had great success with these kinds of events.

So she was hopeful. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted this possible baby, which meant finding someone who could be the father she needed for her child...within the space of about a week. Someone whom she could see sharing such a big part of her life with. Someone who wouldn't gross her out when she thought about sharing her heat with them. God.

"Each one of you has been assigned a number," Ryder said in a chirpy voice that was almost shrill as she strove to speak over the group. "You're going to sit at your numbered tables and one man will join each of you. You will have the chance to talk for five minutes, and then I'm going to ring the bell. When I ring the bell, each man is going to get up and move to the next table, and we'll cycle through all of our bachelors in that manner." She held up a small scorecard. "You'll have a card at each of your tables. If you like the man, make a mark under his number. You'll be turning in your card to me. If you and your date both mark your card as interested in the other, we have a match and I'll be contacting you both to coordinate a date. If there's no match, you can always come back next week. Any questions, ladies?"

The group was silent. Estrella wondered if they were half as impatient as she was. She just wanted to get things moving.

"All right, then! Please take a seat at your table and once everyone is ready, we'll bring in the men."

Estrella found table number six in the corner. A bottle of wine had been left, uncorked, on the table. That was nice – get them all boozed up before the men came in so the odds of making a match were better. She poured herself a glass and tipped it back, drinking quickly. Thanks to her liger metabolism, she'd need a couple more glasses downed at the same speed to even give her a bit of a buzz. It seemed to help her frame of mind, though.

She poured another glass and sipped as she picked up the card, examining it. There were no names – not surprising, since she was wearing a sticker that said her name was 'Six,' but it seemed a bit silly and juvenile to her. What was the harm in sharing names? She'd be able to tell what kind of shifter each man was as soon as he sat down, thanks to her enhanced senses. It'd be a parade of men – and a variety of shifters if the female pool was any indication.

For some reason, that thought made her uneasy, and she reached for the wine again, pouring herself another glass. Maybe she needed to get good and sauced before this started. It'd probably be her last opportunity to get drunk before the baby thing, or at least it would be if she got a decent date out of this.

The bell rang. "Date number one is about to arrive, ladies," Ryder announced. "As soon as everyone is seated, the timer will begin. Remember, you'll have five minutes for each date."

Estrella finished draining her wine and began to pour another glass as men filed into the back room of the restaurant. Each table was sequestered away from the others, and no one wandered too close. She could have craned her neck and peered at everyone, but that would have seemed overly obvious – and eager – so she forced herself not to. She flared her nostrils instead, trying to pick out individual scents. She smelled cougar, and the harpy, and...garlic bread. Lots and lots of garlic bread. Damn it. Now she was hungry.

A familiar scent enveloped her nostrils a split second before a massive, hulking form pulled the chair out and sat down across from her. Estrella looked up in surprise to see Vic, his hair still wet from a shower, black t-shirt stretched tight over his chest.

She sputtered at the sight of him, nearly spraying wine across the white linen tablecloth. When she was able to choke down a gasp of breath, she wheezed, "What are you doing here?"

He scowled blackly. "I came to supervise and that horrible little blonde insisted that I sit down on these stupid dates because she had someone cancel."

"Supervise? Excuse me?"

"Supervise," he agreed. "You're in a special situation, so the agency reached out to your alpha just to be on the safe side."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"You should have. It was in the paperwork."

That would assume that she had actually paid attention to the paperwork. She'd been a little too fidgety to sit and read the ten-page disclosure. Estrella fiddled with her wine glass. "Well, it's nice of you to take an interest, I suppose."

"I have to take an interest. Your child is going to be part of my clan. I'll be his – or her – alpha." His dark gaze settled on her face. "Even if you can't find a decent father for your child, your alpha will be at your side."

Tears welled up in her eyes. That was so sweet. Hell, now she was getting emotional. Her own father hadn't stuck around to take care of her mother, and her mother had never forgotten it. Estrella couldn't forget it either. "What if I find a different kind of shifter? A fox or a wolf or something? Then my child will only be one eighth tiger–"

"Still a tiger," he told her firmly. "Or I wouldn't be here."

For some reason, that made her feel warm with acceptance. She'd never seen this side of Vic. He'd never told her that he didn't care how much tiger blood someone had running through their veins. She'd always felt like such an outsider. But, looking at his determined face, she wondered how much of it was truly real and how much of her insecurities she had projected on the others.

She couldn’t know. "Thank you," she said softly again.

"Don't thank me. Just keep me away from that matchmaker woman before she signs me up for another event."

Estrella smothered the laugh bubbling in her throat, because she knew Vic wouldn't appreciate it. "So Ryder talked you into speed dating?"

"Speed mating," he corrected. "And that woman doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the word 'no'."

"I'm sure it comes in handy for her job." Estrella could just imagine the small, perky blonde trying to deal with the assortment of customers the agency probably saw over a regular basis. "Cheer up, Vic. Maybe you'll find yourself a nice mate."

He gave her a look of disgust and put his hand on the empty spare wine glass at the table. "I'm not here for me."

"But you're not mated."

His face grew hard. "Like I said, I'm not here for me."

“You’re sure taking this baby thing seriously.”

The look he gave her was tense. “I take the welfare of everyone in the clan very seriously.”

