"How romantic"

The blond girl grinned.

“He bought me a beer and nachos afterward. It was one of the nicer dates I've been on."

Heda squeezed into a pair of unnaturally tight terrycloth shorts and a baby-doll tee-shirt with "I'm Pooh's Honey" on the front with a picture of Winnie in gangsta clothing. Heda dug Winnie the Pooh. That was when the door knocked and the "boys" arrived. Anthony looked good as always, and his friends weren't exactly hard on the eyes. Kevin was easy to recognize, as Heda had been told all about him. He was a red-haired, green-eyed elfish looking human whose eyes were a little too clouded to be in his right mind. He was known for having some of the best pharmaceutical recreation available, some of which he grew/brewed himself. And to his credit, there had been no serious injuries or any real illness associated with his drugs. The guy was good at what he did.

Peter was also pretty easy to pick out, and Heda couldn't deny a very sudden and very prominent draw to the man. While the Adler family was good friends with the Bird Queen, Peter was the Bird King's nephew. No, the King and Queen weren't actually married or even involved. The most powerful male member of an animal family became its King and the most power woman its Queen. If looks could tell the story, the Peter Smith might be king some day. He was six- feet three-inches tall of lean, defined muscle. He wasn't actually as good looking in the face as Anthony was or as physically imposing as Billy had been, but the combination of his looks and build made him drool-worthy. But what attracted Heda was that he was an alpha in the bird realm, and that almost forced other bird shifters to react.

Peter was staring at Heda with an oddly confused smile on his face, so she stared back. Anthony was looking between them like he was watching a tennis match. Heda widened her eyes and stepped closer to the peregrine shifter, touching her fingers to his chest. She parted her lips and —-

“Sorry,” she said, stepping away and flopping down on her bed, “but I just am not driven to throw myself on him and ravish him silly.

Still a lesbian. Tough break there Anthony."

"Damn it!" the skunk shifter said while attempted to growl.

"You can't be gay! Not with that body!"

Peter glared at his friend.

“THAT'S why you dragged my ass over here when I haven't even unpacked yet? You were trying to get me to seduce a lesbian? Dude, just because she's a bird doesn't mean she'll fall over me." He turned to Heda.

"Sorry. He just grabbed me and told me there was someone I needed to meet. You're Heda Adler?"

"Yep. Yes, THAT Heda Adler."

He smiled.

“Heard your going to take our volleyball team to the NCAA tournament this year."[] Heda smiled back.

“I will if they let me play. I was a bit on edge this evening, so they sent me home."

“Why on edge?" He sat down in the spare chair.

Heda noticed that Joanna was staring at Peter intently. She was hunting, but in a good way.

"You hear about the kidnapped girl?" He nodded.

“Well, that's one thing. Then I got caught up with Madison and Alvin and that whole pile of batshit --" She told them what had happened the other night.

"Dude, that's shit," Kevin said.

"I don't really know her, but that shit shouldn't be going down.”

"Yeah, well I'm getting stonewalled by powers that be and Reichert is out of town. Hell, I don't think that the blind bitch even wants my help."

Peter slumped. He even Looked good slumping.