Dougal launched himself at Misty and enfolded her in a hard hug. “Thank you, Misty.”
The twins rammed into her other side, hugging her tight. Sean and Andrea had brought their clothes, which they’d put on more or less right, except Kyle had his shirt on inside out. “Aunt Misty!” They shouted. The cubs let go of her and jumped up and down together, then ran at her and hugged her again.
All the while Graham lay there, his eyes softening. “Thank you, Misty.”
Misty leaned down, being careful not to hurt him, and kissed his cracked lips. “Anytime, love.”
Graham tried to kiss her back, the glint in his eye telling her when he felt better, she’d need to watch out. Misty didn’t care. She loved Graham, she loved sex with him, and she yearned for him with every part of her.
Graham smiled the best he could as she rose from him, then he looked past her. “And you two,” he said to the twins, with a hint of his old firmness. “Goddess help me. I don’t know whether to lock you in your room for two months or take you out for pizza.”
The twins sprang away from Misty and high-fived each other. “Pizza!” they yelled.
“Earplugs,” Graham said, wincing. “I’m buying a bucket load.”
Laughter began, and then healing magic, as the van rocked and swayed through the dusty desert night.
• • •
Andrea’s skill, bandages, Misty’s touch, and time healed Graham’s wounds, though he was the most impatient patient Misty had ever dealt with.
Graham was up and down constantly while he convalesced, picking at the bandages, reopening the closed wounds, grumbling when they were bandaged again. He said he couldn’t stay in bed when he had to take care of Dougal, and the cubs, and Shifter business, and run his half of Shiftertown, and fix his bike, which had gotten shot, if she remembered.
The Shifters would have to rebuild the house that had collapsed, away from the ley line this time. Plus, they needed to get the Shifter Bureau off their backs about the Collars—though the soldiers had tested every one and found them all functional. Still, the fact that a seed of doubt had been sown meant Shifters had to be very, very careful about the Collars. But Collars had to come off and be replaced with fake ones as soon as possible, now that Shifters knew about the Fae and their nefarious plots with the swords.
Then there was the question of arranging for the mating ceremonies with Misty, and Graham breaking it to his Lupines he was mating with a human.
The Lupines already knew, of course, because nothing could be kept quiet in Shiftertown. Wolves would walk by his house while Graham healed, staring up at his bedroom window, and not always out of concern for him. They left him alone for now, but Graham said that a time would come for confrontation.
Paul had taken over looking after Misty’s flower shop and its cleanup, so Misty could stay with Graham and help him. Paul proved to be good at the store, and Misty decided that once Graham was healthy again, she’d ask Paul to go into it with her as a full partner. She could do that for him, and Paul could finally begin his life.
Ben returned a week into Graham’s recovery to congratulate Misty on her victory. Graham almost ripped Ben’s head off as soon as he stepped inside through the kitchen door Misty enthusiastically opened for him.
“You ass**le,” Graham said clearly when he had his hands around Ben’s throat. Graham’s Collar sparked, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. “Misty told me all about you. You sent her straight into danger—alone. Never mind about your little spell book. If not for you, she’d have stayed the hell out of this.”
“Maybe,” Ben said, unruffled, even though Graham’s fingers bit into his neck. “But she wouldn’t have learned how to find you or fight the Fae’s spells, and you’d be a Fae slave now. Or dead. Maybe both.”
“I don’t want her to fight the Fae,” Graham snarled. “I want her to stay safe.”
Ben brought his hands up between Graham’s and snapped his hold away. Graham stepped back in surprise and glared at him, but didn’t renew the attack.
“I want her to stay safe too,” Ben said, his look serious. “That’s why I taught her how to defend herself and save you.”
“Yeah, well . . .” Graham’s growl was low, and his Collar quieted.
Misty released a breath of relief. She knew Graham well enough now to know he’d gotten his initial rage out of his system and might start listening.
“So when I found the box of books at the flea market,” she said, rummaging in the refrigerator. Now that Graham was done choking Ben, both men might want beer. “Did you make sure I’d buy it? Or was it a coincidence?”
Ben winked at her. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Graham rumbled. “Of course you don’t, you cocky son of a—”
“What about Matt and Kyle?” Misty interrupted. “You said they were special. Very special Shifters, you called them.”
“Ah.” Ben accepted the beer. Graham grabbed the other from Misty and twisted off the top, his movements still a bit stiff.
“I came to tell you about that, actually,” Ben said. “I didn’t realize what they were at first. I didn’t think there were any left. But I did a little research, and I’m right.”
“Get to the point.” Graham leaned against the counter near Misty, protecting her even now, and fixed Ben with a Shifter stare. “Damn creatures from Faerie love the cryptic.”
“They’re Guards,” Ben said.
Graham stiffened. “Guardians?”
Ben shook his head. “Guards. Back when Shifters were created, Fae made a special breed of them they called Guards. They were a little bigger and more ferocious than typical Shifters, and created to guard the highest generals, the clan leaders, and the emperor.”
“Rear guard, you mean,” Graham said. “To take care of the cowards who wouldn’t go out in actual battle.”
“You got it.” Ben nodded and took a sip of beer. “Unfortunately, the Fae made the Guards a little too good. When the Shifter-Fae war came along, the Guards turned around and defended the Shifters instead of the Fae. They knew a lot about the habits of the highest-ranking Fae, and they used that knowledge to take them down. They fought the Fae to the death. The main reason the Shifters won that war is because of the Shifter Guards. Unfortunately, ‘to the death’ meant literally. The Guards died to the last one. Extinct. Or so we all thought.” Ben gestured with his beer bottle. “Those two cubs are Guards. I guess the genetics made it through. Who was their father?”