“Yeah, but do you supervise all of them? Hey, you want to come and supervise the actual consummation? You can pinch hit if the guy I pick can’t perform. I—“

The words died in her throat as Vic’s hand clenched on the wine glass and it shattered in a spray of glass. He released it and shook his hand off, then glared at her so fiercely that it made her pause, mid joke.

All right. That was a 'back the hell off' look if she'd ever seen one. Estrella raised her hands, admitting defeat. Silence fell between them, seconds ticking past as a waiter rushed over with an apology and gathered up their glass covered tablecloth.

“Sorry,” she told him. “Bad joke.”

“Very bad.”

Silence again.

He gave the restaurant a derisive look, as if the white linen tablecloths seemed out of place instead of the other way around. After another uncomfortable moment, he flared his nostrils. "There is apparently a harpy here."

She smiled. Safe territory – back to mocking the speed mating. "Well then, that should make me look pretty good in comparison. I'm glad she's here."

He gave her an odd glance. "Estrella, you always look good. If these idiots can't see it, I–"

The bell clanged loudly.

"Time's up," Ryder called out in her high pitched voice. "Everyone please move to the next station!"

Estrella stared at Vic with wide, wondering eyes as he got up from the table and left. "Have fun," he muttered. "Pick someone good."

She gazed at his retreating back, still stunned into silence. What had he been about to say? Did he really think she looked good or was he just humoring the broody female about to go into heat? And why did that make her entire body tingle with awareness? She stood up, intending to follow him to his next station, find out exactly what he had been about to tell her.

A man moved to her table, and the scent of were-badger filled her nostrils. He was short, rotund, and had a thick shock of black curls that stood up from his head. He looked like more of a hedgehog than a badger. She towered over him by at least a foot.

He wore a name badge that read, "Hello, My Name is ***5" and he was blinking up at her, slightly aghast.

"Hi," she said flatly, dropping back into her seat. "I'm number six."

"T-tall," he mumbled, putting his hand out to shake.

She bared her teeth and gave a feline snarl and was somewhat pleased to see him jerk backward. Good. She stopped snarling and forced a polite smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, too."

He stared at her in uncomfortable silence. Estrella scowled back, not wanting to put the effort into talking with the guy. After all, they both knew at a glance that this match-up would never happen. As she regarded him, he reached into his jacket pocket and patted the card, as if double-checking it, and she knew he couldn't wait to write down a 'hell no' next to her name.

She was too scary. Too predatory. And too tall. That was fine. Her baby deserved better than a were-badger for a daddy anyhow. She needed someone stronger and more her type. More protective and open-minded toward whatever her child would be. Like Vic.

Her eyes widened. Oh god. Why had she just thought about Vic again? It was simply nesting instinct, right? He'd told her that her child would be safe with him, so her brain was automatically filling in the blanks. That was all.

The waiter returned with a new tablecloth and more wine, which she was glad to see. Estrella wasted no time in refilling her wine glass and chugging the contents.

She emptied her glass and refilled it again. And then again. All the while the badger sat there and stared at her.

The bell rang again a short time later, and Estrella wasn't sad to see Number Five move on. She'd had just enough wine that she was feeling pleasantly tingly and just a little bit bold.

The next guy sat down. He was almost six foot – almost – and seemed decent looking, with sandy blond hair and tanned skin. Not bad. Not bad. She sniffed the air. Feline breed, though he was wearing enough cologne that it was hard for her to determine which one. This one had potential.

"Hi," he said with enthusiasm. "I'm #4 tonight. You must be #6. It's nice to meet you."

She took another sip of her wine and decided to skip all pretense. "I'm going into heat in less than a week," she told him baldly.

His face lit up like he'd just seen Christmas.

"And I've decided to have the baby," she added. "Want to be a daddy?"

His face fell. "Um..."

She snorted and poured herself another glass of wine. Why were these speed dates a whole five minutes long? She didn't need more than thirty seconds to take care of business.

* * *

By the time the bell rang the final time, Estrella had polished off the entire bottle of wine (plus the refill bottle they’d brought her) and was feeling pretty good. Every single man who had sat at her table was a big fat dud, but at least there was the wine.

As Ryder came by, Estrella hiccuped and waved the card in front of Ryder's face. "Don't even bother with mine," she said, and was amused to find her words slurring just a bit. "It's blank."

"You didn't find anyone you wanted to mark down as a possible match?" Ryder asked, a bit dismayed as she snatched the card from Estrella's weaving hand. "The only way you can get a call-back on a date is if both you and the man select each other as potential matches."

"No match," Estrella said mournfully, tipping over the empty wine bottle in the hopes that there might be a hidden reserve. "They were all wrong for me." Except Vic, but god, everyone would think she was a weirdo if she put down her alpha as her only possible match. And if that ever got back to him, she'd never be able to look him in the eye again. "No match," she repeated. "Too bad."

Ryder tucked the card into the stack and shook her head. "Don't give up just yet. If you come in to the agency tomorrow, I'm sure we can find someone in the database that will be more appealing to you. We're just getting started on your dating journey," she finished with a perky, determined nod.

Estrella glared at her, sitting upright. "You don't understand." She got to her feet and raised her voice just a little when Ryder began to protest. "No, listen to me. I'm going into heat in less than a week. I have to find a baby daddy–"