Dimitri carried Jaycee into the bedroom she’d chosen for herself and laid her gently on the bed. Zander followed and checked her over. She’d been given a dose of some tranquilizer, Zander said, but she’d sleep it off.

“Good for you, Addie,” Zander said when he came out. “If you hadn’t run after those guys, Jaycee could be who knows where right now.” He sent Kendrick a significant look, as though Kendrick would never be able to figure out that Addison had courageously saved the day.

Dimitri said nothing, but his glance at Addison showed vast gratitude. Then he returned to Jaycee’s room in silence.

Kendrick spent a long time walking among his Shifters, settling them in for the night. They were used to living rough, camping where they had to. The horse was a bit nervous about all the animals moving in with her, but she settled down when she started to grow interested and enjoy the company. Horses were herd animals—they liked communities as much as Shifters did.

Some Shifters camped under the stars and the few bears in Kendrick’s group moved into the basement. As Kendrick had found, a large door in the basement opened from a small space behind the generator and icebox to cavernous rooms. Storm shelters, he decided, or maybe built in the day when bomb shelters had been a popular thing. Whatever reason, Charlie had an enormous basement under his house, and the bears liked it.

With Dimitri and Jaycee out of it, Kendrick had to rely on Seamus, Ben, and Zander to move among the Shifters with him and keep an eye out for any who might be Lachlan’s. Seamus’s mate had returned with him, along with her brother, who started helping out without being asked.

In the small hours of the morning, Zander found Kendrick outside the barn with a crowd of his Shifters and put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Go to bed,” Zander said in his outsized voice. “You’re all in, and your mate’s already there. Go snuggle up with her.”

The Shifters of his band said, “Yeah go for it,” and other encouraging comments. Kendrick stretched his back, the weight of the sword dragging at him. “You know what happens if I sleep with Addison,” he said to Zander in a low voice. “And what it will mean.”

Zander’s grin split his face. “Of course I do. We all do.” His hand dug into Kendrick’s shoulder, and he made an expansive gesture at the other Shifters. “It’s natural—enjoy it. Take one for the team.”

Kendrick shrugged off his hold. “She’s human. Do not stand under the window cheering.”

Amid disappointed groans, Zander said, “Aw, you know how to ruin all the fun. A leader in a mating frenzy is momentous, Kendrick. We’ll cheer from the barn. And the basement. And the fields. It’s catching, you know. Mating frenzy.”

Kendrick knew that—especially a leader’s mating. Other Shifters would catch the wave of need and find partners for the night.

Kendrick gave Zander a severe look. “If you get a cub on any of my Shifters, polar bear, you’re taking care of it and its mother forever. No love ’em and leave ’em on my watch.”

Zander raised his hands. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on touching anyone. I like that you all love each other, but your way of life is . . . complicated. I like striding alone under the stars, on fields of endless ice.”

“You lived in a house with satellite TV,” Kendrick said. “And central heating.”

“Hey, even polar bears get cold. And bored. You know, those programs about searching for ghosts are hilarious. Humans are good with comedy.” Zander stepped back and let him go. “Need to talk to you about something after,” he said.

Kendrick barely heard him. Afterward meant everything in his life would be different. He ended the conversation by turning his back and walking without a word to the house. Zander’s laughter drifted after him.