Dawn blinked. “No. Is that possible?”

“Sure,” said Jaime. “We can get Rhett to set it up for you. We will not let Remy win.”

Makenna tilted her head. “I wonder if he knows about his mother’s decision to visit me earlier.”

Ryan growled, “What?”

“She came to my apartment to warn me away from her boy. I’m telling you, after the way she spoke and the jealousy that was rancid in her words, the rumors about her are definitely true. My wolf wanted to kill her. And I wasn’t at all opposed to the idea.”

Ryan folded his arms across his chest. “Tell me exactly what happened.” By the time she was done, he was ready to throttle her. “You thought it necessary to antagonize the woman?” A female sick enough to abuse her child was a dangerous thing.

“Necessary? No. Entertaining? Yes. I could have told her the truth, but it wouldn’t have made any difference to that paranoid bitch. Her twisted mind was all made up. She would have just thought I was lying to placate her.”

“Remy won’t like that you toyed with her,” said Jaime. “That thought makes me smile.”

Makenna chuckled. “I can’t go and confront him over what he’s done because none of it can be traced back to him. So I’ll settle for causing some ill will between him and Norma Bates.”

Ryan opened his mouth, ready to lecture her on antagonizing dangerous shifters and not calling him when shit went down. But he resisted, supposing he should resign himself to the fact that his mate was always going to make him crazy, one way or the other.

“Oh, here comes Zac,” said Dawn.

Dominic fist bumped him. “Hey, Zac, ready to come home or what?”

Zac smiled. “Sure.”

“Is that lipstick on your cheek?” asked Makenna.

He scrubbed at it, flushing. “It’s Madisyn’s.”

“Give me a hug.” Dawn held out her arms. “I’m going to miss you.”

Grumbling under his breath, Zac accepted the hug. “I’ll, um, I guess I’ll miss you too. Maybe.”

Chuckling, Dawn gently shoved him toward Makenna, who draped an arm over his shoulders.

Zac frowned up at her. “Why are you saying good-bye? I’ll see you all the time, since . . .” He looked from her to Ryan. “Wait, have you guys broken up?”

“No, we haven’t,” said Ryan. It was the first time he’d verbally acknowledged their relationship to others. It would ensure that Colton understood the way of things.

“I was just going to say that I’m happy for you,” Makenna told Zac. “That’s all.”

Zac’s shoulders relaxed. “Okay. Sweet.”

Makenna and Dawn walked Zac to the Chevy. Makenna didn’t fail to notice Remy’s guard dogs in their usual parking spot, but she chose to ignore them. Dawn gave Zac one last hug before he hopped inside with Jaime and Dominic.

Ryan cupped Makenna’s chin and dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Call me when you’re done here.” She nodded, gave Zac a final wave, and returned to the shelter.

As Dawn went to follow, Ryan spoke. “Can we talk a minute?”

Dawn raised her brows. “Of course. Is everything all right?”

“Do you know anything about Makenna’s old pack? She told me that she was banished as a toddler and has no memories of it.”

Dawn looked at him with a probing gaze. “It’s true, she remembers nothing.”

“I never asked if it was true. I asked if you knew anything.”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Makenna says it doesn’t bother her that she has no idea where she comes from. You and I both know that isn’t true.” Apparently that wasn’t enough to convince Dawn to talk. “It hurts her that she doesn’t even know her mother’s real name. I don’t want her to hurt. But I don’t want to push her to look for answers if the truth is something she’s better not knowing.”

“You really do care about Makenna, don’t you?”

He grunted. He would have thought that was obvious. People said that actions spoke louder than words, but they didn’t seem to take clues from the behavior of those around them.

Dawn let out a long breath. “I don’t know much about Fiona. She was found dead in a park. When the police went to her apartment, they found Makenna; she’d been alone for two days. Fiona had several fake IDs. There were no personal or sentimental items that might hint at her roots. But there was one thing . . . I don’t know if it will help uncover her history, but it’s strange.”

Ryan took a step closer. “What?”

“The image of a salamander had been burned into the flesh of her back. Like someone had branded her with a hot iron.”

The image tickled his memory. He’d heard of such a thing before, but where? The answer slipped away the second he reached for it.

Dawn sighed. “Deep down, she wants to find them, and she wants to understand what happened. Most of all, she wants to confront the people who ordered the banishment because Makenna hates injustice—or maybe that’s why she hates injustice. But I think she convinces herself they don’t matter, because then she doesn’t have to be hurt by what they did and they have no power over her.”

Ryan could understand that. Makenna had a soft, compassionate, bruised heart. Facing her past would mean potentially facing more pain, so she chose to live in denial instead. It was a primitive defense mechanism that most people used to some degree in their lives, and sometimes it was the only thing that helped a person function. What Makenna wasn’t seeing was that closure could go a long way to helping her heal.