“This is bad, isn’t it?” asked Kathy, referring to the news report that was practically dedicated to making shifters seem like a species that needed to be completely eradicated. “The extremists might just win this fight and have the laws put in place.”

“They won’t win the bigger fight,” stated Derren. “No shifter is going to allow themselves to be chipped or confined somewhere. All this is about control. It’s in our nature to want freedom—we need it.”

“You think a war will break out between us and the humans?” asked Dominic.

Derren raised a brow at him. “Would you be prepared to let them take away your freedom like that?”

“Hell no.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

“But the humans have to know how bad things could get,” said Tao. “They can’t be so stupid as to pass laws that will lead to a war.”

“Why not?” Derren snorted. “They battle among themselves often enough—much more so than shifters do. And they’re arrogant enough to believe they’ll win because they know there’s a higher population of them than us. What they don’t know is that not all shifter packs have come out of the closet. There’s a lot more of us than humans can even imagine, and many different species of shifter.”

Trey exhaled a heavy breath. “The problem is, though, that although we’re stronger than them, it won’t mean shit in a full-scale war. They have all kinds of fancy weapons. We fight with tooth and claw. There’s likely to be more damage done to us than them.”

“You’re right there,” said Greta with a sigh. “But spending our time grumbling about it isn’t doing us any good. I say we find something to take our minds off it instead of watching this garbage.”

“Like what?” asked Tao.

“I don’t know…something constructive and fun.”

Taryn smiled cheerily. “Great, I’ll help you pack.”

Greta narrowed her eyes at Taryn, who simply shot her another cheery smile.

At that moment, Nick entered the room, and Shaya’s wolf lolled onto her side, happy. As always, his presence demanded attention. It certainly got Amber’s attention, who flashed him a huge smile and patted the chair beside her. But it was Shaya he went to. He carefully lifted her and then took her seat before placing her on his lap. Content, she lounged against him, enabling him to nuzzle her neck.

“How’s Eli doing?” Derren asked Nick.

“Wishing he could be up here, part of the action,” replied Nick. It was typical of his brother—the guy feared nothing and loved any kind of action. “Other than that, he’s fine.” Nick couldn’t resist licking over the fresh bite he’d delivered to the soft flesh of Shaya’s neck earlier. She shuddered, satisfying both him and his wolf.

“When are you going back to work, Shaya?” asked Amber pleasantly, most likely looking forward to Shaya and Nick being separated during the daytime so she could get him alone. Tramp.

“Not until the place is fixed up,” replied Shaya just as pleasantly. The insurance company was dragging its heels, which was infuriating Kent.

Unlike with Amber, Kathy’s friendly tone was authentic. “Have you thought of applying for another job?”

“That’s already covered.”

At her mate’s shocking words, Shaya slowly turned her head to look at him. “Already covered?”

“Yes. You’ve already applied for another job.”

“What does that mean? And did it occur to you that I might want to keep the job I have?” She couldn’t help feeling slightly affronted.

Nick merely shrugged. “If you don’t want the other job, you don’t have to take it. It’s simply an option for you to consider.”

“What job?” asked Taryn, curious.

“I’m not prepared to say anything until I’m absolutely positive that the interview process isn’t already over.”

Shaya frowned. “So it’s an interview? Not a guaranteed position?”

Nick cupped her chin. “I know you, and I know that if you want this job, you’ll want to have it because you were the best person for the job—not because of contacts I have. Besides, you don’t need my interference. I have every confidence in you.”

That made things a little different, and hearing he had such faith in her warmed her. “Thank you.” Right then, all she wanted was to straddle him again and kiss him hard in gratitude…but as usual, they didn’t have much privacy, and Shaya wasn’t an exhibitionist. “I have an idea.”

“If it involves getting na**d, I’m game.”

She rolled her eyes, despite that her thoughts hadn’t been far away from his. The guy could so easily have her pining for him, even if it had only been a matter of hours since he had last been inside her. “Let’s go out somewhere—just you and me.” Of course she understood that Derren would still tag along, but he’d be polite enough to keep a fair distance away and pretend he couldn’t hear their conversations.

Nick grinned. “I like that idea.”

She whispered low enough for only him to hear. “I can take the butt plug out before we leave, though, right?”

He laughed. “How can I say no when you were such a good girl for me earlier?” They had gone from using fingers to butt plugs and slowly increasing them in size. Some would say it wasn’t necessary since, as his mate, she was made to take him everywhere and he’d automatically fit snugly there. Still, he didn’t want her in even the slightest bit of pain when he finally took her.

Not so long later, they were sitting in an ice-cream parlor, sharing a caramel sundae. Mostly, though, he just watched—totally enraptured—as Shaya licked and swirled her tongue around the ice cream, wearing a teasing smile, knowing exactly what she was doing to him and exactly how jealous he was of that sundae right then.

After that, they went shopping and—no surprise—Shaya bought a pair of stilettos. No more than twenty minutes later, she’d bought another two pairs. Not that Nick was complaining, since she looked sexy as hell in them. And she’d known just how much she was tantalizing him by modeling them for him in the store. In fact, she’d drawn several male gazes, and naturally, Nick had snarled at every one of those males.

Hours later, they were at a Mexican restaurant, and Shaya was driving him insane by picking at her food like a bird rather than eating it properly. When she’d ignored his insistence that she eat more, he’d given her a look that swore repercussions. Then, figuring she deserved it, he’d teasingly nibbled and licked at her fingers and hand, whispering the things he fully intended to do to her when they were finally home. Flushed and horny, she’d turned a little cranky until she saw just how hard he was. Realizing she wasn’t alone in her desperate state and realizing just how well her teasing had worked, she’d gone from cranky to smug.

