Page 64 of Fated to Them

“No vampires are changed. So whatever form they were in before the change is the state they remain in.”

“So, you were like this before the change?”

“Yes, Addie, I was born in a different era when people actually did manual labor, not stare at their phones and computers all day.”

“What about Eli? Is he built the same as you?”

“Lycan genes, they got good genes with no effort.”

“Speak for yourself. I work,” Eli says, stepping into the bathroom.

I look over my shoulder at him and see his eyes trailing up the back of my body before looking over at Cyrus.

“I am yet to see you do anything that resembles work unless you count the hours spent watching the foyer cameras spying on Addie,” Cyrus says.

“What? There are cameras in the foyer?” I ask, horrified, wondering if I ever did anything embarrassing while he was watching. Shit, I hope they don’t have sound.

“Calm down, Addie. I can hear your heart pounding at the thought of me watching you. And I wasn’t always watching the cameras. Cyrus is just making me out to be a creep,” Eli says, glaring at Cyrus.

“I promise he isn’t a creep. That’s why he has a pair of your panties in the top drawer next to the bed because he isn’t one,” Cyrus says with a laugh.

“God, I hope they are clean. Did you try them on?” I ask, reaching around Cyrus and grabbing the soap.

Eli growls. “No, of course not. I don’t wear thongs.”

“So, you do have my panties?” I ask, and I see him blush, realizing what he has just admitted before he suddenly turns to walk out.

Cyrus chuckles at him, shaking his head.

“So, what sort of work did you do that made you look like that?”

“Why? Are you thinking of a career change?”

“No, just curious.”

“When I was human, mostly farm work. I was a blacksmith and stonemason for a bit and a bit of mining. Things were different then. Whatever work you scrounged up, you did. Work was work. We didn’t have the opportunities you do these days or cushy jobs.”

I nod, trying to imagine what it would have been like; it probably wouldn’t have been a nice time to be a woman back then.

“What about family?”

“What about them?”

“Did you have a family?”

“Everyone has a family. And yes, actually, I was married, had a wife. She was a scullery maid.”

“What happened to her?”

“She died from the plague just before I was changed.”

“How did you and Eli meet then?”

“In a saloon, actually. He was there with his pack, and I stumbled in looking for blood. His scent lured me there. He was not impressed with me being his mate. Chucked quite the hissy fit,” he says with a smile on his lips, like he is remembering something funny.

“Why wasn’t he happy?” I ask. They seem so in tune with each other.

“Because he was straight. Sexuality was never a thing with me. I like both genders, but Eli had only ever been with women. He had strong views of what mates should be.”