“But you can’t keep them holed up here forever.” Maria stroked Kenny’s hair again, the down soft on her fingers. “They can’t be imprisoned, even if it’s for their own safety. That isn’t right.”

Andrea’s look softened. “We’ll always be closed off from the rest of the world in some ways. We’re Shifters, Maria. People fear us. We’ll always be apart. But we manage together.” She smiled. “I should know. I’m half Fae. That has most of Shiftertown still a little wigged out. I’m apart even from other Shifters.”

Andrea’s Fae blood had never bothered Maria, and she still wasn’t certain what being Fae meant. But she’d observed Shifters glance at Andrea with curiosity and even fear. They never said anything, knowing Sean would retaliate against any disrespect to his mate, but the nervousness was there.

“I’m apart too,” Maria said. “But I decided I can’t hide forever. There’s a world out there, and I need to face it. It’s a risk, but I will take it.”

“And you will. Tomorrow. Your SAT tests. I hope you didn’t forget.” She smiled, knowing Maria never would. Maria had confided in few people about her dream to enter the university, but Andrea was one of them. She and Connor, Glory, and now Ellison.

“What did Dylan decide to do?” Maria asked. “About Bradley?”

Andrea’s look turned evasive. “They’ll stop him. Dylan, Liam, and Sean together. No need for you to worry about that.”

“Yes, but how? Find the man? Murder him? What happens if they get caught?” Maria looked at Kenny, sleeping so sweetly. The boy had been named for the brother of Sean and Liam who’d been killed by a feral Shifter long ago. Kenny had been Connor’s father and much beloved.

A shadow passed through Andrea’s eyes, worry for her mate and his family. “If there’s a problem in the world Sean, Liam, and Dylan can’t take care of, then it’s a bad problem. Don’t worry.”

“We have to stop them, Andrea—these people who snatch cubs. Bradley and everyone like him, and the people who hire them. It’s terrible.”

“I know.” Andrea held Kenny closer a moment, protective. Then she handed Kenny up to Maria’s outstretched hands and rose, stretching as only a Shifter could stretch, every limb supple. She kissed Maria on the cheek. “But you focus on your tests tomorrow. It will be a big day for you.”

Maria enjoyed the warmth of Andrea’s hug for a moment, the baby scent of little Kenny. Andrea took Kenny back into her arms, left the room, and Maria turned out the light.

She went to the window and raised the blind enough to let in the moonlight. On the porch across the street, two cowboy boots were crossed on the porch rail, long legs in jeans stretching back into shadows.

Maria smiled, her heart lightened. She undressed, blew a kiss across the street, and got into bed, where she lay awake for a long time.

Thoughts tumbled through her mind—the panic when she’s lost Olaf, her sudden fright inside the culvert, her rage when she discovered that men were trying to kidnap Shifter cubs, the distracting worry about the exams.

Over all of this she relived the water embracing her, Ellison holding her, the heat of him inside her, finding something buried deep inside her and dragging it out into the light.

After a long time, she drifted to sleep to the memory of the warmth of Ellison’s touch, the tenderness of his kiss. The image of him running into the water, naked but for his cowboy hat, was a fine one too.

***

“Here, I found more pencils for you.” Olaf held them up on the porch in the early light of morning, yellow pencils nicely sharpened.

Elizabeth—Ronan’s mate—and Cherie, Scott, and Rebecca, another Kodiak bear, were with Olaf, Ronan hulking in the background while he talked to Spike and the Morrisseys.

“Thank you, Olaf,” Maria said, taking the pencils and putting them into her purse.

“Why did you get up early to take a test?” Jordan, Spike’s four-year-old cub, asked her. “That’s no fun.”

“You should write the answers on your hands,” Scott said. A large bear Shifter of about thirty years, he seemed calm this morning, not in the frenzy of his Transition. “Always worked for me.”

“It’s not that kind of test,” Maria said, laughing. “I think they check for that anyway.”

“Aw. Too bad.” Scott grinned.

“I still don’t see why she has to go,” Jordan said. “Stay home and play with me, Maria.”

Connor, who was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the porch steps, said to Jordan, “You’ll understand when you’re older, laddie. We need to go.”

Difficult to leave when all of Shiftertown—at least this block—had turned out to see her off. Maria had talked about her ambitions to very few, but this morning, so many seemed to know her secret, and they were excited for her. Hard to keep anything quiet in Shiftertown. Maria warmed though, at the send-off.

Spike’s mate, Myka, a human woman who trained horses for a living, was also making an early start. Horses liked early, she said. She hugged Maria. “You’ll bust chops,” she said. “That means you’ll do well.”

Glory almost lifted Maria off her feet with her hug. “You go, girl. I’m so proud of you.”

Andrea had another hug, and this time Kenny was awake and talking to himself in wordless sounds. Maria kissed both him and Andrea.