"Yessy! What are you doing in there?"
The little girl jumped as the door swung wider to show an older version of herself. It was like looking into a time warp to see Yessy around the age of twenty. Tall, slender, and yes, big boobed. Dressed in baggy jeans and a green pullover, the older girl was stunningly beautiful.
Yessy backed into the wall. "I'm not doing anything wrong, Josie. You're just being mean."
Josie let out a long-suffering breath as she met Sam's confused frown. "First thing this morning she tries to bake Remi's Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake in the oven 'cause she thinks that's what a Baked Alaska is, now she's defying orders and disturbing you. I am so sorry." She looked back at her sister. "I swear, Yessy, you're trying so hard not to live. I keep telling you, Papa eats the dumb ones."
Dev snorted as he came up behind her. "Well, that can't be true, Jo-Jo. You're still here."
She rolled her eyes at him in a way only someone close to Dev could do and live. "You have no idea how trying she is."
Dev scoffed. "Of course I do. I was here when you were her age."
Josie stiffened in indignation. "I never acted that way."
"No," he said in a dry, flat tone. "You never behaved like that ever. You were a perfect angel. Always. Why is there still a hole in the north stovepipe again?"
If looks could kill, Dev would be seriously wounded. "That was different. Alex was bothering me and he was the one who bought the firecrackers."
"Uh-huh. God help us and our customers when your dad decides you're old enough to wait tables. Now get out of here, both of you, before I feed you to Remi."
Josie grabbed Yessy's hand. "See, I told you they eat the dumb ones."
As Dev moved to shut the door, Yessy came running back in to hug Dev on the leg. "Love you, Uncle."
He pulled her up into his arms and gave her a tight hug and kiss on the cheek before he set her down again. "Love you too. Now you better run, muff, before Josie goes grizzly on you."
Yessy cocked her hip and held up two small fists in a fighting stance. "I can take her."
"Yessy!" Josie called from out in the hall.
Dropping her arms straight down her body, Yessy made a small O with her mouth before she darted out of the room.
Dev laughed as he closed the door behind her. He smiled at Sam. "Sorry about that. Didn't know Yessy had gotten off the chain. You gotta watch that one like a hawk. I swear she moves so fast she leaves a vapor trail most days."
Sam used to feel the same way about hers. God, to have one day back where she had to chase after Agaria...
She forced herself not to think about it. "She's adorable. Who does she belong to?"
"My brother Zar."
"And who's Alex?"
"Josie's older brother. Zar is a breeding machine. Don't ask. He's been turning out cubs for so long that we're dizzy from it. Luckily they're all cute enough that we tolerate most of their crap."
Sam shook her head at his joke. "Where do you keep them? All the times I've been here, I never seen any children."
"They're not allowed in the restaurant during operating hours. The cubs are kept here in the house and guarded until they hit puberty and can change into humans. The human children are watched and some sent to school when they're old enough--if they want to be. Otherwise we homeschool."
That explained it. She could well understand being highly protective of them. "Why don't you let Josie wait tables? She seems old enough to me."
His expression turned grim. "Everyone thinks we're all Kattagaria. A Were-Hunter sees Josie or one of the other human kids at those ages and they'll know immediately that we're not...at least not all of us."
She didn't see the problem with that. "Is that a bad thing?"
By the feral look in his eyes, she could tell it was. "When my mother was alive, it would have cost her the seat on the Omegrion. She was the Kattagaria bear rep. Can't have the seat unless you're loyal to our species. The other Kattagaria bear clans would have viewed her being mated to an Arcadian as a conflict of interest--which, believe me, it wasn't. My mother was loyal to her species to the bitter end. Then there's the lovely fact that many of our kind don't like half-breeds. They think of us as mongrels--barely one step up from a cockroach and some not even that. I'd have to kill anyone who made one of my nieces or nephews hang their head in shame. And you don't want to know what Remi would do to them."
That was one of the things she really liked about Dev. He reminded her a lot of herself. Family first and death to anyone dumb enough to tread on it.
He inclined his head to her chest. "How are you feeling? The wound still bothering you?"
"I slept and healed. A little sore, but almost as good as new." Not entirely true. It burned like crazy. If she was anything other than an Amazon she'd probably complain.
However, that wasn't in their code. Amazons carried on no matter what.