Graham snarled, still fighting the vines. He made himself shift back to his human form, though it hurt like hell. His Collar went off, driving pain into him, but Graham forced himself through, ending up on his human feet.

Fighting the flowers and vines was easier with his hands, and he managed to drag them from his face.

“I’m not fighting your wars for you,” Graham spat. “Forget it.”

“Not war. Not yet,” Oison said, sounding far too calm. “My colleagues are right that it’s too soon for war. But they’re wrong that it’s too soon to bring in the Shifters. You will pull others to me—you have a hundred of what you call Lupines under your command, do you not? I will train you to obey and to submit. You will also breed new Shifters for us. Once you have multiplied, in a few generations, then it will be time for war. Good thing we made Shifters to be long-lived.”

Graham snarled, pulling another vine from his face. “Not gonna happen.”

“Yes, it will.”

Graham kept up his defiance, but his body felt as icy as the wall that encased Reid. The vines wove relentlessly around his limbs, pulling him down to the black floor. They doubled in speed, pinning his body to the ground, spinning over him in a mesh that soon blotted out all light.

 • • •

Misty unloaded Dougal and the cubs from her truck, unlocked her store, and let everyone in. No one had come to work on the place this early, but Misty could see that DX Security and the Shifters had done a great job so far. The broken glass and ceramic had been swept away, the shelves rebuilt. The front doors still needed to be replaced as well as the main counter, but the store was coming along.

Xav had accompanied her, not wanting to let Misty out of his sight. He was responsible for her, he said. His job. He’d brought several security guys who stationed themselves around the front and back in the parking lot.

Misty took the cubs into her office and set them on the desk. “All right, you two. You said you were playing in that basement in Shiftertown, and all the sudden you were here, in the back of a car.” She leaned closer to them. “Tell me now, how did you get there . . . really?”

The wolves looked up at her, innocent-faced, and Dougal growled at them.

One of the wolves shifted. He had hazel eyes—Matt. He hunkered down, hiding his body, but Misty had the feeling it was out of shamefacedness, not modesty.

“We hid in the car,” Matt said, his voice small. “Kyle said you and Graham would be mad, so we had to hide. The car was unlocked.”

“Was it?” Misty asked, giving them a skeptical look. The guy who’d been driving it had sworn up and down he’d locked it. He worked for a top security firm and was careful about things like that.

Matt glanced at Kyle, who was still a wolf. “Maybe Dougal taught us how to break into cars,” Matt said.

“Hey, you little monsters . . .” Dougal began.

“Not important.” Misty raised her voice. “I need you two to show me exactly where you came out.”

“Okay,” Matt said, and shifted back into a wolf.

He and Kyle scrambled from the desk, their bodies wriggling as they tried to land softly. Matt yipped when he hit the floor, but was up again, racing to the door to scratch on it.

“I didn’t teach them to break into cars,” Dougal said as Misty opened the door so the cubs could scamper out. He didn’t look Misty in the eye, so he might be lying, he might not. “How to pick locks, yeah, but different kinds.” He hesitated. “Don’t tell Graham.”

“I don’t have to.” Misty gave him an exasperated look. “Just . . . don’t teach them anything else, all right?”

Dougal sent her a grin that showed he might in time become as hard and fearless as Graham. “I’m their honorary uncle. I’m supposed to be a little wild.”

Misty patted his arm. “You’re awesome, Dougal.”

“Aw. You’re just saying that.”

The cubs, let into the main part of the store, immediately ran to the unlocked front door, pushed it open with body weight and determination, and started racing across the parking lot.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Hey, no dogs allowed in here.” Pedro pointed a broad finger at Misty and Xav standing slightly behind her. “Sorry, those are the rules. Health department.”

Matt and Kyle started around the counter of the convenience store, growling and snapping at Pedro, unhappy about being called dogs. Dougal lunged for them and grabbed one cub under each arm.

“They sure are cute little guys,” Pedro said, looking them over. “What kind are they?”

The store was empty except for Pedro at the moment. No one was at the gas pumps this early, and traffic was sparse on the roads.

“Wolf,” Dougal said.

“Wolf hybrids?” Pedro reached out to pet Kyle.

“No.” Dougal said. “All wolf.”

Pedro jerked his hand back at the same time Dougal’s T-shirt moved to show his Collar above the neckband. Pedro lowered his hand and swallowed. “No Shifters either. Sorry. Owner’s policy.”

“We’ll be out in no time,” Misty said brightly. “Promise. You two.” She pointed a finger at first Matt then Kyle. “Where? And no goofing around.”

Kyle and Matt wriggled to get down. Dougal set them on their feet then followed close behind the cubs, Misty after him. Pedro stayed put, watching, but not moving to stop them.