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that Isy’s contact who refused to give her a name would arrive.
    Nadia didn’t mind that anonymity; he’d told her she’d recognize him by the mirrored sunglasses. It was a normal accessory rather than a corsage or some sort of crazy scarf or tie. When her food arrived, she dived into it like she hadn’t eaten in days. Zerik made sure she’d gotten something to eat, but it was barely nutritious enough to keep up her energy. They’d given her gruel and water, no protein. Her inner snow leopard had hated it, but at least they were getting fed. The buttery sweetness with the crunch of the macadamia nuts was bliss on her tongue. The dark chocolate was bitter enough to wake up her senses. Her tongue and throat didn’t mind that she was eating. The more food she consumed, the faster her healing powers worked to soothe away the aches and roughness.
    An odd musk drifted around her. She scented him before he spoke. Her skin tingled with awareness that someone was standing next to her.
    “Am I interrupting?”
    At the gruff voice, she looked up, mouth full of pancakes with a fork on its way up to her lips and her free hand cupping the milk. Shit , she berated herself silently as she took in her reflection in the mirrored sunglasses. She looked like crap: bags under her eyes, skin looking less than fresh, and frown lines around her eyes that refused to smooth out.
    He took off his shades, and she found green eyes gazing down at her. His angular features were more pronounced now that his glasses were off. He had shaggy blond hair that brushed his shoulders. His clothes were rumpled as if he’d slept in them, but it looked good on him, suited his image. He held out a hand. “Rex Lathem , nice to meet you.”
    Rex took the seat across from her. He waved the waitress down and placed an order. “Would you like more pancakes? Maybe some coffee?” A knowing smirk flitted across his mouth but never reached his eyes.
    She frowned. His scent drifted toward her, sunshine and sweet grass with an edge of lemongrass, but there was something mudding the natural scent. Without a thought, senses on high alert, she shoved the chair back, got up, walked around the table, and inhaled.
    “Whoa, we just met, come on.” Rex held up his hands, but that didn’t deter Nadia from taking another deep sniff. He didn’t try to push her away; he sat still and allowed her to investigate him. No one commented or called out at her behavior. Not that she cared. Nadia didn’t like being made a fool.
    She let out a warning growl and went back to her seat. “If you’re going to pretend to be a feline, the least you could do is cover up your wolf musk with something a bit, shall we say, stronger. I know a guy. I can give you his number, tell him Claudia sent you, and he’ll give you a huge discount.”
    It was Rex’s turn to frown. “Damn it, I thought I was doing a good job covering it up.” A little Southern accent slipped in. His body relaxed into an artful gratefulness that made her envious. There was no way she could do that without looking like she was about to slide off the seat.
    “This explains why you’re in the DCPD, a mostly werewolf outfit. So why does DC need a drug unit? The issues of crime and drugs are low, with the exception of the Katnip issue. So what’s going on here?” She dug back into her food.
    “Well….” Rex relaxed into his seat. “It may have a low crime and drug rate, but it still needs a drug unit, plus we’re supposed to stem the tide before it starts up. I’m sure Isy’s told you about the issues we have with the Council?”
    Nadia agreed. “Okay, I get that; you stop it before it becomes a huge issue. So what does this have to do with Katnip ?” She wondered if maybe the Council was perpetrating the Katnip issue. Nadia had to call Zerik on that issue.
    Rex’s food arrived, and he began to cut into his stack of Southern Comfort Special. “Normally this would’ve been nipped in the bud. There are very