The time alone had been just what they needed, in Nick’s opinion—and not just because he disliked company unless it was Shaya. It was kind of hard to spend time trying to win her complete trust and faith when people were hanging around, depriving them of privacy. He understood why the Phoenix wolves did it; they wanted to be nearby in case they were needed. And, naturally, they’d all missed Shaya since she left their pack, just as Kathy and Roni had missed him. Taryn in particular spent a lot of time with them, and he knew it was because she was deliberately trying to make things hard as hell for him. He could understand it, but it still made him pissed, because not having her best friend’s total support was hurting Shaya.

Whether Taryn realized it or not, Nick had never worked as hard for anything as he had for Shaya…because nothing had meant as much to him as she did. Sure his mom, Roni, and Eli were important to him, but he needed Shaya. Even with his family around him, he’d always felt alone somehow. Always felt slightly apart from them. Maybe he’d created that distance himself because he felt to blame for how damaged Roni was and for how they had all felt the need to leave their original pack after what had happened. On the other hand, the emotional distance could just be a result of his inability to truly bond—he didn’t know.

With Shaya, it was different because he didn’t want any distance. How could he? She understood and accepted him in a way that no one had done before, not even Derren with his ability to relate to Nick due to their past in juvie. She saw his faults, knew his mistakes, was aware of what he was capable of, yet she didn’t judge or fear him. She stood up to him, she kept him on his toes, and she was a living, breathing challenge—Nick had always loved a challenge. She gave him hope that it might be different this time, that for once in his life, he might truly be able to bond with another person. But that all depended on her, on whether she was willing to accept his claim on her, because a bond required both of them.

Having finished their meal, they both left the restaurant hand in hand. They had only taken a few steps into the parking lot when it happened—a knowing hit him, a feeling of foreboding, an itch at the back of his neck. Slowing his steps, he stretched out his senses and discovered that there were people lurking…but not just in front of him; they were also lurking behind and on either side of him. “Shit.” He dug his cell out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial for Derren’s phone. Quietly, he said, “We have some visitors. Be careful.”

“What’s going on?” asked Shaya in a low voice.

He kissed her temple. “Humans. Don’t worry, we’ll—” That was when four humans began to gather a short distance ahead of them. Another two were then on either side of Nick and Shaya while three more came up behind them. The humans were keeping a fair distance away, but they were also trapping Nick and Shaya. He recognized a few of them as extremists, and though Logan wasn’t present, Nick would bet he was behind the whole thing. He and Shaya were standing back-to-back and being circled by eleven humans.

Any other time, Nick would’ve felt nothing but bored. He’d handled humans before, and he could handle them again. He didn’t relish the idea of harming anybody, but he’d defend himself and his mate in an attack. But this wasn’t just an attack. It was a trap—an attempt at provoking Nick into violence. What male, human or shifter, wouldn’t turn aggressive at the thought of his female being attacked? But humans wary of shifters wouldn’t look at it that way, because it wouldn’t suit them to do so.

He knew how Logan’s mind worked: The bastard would no doubt produce photographs of his fellow extremists—clawed and bitten and wounded badly—to reporters or the court and spin a nice story to accompany those photographs. As such, when Nick fought these extremists off, something he fully intended to do in order to protect Shaya, he would be playing right into Logan’s hands. But there was no other choice, because the very idea of Shaya being hurt wasn’t at all acceptable to him or his wolf. The animal was currently growling and flexing his claws, honing his senses on the humans.

Nick was aware that Derren wasn’t far away, and he would imagine that the humans would be aware of that too, as they knew Derren accompanied Nick everywhere. He would bet they wouldn’t be fazed by that at all—the more shifters involved in the attack, the better for them.

“You should have listened to Logan in the beginning. You should have left town long ago,” the human directly in front of Nick said. Hatred swirled in his blue eyes, twisting his thin face into a scowl. “And you really shouldn’t have pissed off Logan the way you did. So you could say that you brought this on yourself…that it’ll be your fault your girlfriend’s about to be very badly hurt. Don’t worry—she might just enjoy what we have in mind for her.”

Barely restraining himself from bloodying the prick, Nick realized just how good a trap Logan had set. Logan knew Nick’s past, knew what had gotten him sent to juvie. He’d be hoping that if they threatened to do to Shaya exactly what was done to his sister that day, Nick would for sure react. A cunning plan. And it had every chance of working.

Sensing Nick’s control quickly splintering, Shaya brushed her hand against the back of his thigh. She kept her gaze trained on the humans in her vision, registering every move they made, fully prepared to defend herself if any one of them took a single step toward her. So far, they had done nothing but glare at her, clenching their fists in an attempt to intimidate her, but that could quickly change.

“I still can’t work out whether she’s a shifter or not,” continued the human. “But if she’s going to f**k one, the slut might as well be.”

A growl poured out of Nick. Reflexively, he moved to rip the a**hole’s limbs off, but then there was the sound of the only thing that could have gotten through to him—Shaya’s voice.

“Don’t, Nick,” she said, low enough for only him to hear. She spoke in the same calming tone she used with Taryn and Amber. “He wants you to charge at him so that I’m standing here alone. He’s trying to separate us.”

She was right, Nick realized as the red haze blurring his thoughts began to disperse. “He called you a slut,” he gritted out quietly.

“What’s the big deal? I’m your slut.” Her voice held a tint of amusement.

“You know, coming forward and announcing your existence had to be the dumbest thing your species ever could have done,” said the human. “What made you think you would ever be accepted? You’re exactly what those religious fanatics say you are—abominations. And you need to be destroyed.”