Addie went on rubbing her arms. “I didn’t feel strong. I just didn’t want the kids pulled in by the cops or you arrested. I bet if you were imprisoned, the kids wouldn’t go into foster care, unless there’s some Shifter equivalent—not that I’d want them in foster care at all. I didn’t want to see Robbie and Zane and Brett hurt, so I kept quiet.”

Kendrick gave her a nod that was almost a bow. “And for that, I thank you.”

Addie looked him over again. “Are you always so formal?”

Kendrick gave her another nod, a sparkle lighting his eyes. “Yes.”

Addie became aware that other eyes were on them, two pairs of bright green ones and one steadfast gray.

“Dad,” Zane said in his small but surprisingly strong voice. “Addie is going to be our new mom, isn’t she?”

Addie turned to him in surprise. Zane was looking up at her, so much eagerness in his expression that it broke her heart.

“Zane,” Kendrick said, admonishing.

Addie held up her hand, her heart beating faster. “No, wait. This is interesting. Has there been discussion on the topic?”

“No.” Kendrick’s brows came down, and the word was abrupt. “The cubs, they’re . . . missing their mother.”

Who wasn’t around anymore, Addie took it. “What happened to her?”

“Dead.” Again Kendrick’s word was abrupt, devoid of emotion.

“I’m sorry.” Addie felt bad for prying but she was coming to understand that with Kendrick, information had to be dragged out of him a piece at a time. “What about Robbie?”

“His parents were killed. They left him to me.”

“I’m sorry, Robbie,” Addie said, turning to him. “I lost my mom and dad too. My sister took care of me from the time I was fourteen.”

Robbie only looked at her. She read sorrow in him, sorrow he tried to hide while he dealt with it. It was wrong for kids to lose their parents, their anchors in the world, too soon.

All of them, Zane, Brett, Robbie, and Kendrick, had sadness in their eyes. Too much of it. Addie wanted to do something to see the kids laughing and happy, if only for a few moments.

“So, now what?” Addie lifted the purse she’d dropped to a chair and rummaged through it. “I should call my sister and let her know I’m all right—”

A large hand clamped over her cell phone and firmly took it from her. “No.”

Addie reached for it. “She’ll be worried about me. I was arrested—well, almost arrested.”

“Addison.” Kendrick held the phone away from her. “I can’t let them track a call here.”

“I understand that. But I’m going to have to call someone, somehow. You’ve kind of stranded me out here.”

“I know.” Kendrick remained in place, the phone in his hand. He stood rigidly, his eyes holding a darkness but also the tiniest hope. “Addison, I don’t have anywhere to take you where you’ll be safe. Not right now.”

A lump lodged in Addie’s throat. She hadn’t really thought he’d brought her here so he could sweep her into his arms, shower her with more wads of cash, do a striptease for her . . . The tingle in her heart swelled to scorching.

“I was thinking about heading to New Orleans,” she said. “You could always buy me a bus ticket.”

Kendrick’s brows slammed together again. “Bus. Alone and vulnerable, prey to any human who looks at you and wants you.”

“Paranoid, much,” Addie said, folding her arms. She felt suddenly cold, though the small room was warm, the AC faulty. “What do you suggest? I’m in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere with no transportation. Sure, I’ll just walk out onto a lonely back Texas highway and hitch a ride. Nothing can possibly go wrong with that.”