didn’t fight the Change the same way. But men… The stronger the man, the more his body would resist the Change. The more he’d struggle to his own death.
And Cole… Her eyes slid to the rodeo still running on the TV. Jesus, if ever a man was a candidate for driving himself mad, it was Cole. A man already carrying way too many ghosts and too much guilt.
“Hi, Janna,” a voice called from the door.
Her chin snapped up as she forced a smile on her face.
Stef, a lean, lanky she-wolf from Twin Moon pack, stood at the door with her mate, Kyle.
Janna stared for a moment, because Stef had once been all-human herself, just like her mate, Kyle — another human who had survived the Change. They ambled in like it was just another sunny day in northern Arizona, swinging a baby carrier in which a tiny little bundle slept.
Janna grabbed her drinks tray and hurried over to the side booth they took, trying to exude a calm she didn’t feel. Shifters could see — and more importantly, smell — right through each other’s guises, so she had to cloak her feelings well.
“Can I get you the lunch menu?” she asked, studying Kyle out of the corner of her eye.
Plenty of women did that on account of the way the man looked.
Fine, mighty fine,
she’d heard more than one woman sigh whenever the cop shifter stopped by the saloon. He came by often, on and off duty as a state cop, and always on duty as a leading member of Twin Moon pack — the pack that leased the saloon to the Voss brothers and wanted to make damn sure it didn’t become a magnet for shifters of the wrong type.
Kyle’s eyes were firmly on Stef’s. His hand clasped hers tightly, and the love pulsing between the two of them might as well have been a glowing neon light.
“Just a piece of pie for me.” Stef smiled.
“And you?” Janna asked, sneaking a peek at the open collar of Kyle’s shirt, where the red edge of one of his scars barely showed.
As a human, Kyle had been mauled by a rogue shifter. That was years ago, but Janna had heard the stories of how hard his body had fought the Change and how close he’d tiptoed to death. But Kyle had had his happy ending. He’d found his place in the pack, met his destined mate, and settled down with her in every sense of the word.
If he could do it, so could Cole, right?
She held her breath, hoping for some voice to rise out of the desert and whisper an affirmative response.
Kyle had come that close to death because his wounds had been so severe and the Change came over him suddenly, unlike Cole’s slower transformation, right?
Right?
she wanted to scream, cueing the answer she craved.
Right?
She strained her ears but didn’t hear a peep.
“Just coffee for me,” Kyle said.
“Nothing for baby?” she managed a feeble joke.
The two shifters turned to the baby carrier with the happy grins of proud parents and peered in at their sleeping little boy.
“I think he’s good,” Stef said.
He’s perfect,
Kyle’s proud daddy eyes said.
Janna heaved a huge inner sigh and turned for the kitchen. Kyle was living proof that a man could survive the Change. And Tina’s mate Rick had survived it, too. Two perfectly good examples of why she needn’t fear for Cole.
She racked her mind for more and came up painfully blank. All she came up with were a dozen ugly examples to the contrary. So, Jesus, what should she do?
She glanced through the serving window from the kitchen to the saloon. Theoretically, she ought to inform the wolves who owned the saloon and oversaw this area of the Southwest when it came to shifter matters. But the Twin Moon alpha, Ty Hawthorne, could be a downright terrifying man to confront.
Janna considered approaching Ty’s sister Tina but discarded it almost as quickly. Tina had a soft spot for wayward shifters, but the saloon had already brought trouble too close to Twin Moon pack, and her patience had to be nearing an end. And with a human mate of her own, Tina had to be just as wary of
And Cole… Her eyes slid to the rodeo still running on the TV. Jesus, if ever a man was a candidate for driving himself mad, it was Cole. A man already carrying way too many ghosts and too much guilt.
“Hi, Janna,” a voice called from the door.
Her chin snapped up as she forced a smile on her face.
Stef, a lean, lanky she-wolf from Twin Moon pack, stood at the door with her mate, Kyle.
Janna stared for a moment, because Stef had once been all-human herself, just like her mate, Kyle — another human who had survived the Change. They ambled in like it was just another sunny day in northern Arizona, swinging a baby carrier in which a tiny little bundle slept.
Janna grabbed her drinks tray and hurried over to the side booth they took, trying to exude a calm she didn’t feel. Shifters could see — and more importantly, smell — right through each other’s guises, so she had to cloak her feelings well.
“Can I get you the lunch menu?” she asked, studying Kyle out of the corner of her eye.
Plenty of women did that on account of the way the man looked.
Fine, mighty fine,
she’d heard more than one woman sigh whenever the cop shifter stopped by the saloon. He came by often, on and off duty as a state cop, and always on duty as a leading member of Twin Moon pack — the pack that leased the saloon to the Voss brothers and wanted to make damn sure it didn’t become a magnet for shifters of the wrong type.
Kyle’s eyes were firmly on Stef’s. His hand clasped hers tightly, and the love pulsing between the two of them might as well have been a glowing neon light.
“Just a piece of pie for me.” Stef smiled.
“And you?” Janna asked, sneaking a peek at the open collar of Kyle’s shirt, where the red edge of one of his scars barely showed.
As a human, Kyle had been mauled by a rogue shifter. That was years ago, but Janna had heard the stories of how hard his body had fought the Change and how close he’d tiptoed to death. But Kyle had had his happy ending. He’d found his place in the pack, met his destined mate, and settled down with her in every sense of the word.
If he could do it, so could Cole, right?
She held her breath, hoping for some voice to rise out of the desert and whisper an affirmative response.
Kyle had come that close to death because his wounds had been so severe and the Change came over him suddenly, unlike Cole’s slower transformation, right?
Right?
she wanted to scream, cueing the answer she craved.
Right?
She strained her ears but didn’t hear a peep.
“Just coffee for me,” Kyle said.
“Nothing for baby?” she managed a feeble joke.
The two shifters turned to the baby carrier with the happy grins of proud parents and peered in at their sleeping little boy.
“I think he’s good,” Stef said.
He’s perfect,
Kyle’s proud daddy eyes said.
Janna heaved a huge inner sigh and turned for the kitchen. Kyle was living proof that a man could survive the Change. And Tina’s mate Rick had survived it, too. Two perfectly good examples of why she needn’t fear for Cole.
She racked her mind for more and came up painfully blank. All she came up with were a dozen ugly examples to the contrary. So, Jesus, what should she do?
She glanced through the serving window from the kitchen to the saloon. Theoretically, she ought to inform the wolves who owned the saloon and oversaw this area of the Southwest when it came to shifter matters. But the Twin Moon alpha, Ty Hawthorne, could be a downright terrifying man to confront.
Janna considered approaching Ty’s sister Tina but discarded it almost as quickly. Tina had a soft spot for wayward shifters, but the saloon had already brought trouble too close to Twin Moon pack, and her patience had to be nearing an end. And with a human mate of her own, Tina had to be just as wary of
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