"I mean," Della answered, "are you going to start liking Kevin, or are you planning to hang in there with the shape-shifter in hopes that Perry will..."

"Don't say it. Leave his testicles out of your dialogue." Miranda pointed a finger at Della.

Della jumped the rest of the way off the steps then looked back up at Miranda with mock innocence. "I wasn't going to mention his testicles."

From the grin on Della's face, Kylie knew the vampire was lying. Nevertheless, she had a good point.

"She's right." Kylie put in her two cents' worth. "You need to make a decision."

Miranda frowned and pulled back her hair. They walked a few minutes without talking. Miranda seemed to be contemplating something.

"But I don't have to make it like ... right now," Miranda said. "Do I? I mean, there's a chance that Kevin will just forget it happened. It wasn't really even that good of a kiss."

"Hey, Miranda." The voice came from about fifty feet behind them. All three girls turned around and confronted the mediocre kisser moving down the walking path.

"Fat chance that he forgot," Della said and sniffed the air. "You don't even want to know about his hormones right now. The guy's got it bad for you."

"Really?" Miranda asked. "I thought you said you couldn't read the hormones and pheromones of a shape-shifter? When Perry was a bird, you said-"

"I said I didn't know what horny birds smelled like. But in their natural states, shape-shifters pollute the air with their lust just like everyone else does." She waved a hand in front of her face.

Miranda looked from Della to Kevin, who was closing in on them.

"Hi." He stopped right in front of the three of them. Kylie had never really noticed Kevin before, but she supposed he was kind of hot in his own way. Not anywhere near Derek's status, but he had some boy charm.

And if you asked Kylie, he was even cuter than Perry, not that Kylie disliked Perry. The shape-shifter had sort of grown on Kylie these last few weeks.

"Did you sleep well?" Kevin asked Miranda, and dropped his hands inside the pocket of his khaki shorts. Kylie noted the navy T-shirt he wore hung a bit loose on his medium-size frame. His hair, a brownish blond, hung a little on the long side. He grinned, his blue-eyed gaze zeroing in on Miranda with obvious romantic interest.

"Yeah," Miranda answered, which was a lie, and Kylie noted Della rolling her eyes.

"I thought maybe we could walk together to breakfast," Kevin said. "Okay. I guess."

Miranda looked to Kylie as if to ask if she thought her answer had been a mistake.

Kylie didn't know what to think, so she just smiled nonchalantly. No doubt, if Perry found out Miranda and Kevin were hooking up, he would be hurt. While Kylie wasn't afraid of Perry, a lot of other campers feared his powers. So hurting Perry could be a bad thing. But then Kylie saw the blush rise in Miranda cheeks and she also noticed how the girl stood a little straighter. Right or wrong, Kevin's interest in her was doing wonders for her friend's confidence.

When Miranda and Kevin took off ahead, Kylie and Della hung back. They stood there without talking until Miranda and Kevin took the turn in the trail that offered them some privacy.

"Whatcha think?" Kylie asked Della as they both started walking at a slow pace so as not to catch up with the two ahead of them.

Della rolled her eyes. "I think sooner or later some serious shit is going to hit the fan."

"Yeah, but did you see how her eyes lit up?" Kylie asked. "Everyone wants to think a guy likes her. Maybe Perry will see it and realize he needs to make a move."

"That's when the shit will hit the fan. You do not play with a shapeshifter's emotions, especially not one as powerful as he is. I'm telling you, the fact that Perry didn't turn himself into a wild boar and gore your ass the night you bobbed his ear is a miracle. It was the first thing Chan explained about the supernatural world to me. Beware of shape-shifters, they are one badass species."

Della tilted her head to the side as if listening. "Oh, shit. Make that sooner."

"What?" Kylie asked, not that Della answered.

Della had disappeared. Kylie didn't understand until she heard Miranda scream and some serious animal roaring punctuated the morning air.

Running with everything she had, which was amazingly fast compared to the speed she could run a month ago, Kylie got to the V in the trail just in time to see two huge black bears swinging claws at one another.

Della was holding Miranda, who fought to get away, as if she wanted to break up the fighting animals. It took Kylie about half a second to realize that these weren't your average giant bears. Nope. They had to be Perry and Kevin.

When the larger bear raked its claw across the other bear's shoulder and blood squirted onto the dirt path, Kylie screamed out, "Stop it!"

She would have gotten more attention from a brick wall. The two angry animals continued to swing at each other. Suddenly, a few sparkles filled the air, and one bear transformed into a lion, a lion about the size of a minivan. Its roar rang so loud, it hurt Kylie's ears. Within a few more seconds, the other bear transformed into a lion-only larger. The sound of clashing teeth could be heard between the piercing roars, and more blood moistened the dry earth beneath their paws.

Kylie didn't know if the damage the two shape-shifters did to each other was permanent or if when they transformed they came back in one piece. When one lion grabbed the other by the throat, Kylie realized she couldn't just stand by and watch these two possibly kill each other. Not thinking about the consequences, she flung herself into the mix, grabbed the larger lion by its mane, and yanked as hard as she could.