Page 22 of Marked By Love

“Royce,” Sandy said. “Do you honestly eat nothing but steak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”

“No, I have eggs too,” he grumbled. “He doesn’t eat eggs either or dairy.”

“So, he’s vegan?” Evea asked.

“No, he’s adamant that he’s not a vegan. Something about honeybees and agave and bats. I’m not entirely sure … it didn’t make much sense when he was explaining it.”

“You’re with a vegan omega? How’s that going to work?” Evea asked. “Do you even know what a vegetable is?”

“They mock our mate and his strange feeding habits. We cannot stand for this! You must remove their heads for the slight. Then present them to our omega so he may bask in our glory,” Royce’s wolf roared.

“Dude, calm down. They aren’t insulting Doc, they’re making fun of me.”

The furry bastard whined incessantly and started complaining about wanting their mate to bask in his alpha glory. It was getting hard for Royce to concentrate on his conversation with Sandy and Evea.

“You know,” Sandy said. “I think I remember reading an article, something about vegans not eating sugarcane, only sugar from sugar beets.”

“Bullshit,” Evea said.

“No, I’m serious. It’s something to do with the refining process for sugarcane and bugs. I think. There are also vegans who won’t eat yeast because it’s a living organism.”

“I dare you to find that article again. That sounds like a load of crap.”

“Challenge accepted!” Sandy pushed off from the doorframe.

“Umm, I still need help?” Royce stared at them.

“Riiiight.” Evea returned to the door, chewing her cereal and exaggerating the syllables.

“I don’t have anything to feed him except a bag of pretzels and plain potatoes,” Royce said.

“Do you not have cereal? Or oatmeal?” Sandy asked.

“Or bread?” Evea added.

“No, even if I did, you usually put milk over cereal or butter on toast,” Royce explained.

“What’s going on?” Buford thundered up the front stairs behind Royce. “Is everything okay? What happened?”

Buford was the local fire chief, certified nurse, and worked on wildlife conservation with Sandy and Evea. He was wide as he was tall and covered in thick brown hair, which was fitting for a bear shifter.

“Royce here needs help feeding a not vegan, vegan omega,” Sandy said.

“They continue to mock our mate,” his wolf growled. “If you don’t remove their heads, he will reject us. This affects me too, you know!”

“What?” Buford asked. “Is that who’s in your place? And what the heck is a not vegan, vegan?”

“He eats honey,” Evea said.

“But we aren’t sure about sugar or yeast,” Sandy added.

Royce looked at Buford, pleading for help.

“You only keep steak in your fridge, don’t you?” Buford asked. “When was the last time you got your cholesterol checked? Or your colon for that matter.”

“See, this is why I stay home,” Royce said, making Sandy and Evea laugh.

“Calm down, lover boy.” Sandy rolled her eyes. “I’ll go get you some oatmeal.”