Silver knew he probably had something up his sleeve, but information was her drug of choice—and she could handle this particular bear. Sliding her legs out of bed, she remained seated on it as she quickly fixed her hair, having placed a hairpin on the bedstand for easy access.

Valentin’s mouth fell open, a glowing ring of amber circling his irises.

When he spoke, his voice had dropped several registers, and she had the intense feeling of something big and wild looking at her in utmost fascination. “I always thought you must spend an hour in front of a mirror to get that icy-cool look.”

Shaking off her own fascination at the otherness of him that oddly wasn’t other at all, Silver said, “That would be a waste of my time.” Which was partly why she’d practiced in the dark until she could do it blindfolded. Power was often about perception. “A moment while I put on my shoes.”

She pulled the dark blue canvas sneakers out from just under the bed. “Will I need a coat?”

“Yes, temperature’s dropped.” Valentin glanced around. “Looks like Nova forgot to lend you one. Hold on.” He returned in a minute with a thick sweatshirt. “Here.”

Silver stared at the large black item of clothing printed with the logo of a human rock band. “The hoodie wasn’t enough?” A hoodie that had disappeared from her room, possibly to be laundered. “You wish to ensure my drowning?”

“Why do I put up with you, Starlichka?” Valentin’s growling voice caused the tiny hairs on her arms to stand up straight. “You can get something from Nova later.” He lobbed the sweatshirt into her lap. “The light will be gone if we delay.”

Silver had the sense she shouldn’t be doing this, but she couldn’t figure out a logical reason why. Valentin was right; the light would be gone in about an hour, and she needed to make the most of her time here. It’d be wasteful if she didn’t use this opportunity to build up her personal database about changeling packs. That information could only help her do her job.

She pulled the sweatshirt over her head, careful not to jar her hair.

It swept over her in a fresh citrus-edged scent that told her it had been recently laundered. However, underneath that was the warm, earthy scent of the man who usually wore the sweatshirt; it felt as if he’d wrapped his big body around her.

Silver went motionless.

But before she could consider what to do about the strange intimacy of being surrounded by him, Valentin was pulling open the door and stepping out. Silver decided she could bear the discomfort, given the advantages of having the alpha of StoneWater as her guide.

She began to roll up the sleeves of the sweatshirt as she walked over to join him.

“Here,” he said and took over the task. “Done.”

She had to admit he’d been far more efficient with two hands than she had with one. “Spasibo.”

He smiled.

And it was different.

She couldn’t quite understand how or why, but she knew it had something to do with how she’d thanked him without any hint of the edgy challenge that was always present between them, two alphas struggling for control.

Their eyes met. Held.

“Valentin!” A woman of a height near to Silver’s, her build athletic and her eyes a stunning greenish gray, jogged down the hallway. “We had an attempted incursion.” The woman, who Silver recognized as Anastasia Nikolaev, had a grim expression on her face.

“When?” Valentin’s tone was harder than Silver had ever heard it.

“Just now. I got the report from one of the sentries.” Anastasia held up a hand, tapped her ear. “Thanks, Yasha.”

Dropping her hand, the other woman looked at Silver, then Valentin. “It was a reporter.” Her lip curled, her mouth unexpectedly lush in an otherwise angular face. That face was capped by short strands of ink-black hair that suited the handsome lines of her features. “Parazit. He was trying to sneak in to get an exclusive of Silver Mercant’s torrid affair with the StoneWater alpha.”

Silver blinked at the coda. Beside her, Valentin glared at his sibling. “Save the jokes, Stasya. I need the facts.”

“Those are the facts.” Smile wide, the other woman folded her arms across generous breasts. “It was Yasha who caught the journalist. You know how fucking scary he can look—he made the man all but pee his pants. The asshole was from a tabloid.”

Silver asked the most pertinent question. “Why would a tabloid reporter think I was having a torrid affair with your alpha?”

Anastasia raised both eyebrows. “Sascha Duncan with Lucas Hunter? Or that gorgeous redhead—though her hair’s more dark cherry—with the SnowDancer alpha? What made her choose a wolf, I’ll never know.” A mournful shake of her head.

“Also,” the other woman added, “you did disappear into the clan after Valentin was spotted in your vicinity.” She returned her attention to her brother. “You got snapped climbing up her apartment building, Mishka.”

“I wasn’t trying to hide,” Valentin said, his expression harsh when Silver would have expected him to laugh and shrug it off. “Any risk the reporter could have gotten through?”

“Our perimeter is solid. Pasha’s scanners picked up the reporter, but Yasha acted even before Pasha could feed him the incursion report.”

“Good. If need be, we can ramp up security while Silver is in Denhome.”

“Got it—I’ll keep you updated.” Walking backward deeper into Denhome, the other woman smiled at Silver. “In case you are in the market for a torrid affair, I know a number of bears far more erudite than this hulking beast next to you.”

“According to my understanding of the matter, erudition isn’t necessary for a torrid affair.”

Valentin laughed, the sound huge and real in a way Silver couldn’t explain. “Burned by ice, Stasya.”

His sibling didn’t seem to take offense. She called out, “Have fun!” from behind them. “Do everything I’d do!”

Evaluating the situation as they reached the Cavern, Silver said, “I didn’t believe I’d draw trouble to your pack.” The attempt on her life had been a thing of stealth, not orchestrated by an individual who’d expose themselves to the light. She’d never considered that the media would be a concern. “I apologize.”

“We can handle it.” Valentin pointed a finger at a curly-haired child of approximately three who was about to run headlong toward him. “Not now, Dima. I’m taking our guest for a walk.”

The child’s face fell for an instant before his dark eyes gleamed and he ran headlong toward Silver instead. Valentin intercepted him with a primal swiftness that would’ve surprised many.

A bear changeling wouldn’t win a race against a cheetah—or a wolf—by any measure, but Valentin would beat Silver in a footrace without trying. A smaller bear might not be able to overtake her, but their physical endurance was legendary. She’d be long down before the bear stopped moving.

Bringing the grinning child to his face, their noses a bare half inch apart, Valentin rumbled in his chest. “What did I say?”

Giving a big sigh, the boy Valentin had called Dima shook his head.

“Exactly.” He squeezed the child into a big hug that had Dima smiling again. “Now go join your friends for your own walk, and stop getting into trouble.”