The picture on the front was from a children’s story: a laughing blonde girl riding on the back of a huge bear. She knew the memory it represented, and that memory haunted her in her dreams. But it was the words inside that she found the most incomprehensible.

Silver Fucking Mercant. I told you nothing would keep you down. Happy twenty-ninth birthday.—V

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the words; it was the impact those words had on her. She should’ve thrown the card in the trash as soon as she’d finished reading it, but instead, she kept it in a place where she’d look at it every single morning.

“Throw it away,” she ordered herself.

But when she left for the office fifteen minutes later, the card was still exactly where it had been since she received it.

Her reaction had to be part of the emotional “echo” effect. It’d wear off.

Once outside her third-floor apartment, she walked carefully along a path that rose up above the lush grass of the huge central green area. The path had no railings or other handholds and was challenging in heels. Which was why Silver had made it a point to master the task, until her changeling neighbors gave her a thumbs-up when they passed her.

“Yo, Miss Silver!” The call came from a teenager whose family was living temporarily in the city while his mother undertook a lucrative short-term contract. The children would’ve usually been left with their pack, but as both teenagers had wanted to experience city life, they’d been permitted to enroll in a local school for the duration.

Silver knew all that because the changelings insisted on treating her as one of their own. Not because of who she was, but because of the relationship she’d had with Valentin Nikolaev. Uncertain what effect a denial of that relationship would have on Valentin’s status, she’d said nothing.

He was no longer her mate, but she owed him and StoneWater a certain loyalty. More, she’d given her word that she would protect the clan to her dying day.

Silver did not break her promises.

As a result, people continued to treat her as his mate. The reaction held true regardless of whether it was a bear or wolf or nonpredatory changeling with whom she was interacting.

“Christof. Why aren’t you readying yourself for school?” She had a vague memory of hearing that they were starting at ten thirty today because of a teachers’ meeting.

The wolf male jumped up onto the path from the grass below, his grace that of a predator’s, though his landing was shaky. “I got plenty of time,” he said with a covert glance at his timepiece after shoving his long black bangs out of his eyes. “I figured I’d get in some jumps.”

Silver had no need to ask what he was talking about—she’d seen him jumping down from a number of the high pathways. She’d also seen him fall badly, and had rendered first aid. “You do realize you’re a wolf not a cat?”

The teenage boy made a face, his eyes deep blue against skin of wintery white. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what Dad said when I fractured my ankle that time, but I hate those smarmy cats at school, always jumping off shit and trying to scare us.”

“I didn’t realize there were any big cats in this region.” The question came from the part of her that had once been mate to an alpha bear.

“They’re not big,” he said derisively. “Just wildcats—transferred because the dad’s some fancy-deal professor. They got permission to be here. But they’re so smug.” Thrusting his hands into his pockets, he slumped his shoulders forward and curled his lip. “They called me a ‘feral wolf.’ Can you believe that?”

“I see. Did you respond?”

“Of course I did.” A growl that was nothing like Valentin Nikolaev’s deep rumble, the sudden amber of Christof’s eyes a much darker shade. “I couldn’t let that insult stand. I put kitty litter in their lockers.” His laughter was bright, but it didn’t fill the air, didn’t steal her breath. “You should’ve seen their faces.”

Disturbed by the direction of her thoughts, Silver took a firm mental step off that unproductive path. “Your action may escalate the conflict.”

“No. I got detention, but so did they because they threw the kitty litter at me.” A distinctly self-satisfied look. “Second strike means an automatic expulsion, and I’m not done with the city. Neither are the kitties, so we’ve agreed on a truce.” Having reached the end of the path, the teen lifted a hand. “Mom’s calling. I better boost.”

She turned to ensure he landed safely after his jump, but at the same time, she listened. She picked up no hint of his mother’s call—clearly, whatever the teething problems with her operation, her Tp-A abilities were well under control.

. . . assassination attempt.

The fragment of breaking news came through her preset telepathic filters just as she reached the curb outside the complex. Before she could follow up on the news a familiar rugged all-wheel drive stopped in front of her.

The driver, a heavily muscled man with impressively broad shoulders, reached across to push open the passenger side door. “Hop in. I’ll give you a ride.”

Silver entered the vehicle without hesitation—one thing she’d learned from the memories of her time with Alpha Nikolaev was that he’d never harm her. Since getting to the office earlier would allow her to complete more work, it was a good decision to accept the ride rather than taking the skytrain. “Thank you.”

He swung smoothly into the traffic. The fresh scent of his aftershave drifted across to her, layered over the natural scent of his skin.

That scent triggered a highly tactile memory of his hands skimming over her body, his muscled thigh pushing between hers, his hair falling forward and his smile an invitation. He’d been so warm, his weight heavy on her but not crushing, his chest hair rasping against her nipples.

She considered the memory with detached focus, every detail clear in her mind from the way his smile caused grooves to form in his cheeks, to how his breath whispered over her before his lips took her own, to the firmness of his mouth and the aggressiveness of his tongue.

Despite the richness of the sensory detail, she was still in control, her pulse normal, her breathing even. She remained stable.

“You still doing okay?” A gruff question.

Silver thought of the card she hadn’t thrown away, the one that sat in the center of her dining table in a silent taunt. “I’ve had no unwanted auditory input since the surgery.”

“The apartment? Everyone leaving you be?”

“For changelings, yes.” Had they been Psy, she’d have considered their behavior incredibly intrusive, but she’d successfully adapted to changeling norms. “As there are only a few bears, it’s relatively calm. Only one window broken in the past three days.”

Valentin chuckled and the sound wasn’t quite right, wasn’t what she remembered. As if he were muting himself. Valentin never muted himself. “And you?” she asked. “You lost a mate.”

His hands, big and powerful, clenched on the steering wheel. “Right now, my mate is sitting next to me, alive and breathing and with that brilliant brain going a hundred miles an hour. So yeah, I’m doing okay.”

Silver looked at the traffic he was dodging with such ease. “Turn right here. It’s a shorter distance to EmNet HQ.” The words didn’t seem right, either, didn’t seem to be what she should be saying.