To Catch a Snake: Book Three - Supernatural Bounty Hunter Romance Novellas Read Free Page B

Mother,” came a very muffled and unenthusiastic response.
    Fang threw back the curtains and Ling moaned in protest. “I like the darkness.”
    Her mother tut-tutted at her. “Come on, now, little panda, the time for feeling sorry for yourself is over.”
    Ling sat up and pouted at her mother. “I’m depressed.”
    Fang pursed her lips and gingerly picked up an old pizza takeaway box. “No, you’re not, little panda, you’re just sad. To say you’re depressed is an insult to people who suffer from depression. You’ll be fine; you’ve had plenty of time to be upset, and now you need to buck up.”
    Ling’s panda whined; her mother’s maternal instinct astounded her sometimes. “Thanks, Mother, helpful as always,” she muttered.
    “What was that?” asked Fang, sharply.
    “Nothing,” squeaked Ling.
    “Good. You know, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.”
    Ling arched an eyebrow as she watched her mother tidy her bedroom. She had a horrible flashback to her teenage years and shook her head, trying to forget. Her high school years were best forgotten.
    “I lost my boyfriend and my job, how can that be a blessing?”
    Fang placed her hands on her slim hips. “It gives you a chance for a fresh start. It gives you a chance to make a few lifestyle changes.”
    Fang gave a significant look to the numerous takeaway boxes scattered around the room, before continuing. “And now you have the opportunity to form a lasting relationship, with someone much more suitable than a gorilla shifter.” She said the last two words with some distaste.
    Both of Ling’s parents were red panda shifters; they came over to the country when they were both children, and were heavily involved in the Playa Lunar Chinese community. While Fang didn’t mind her daughter being a relationship with a man who wasn’t Chinese or a panda shifter, she did draw the line at gorillas. As far as she was concerned, any shifters larger than foxes were too big.
    Fang started hanging up the clothes while Ling picked at a tissue. She’d gone through a lot in the past few weeks, and now she was all cried out.
    Her mother surveyed the dress Ling had worn the day she got fired. “You know, Robert was asking after you the other day…”
    Ling scowled. “Why were you talking to Robert?”
    “He came over for a meal.”
    “Mother!” she exclaimed in outrage. “I can’t believe you invited my ex-husband over to dinner!”
    Fang smiled serenely. “I didn’t invite him, little panda, your brother did. They do work together, you know, and Robert does still golf with your father. He’s a good man; surely you wouldn’t begrudge your father and brother their friendships with him.”
    Ling’s panda snapped her tiny jaws, furiously. She most definitely would begrudge those so-called friendships!
    She met Robert through her brother; Robert co-owned a string of auto dealerships, and her little brother, Jun was the CFO of the company. Her brother was young, but he was one smart cookie. Robert, at first, had seemed charming, and he was absolutely enamored with Ling. After two months of dating he proposed, they married within a month, and a year later she caught him having sex with an octopus shifter in his office. Apparently, the octopus was all hands…
    Robert begged her not to end the relationship, but Ling wouldn’t hear of it. She couldn’t forgive him for that. It still rankled, and it was salt in the wound to know that he was close to her family. They thought the sun shone out of a part of his anatomy best left to the imagination.
    Fang gave her an ingratiating smile. “You know, Robert is still single, I don’t think he’s ever gotten over you.”
    Good . “I’m never getting back together with Robert…”
    Her mother shook her head. “Never say never.”
    Her panda yowled in displeasure. “He cheated on me!”
    “Everybody makes mistakes, little panda. People have overcome worse things. You shouldn’t be so judgmental, particularly