Read FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED for Free Online Page A

let the Li’l Orphan Annie hair fool you. I’m older than I look.”
    “You must be, since you look about sixteen.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    35

    Christine Warren
    “Don’t mention it.” Missy finished the first half of her sandwich and grinned.
    “Sure you don’t want some? Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
    “No, thanks.” Tess shook her head and watched with wide eyes as Missy shrugged and bit into the second pound of roast beef. “I mean, I really don’t mean to be rude, but…how the heck do you eat like that and not outweigh your husband?”
    Missy choked down a swallow of milk and laughed. “Don’t do that while I’m drinking. You almost made me snort milk.” She quietly cleared her throat.
    “And believe me, if I’d tried to do this six months ago, I probably would weigh more than Graham. But this is one of the best fringe benefits of having baby werewolves. I burn calories like a raging metabolic inferno.” Tess felt her eyebrows arch. “When did you have the baby? Last year?”
    “Last month. Two weeks ago, to be precise. Well, two weeks and five days.” Missy beamed with a proud new mama smile and downed another third of the milk. “A boy. Roark. I’d force you to come upstairs and meet him, but he was fussy tonight and now that he’s finally asleep, I don’t want to risk waking him.”
    “Two weeks ago? You’ve got to be kidding.” Tess gestured to the tightly belted robe at Missy’s waist. “What did you do, adopt? Because two weeks is not enough time to lose a baby belly.”
    “That’s the other fringe benefit.” Missy pushed her empty plate away and sat back with a satisfied grin. “I told you, I burn calories like it’s going out of style.
    Have since I first got pregnant. Werewolves have really fast metabolisms. They probably burn seven or eight thousand calories a day on average. They eat like horses. When they’re breastfeeding, human women burn about five thousand.
    And I’ve just discovered, much to my joy, that when breastfeeding a baby werewolf, a human woman can burn somewhere around twelve thousand calories a day without breaking a sweat.” Her grin widened. “Ain’t life grand?” Tess laughed. “That’s a diet plan I don’t think I’ve seen on the infomercials.” 36

    Fixed 5: Fur For All
    “Not in this lifetime. The Lupines—well, all the Others, actually—are trying to preserve their secrecy from the human world, but it’s getting harder all the time. They’re not about to go telling people anything about themselves until they’ve got absolutely no other choice.”
    “Is that likely to take much longer?” Tess asked, curious. “I mean, I’m hardly an expert, but I think that might have been one of the things my gr—the council wanted to talk to Rafe about. I’ve heard some of the members rumbling about how some of the Others in the city haven’t been keeping as tight a lid on things as usual. There were rumors about some faeries being spotted over the summer.” Missy sighed. “Yes, there were. It was a huge mix up, and we sorted it out as soon as we found out what was going on. But I suppose there will always be people who aren’t happy with that. It makes me crazy, but it also makes me happy that Dmitri’s council position went to Rafe and not to Graham. Call me kooky, but I’d prefer it if my husband spent his time worrying about keeping me and the baby happy, not the entire Other population of Manhattan.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you—” Missy’s scowl smoothed out into a warm smile so rapidly that Tess wondered if she’d ever really seen the hostile expression. Maybe she’d just imagined it.
    “Oh, you didn’t,” Missy assured her. “I get carried away sometimes. I’m the one who should apologize. But that subject is no fun, anyway. I want to hear more about you. What sorts of things do you sell at your herb and teashop?
    Besides herbs and tea, of course.”
    Tess shook her head and laughed.