Andrea’s Fae blood had never bothered Maria, and she still wasn’t certain what being Fae meant. But she’d observed Shifters glance at Andrea with curiosity and even fear. They never said anything, knowing Sean would retaliate against any disrespect to his mate, but the nervousness was there.

“I’m apart too,” Maria said. “But I decided I can’t hide forever. There’s a world out there, and I need to face it. It’s a risk, but I will take it.”

“And you will. Tomorrow. Your SAT tests. I hope you didn’t forget.” She smiled, knowing Maria never would. Maria had confided in few people about her dream to enter the university, but Andrea was one of them. She and Connor, Glory, and now Ellison.

“What did Dylan decide to do?” Maria asked. “About Bradley?”

Andrea’s look turned evasive. “They’ll stop him. Dylan, Liam, and Sean together. No need for you to worry about that.”

“Yes, but how? Find the man? Murder him? What happens if they get caught?” Maria looked at Kenny, sleeping so sweetly. The boy had been named for the brother of Sean and Liam who’d been killed by a feral Shifter long ago. Kenny had been Connor’s father and much beloved.

A shadow passed through Andrea’s eyes, worry for her mate and his family. “If there’s a problem in the world Sean, Liam, and Dylan can’t take care of, then it’s a bad problem. Don’t worry.”

“We have to stop them, Andrea—these people who snatch cubs. Bradley and everyone like him, and the people who hire them. It’s terrible.”

“I know.” Andrea held Kenny closer a moment, protective. Then she handed Kenny up to Maria’s outstretched hands and rose, stretching as only a Shifter could stretch, every limb supple. She kissed Maria on the cheek. “But you focus on your tests tomorrow. It will be a big day for you.”

Maria enjoyed the warmth of Andrea’s hug for a moment, the baby scent of little Kenny. Andrea took Kenny back into her arms, left the room, and Maria turned out the light.

She went to the window and raised the blind enough to let in the moonlight. On the porch across the street, two cowboy boots were crossed on the porch rail, long legs in jeans stretching back into shadows.

Maria smiled, her heart lightened. She undressed, blew a kiss across the street, and got into bed, where she lay awake for a long time.

Thoughts tumbled through her mind—the panic when she’s lost Olaf, her sudden fright inside the culvert, her rage when she discovered that men were trying to kidnap Shifter cubs, the distracting worry about the exams.

Over all of this she relived the water embracing her, Ellison holding her, the heat of him inside her, finding something buried deep inside her and dragging it out into the light.

After a long time, she drifted to sleep to the memory of the warmth of Ellison’s touch, the tenderness of his kiss. The image of him running into the water, naked but for his cowboy hat, was a fine one too.

***

“Here, I found more pencils for you.” Olaf held them up on the porch in the early light of morning, yellow pencils nicely sharpened.

Elizabeth—Ronan’s mate—and Cherie, Scott, and Rebecca, another Kodiak bear, were with Olaf, Ronan hulking in the background while he talked to Spike and the Morrisseys.

“Thank you, Olaf,” Maria said, taking the pencils and putting them into her purse.

“Why did you get up early to take a test?” Jordan, Spike’s four-year-old cub, asked her. “That’s no fun.”

“You should write the answers on your hands,” Scott said. A large bear Shifter of about thirty years, he seemed calm this morning, not in the frenzy of his Transition. “Always worked for me.”

“It’s not that kind of test,” Maria said, laughing. “I think they check for that anyway.”

“Aw. Too bad.” Scott grinned.

“I still don’t see why she has to go,” Jordan said. “Stay home and play with me, Maria.”

Connor, who was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the porch steps, said to Jordan, “You’ll understand when you’re older, laddie. We need to go.”

Difficult to leave when all of Shiftertown—at least this block—had turned out to see her off. Maria had talked about her ambitions to very few, but this morning, so many seemed to know her secret, and they were excited for her. Hard to keep anything quiet in Shiftertown. Maria warmed though, at the send-off.

Spike’s mate, Myka, a human woman who trained horses for a living, was also making an early start. Horses liked early, she said. She hugged Maria. “You’ll bust chops,” she said. “That means you’ll do well.”

Glory almost lifted Maria off her feet with her hug. “You go, girl. I’m so proud of you.”

Andrea had another hug, and this time Kenny was awake and talking to himself in wordless sounds. Maria kissed both him and Andrea.

That made Olaf and Jordan clamor for kisses and hugs before she went. Maria bent down to hug each in turn, having to pry them away from her and promise more hugs when she came home.

The only Shifter missing was Ellison. She kept glancing at his closed house, but she heard nothing from within. Maybe Ellison had simply gone inside and fallen asleep after staying up all night watching her house from his porch. He had to sleep sometime.

Maria swallowed her disappointment and turned to follow Connor to Dylan’s pickup, which she and Connor were borrowing. Tiger was tinkering with something under the hood, and he dropped the hood closed, watching Maria quietly with his strange eyes when she and Connor approached.

Ellison still didn’t appear as Maria took the keys from Connor and got into the driver’s side of the truck.

“You know, I do know how to drive,” Connor said, hopping into the passenger seat.

“I know. I’ve ridden with you. I want to get there in one piece.”

Maria looked behind her, but Ellison’s house remained quiet, the doors closed. Well, she would go over when she came home. She and Ellison weren’t mates or married. Just friends.

And lovers. Maria shivered as the heat of yesterday afternoon slid over her again. She started the truck, smiled at Tiger, who returned her look without changing expression, and pulled onto the street.

Behind her the Morrisseys, Ronan’s family, and Spike’s family all waved and cheered for her. A warmth spread in Maria’s heart. She’d been trying so hard to survive on her own that she hadn’t realized she’d created a family for herself right here, without knowing it.