Ronan saw hope flicker behind her fear, but the fear was still strong. "Can I think about it?"

"Think as much as you want." Ronan leaned to kiss her mouth, tasting coffee and the cinnamon Ellison had sprinkled onto it for her. "Accepting my mate-claim will protect you more, but I'll protect you no matter what."

Elizabeth kissed him in return, then she caressed his cheek, a touch that had already become dear to him. "Thank you, Ronan," she whispered.

*** *** ***

Scott was indeed full of chagrin when he woke in the morning, and very hung over from the effects of his Collar. The whole family took pity on him, and Ronan made his favorite breakfast, a mountain of waffles with berries and honey.

Scott then said that Elizabeth and Mabel wouldn't have to move; he'd go. He'd already called Spike and arranged to stay with Spike and his grandmother, both well capable of keeping Scott in line. Scott left after breakfast, mumbling about bunking down with crazy-ass wildcats, but he seemed relieved to go.

Mabel was happy to stay longer with Cherie, and now she was talking about coloring her hair to match Cherie's natural brown and blond chunks.

Elizabeth opened the store with Ronan, Ellison and Spike showing up to continue fixing the wall and door. Elizabeth felt a little shy with Ronan after the declarations of the night before, but Ronan took it all in stride, remaining his normal, bantering self. He never mentioned the mate-claim or the secret of her past Elizabeth had revealed to him.

He was giving her space, she realized. No man Elizabeth had gone out with had given her time to think things over. Elizabeth thought she could fall in love with Ronan for that alone.

Over the next few days, her life took on a new and comfortable routine. She and Ronan rode together to the store every morning, Spike and Ellison showing up to work on finishing and painting the new wall and door. When that was done, they looked around for other things to fix. They charged her nothing, behaving as though repairing her shop was what they woke up every day to do. Elizabeth knew that other Shifters--the trackers, everyone called them--lingered nearby to guard the store and look out for cops, but Elizabeth never saw them.

Rebecca's birthday fell on that Wednesday. As much as Ronan claimed she didn't want to be reminded, Rebecca was pleased and touched when Ronan made her a special breakfast Wednesday morning, and the family plied her with cards and gifts. Rebecca opened the one from Ronan in trepidation, clearly expecting a joke, and then looked stunned at the artisan-crafted glass-bead jewelry Elizabeth had picked out for her. The colors were bold but beautiful, the artisan knowing how to combine shape and color for a pleasing whole. Rebecca kissed Ronan soundly on the cheek, although she thanked Elizabeth, knowing the choice had been hers.

Pablo Marquez did not return that week, nor did he send anyone in his stead to make threats. The neighborhood around Elizabeth's store and house remained quiet. Elizabeth started to hope that she could go home soon.

Then again, she was not all that eager to run back to the lonely house she and Mabel occupied. The house could be lively when Mabel was there with her joie de vivre, but Mabel would start back to college in a week or so, and between that, the shop, and her many friends, Mabel would rarely be home. Elizabeth suspected that, anytime now, Mabel would announce plans to move out on her own. And then Elizabeth would be alone again.

Ronan's house, on the other hand, was full of life. When Elizabeth went home, she'd miss the loveable Olaf, Rebecca's wisecracks about anything and everything, Cherie's young enthusiasm, Ronan's giant breakfasts, and of course, Ronan himself.

Every night after Elizabeth closed the store, she went with him to Liam's bar. There she'd talk and joke with Andrea, Glory, Ellison, and other Shifters she was coming to know. Whenever Ronan took a break, he'd sit down with Elizabeth, and at the end of the night, they rode home on Ronan's bike, Elizabeth's arms around his waist.

And they'd talk. Morning, noon, and night, she and Ronan seemed to never run out of conversation, or jokes about anything they could think of. Even silences with him were companionable, Elizabeth never feeling pressured to come up with something brilliant to say.

She'd never had a relationship like this, where she could actually talk to a guy. What's more, Ronan listened. It was a new sensation. In Elizabeth's previous relationships, the man in question had expected her to talk when he wanted her to, shut up when he wanted her to, and have sex with him whenever he wanted her to. Whenever he wanted, never mind Elizabeth's needs. His pleasure counted, not hers.

Ronan, on the other hand, was perfectly happy to steal kisses with her, as though they were wayward teenagers, whenever and wherever she liked. They made a game of it, coming up with unlikely and unusual places to duck away for kissing: her office bathroom, the broom closet at the bar, behind the back shelves in her store, in the root cellar of Ronan's house, in the back of Ellison's pickup. The Shifters--especially Rebecca and Ellison--made fun of them, but Ronan lapped up their teasing with enjoyment.

Elizabeth liked the turn her life had taken, which at the same time seemed fragile and new, like a seedling lifting a first tender shoot above the soil. There was hope and warmth, but also fear of impending storms.

The next storm came in the form of Julio Marquez, who was waiting for them in the shadows of the Shifter bar's parking lot when Ronan and Elizabeth emerged the next Friday night. The bar had closed an hour before, Ronan shutting down for Liam so he could go home to his family.

Ronan stepped fully in front of Elizabeth. Nate and Spike came out of the darkness to flank Julio, Nate in his human form, Spike as a jaguar.