Page 34 of Shifters Reckoning

No way I was staying in the pheromone-soaked study with two shifters who had other things on their minds.

Emma, come home soon.

Phil nodded and moved out of view. A minute later, the front door opened and closed, and Olivia shared a long look with Jasper.

I glanced from one to the other. “Don’t fuck each other in my office. The only sex allowed in here includes Emma.”

Jasper guffawed. “I take it Emma’s into threesomes, then?”

“You can fuck right off, Jasper,” I snapped.

“Heh. Don’t ye worry yer head about that, Logan. We plan on it.”

Behind me, Olivia giggled. She actually giggled.

Shaking my head, I left the manor and stalked toward the large truck idling in the driveway. Olivia had it bad for the fox shifter. Emma was right. Once Acheron went back to hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if those two made it official.

I stopped at the middle-aged driver’s door, grabbed the sideview mirror, and climbed up on the cab step. “There are squares painted on the grass over by the west fence. Drop them there, and level them there. We’ll handle the rest.”

“You got it.” He scanned the main grounds and did a double take. Then another. He raised and lowered his ball cap as he watched shifters walking back and forth, some dressed, some not. “Never been out this way before. Didn’t know there was a nudist compound out here.”

“What makes you think it’s a nudist compound?” I growled. “If you’re going to leer, at least get it right. This is an invitation-only sex cult. Anybody here after five o’clock without an official invite gets escorted out by security,” I added, not caring how outrageous it sounded. “Didn’t you see the upside-down pineapples on the gate?”

His eyes widened. “’Fraid I missed those, sir. Didn’t know that’s what those meant. I’ll get these dropped off and get out of your hair as quick as I can.”

“See that you do.” I hopped down.

No way I was going back into the house while Jasper and Olivia were in there, stinking it up with noisy sex and love hormones.

The air brakes hissed, and the truck moved toward the west fence.

That was what I got for using a third-party delivery company for the tiny houses. While the third-party option had been faster than peeling Blackwood Construction employees from other tasks and renting a truck for the week, strangers on the property always made complications.

Phil jogged toward me. “What would you like me to do, Alpha?”

“Make sure he doesn’t run over the septic tanks out there. Marked their locations in black.”

“Yes, sir.” He darted off again.

By lunchtime, four tiny turnkey homes had been placed in a row. Appliances were already in. Four shifters, possibly six, would be assigned to each one. That made space for at least sixteen shifters, twenty-four when I made them squeeze. Construction workers crawled over the houses, hooking them up to water, sewer, and electric.

Olivia joined me on the lawn, her cheeks flushed and her upper lip sweaty. “Hey.”

“You all cleared out in there?”

She glanced over her shoulder, spotting human Jasper as he moved across the manor’s front porch. Her mouth twisted in a half-smile. “Looks like it.”

When Jasper reached the top step, he morphed into a fox, swished his tail in our direction, and then loped toward the trees.

“We have space for at least twenty-four in these houses, more if you’re smart about it and sell it well. Emma wants the kinds mixed up, so if we can avoid it, don’t assign more than one of any kind of shifter per house. The interiors are all finished and should be hooked up to utilities by the end of today.”

“How much did they charge you per house?”

“Hundred thou.”

She winced. “Ooof, that’s a sizable dent in the bank account, but a good buy per. Maybe we can start an Airbnb for shifters. DenBnB… or maybe SafeDens. Make back some of the investment. Could be decent ROI.”

“Yeah, and Jasper can be the host.”