The bear Shifters fascinated her, large-boned men and women who sported long manes of hair. Many of the bear-men were bearded, and both men and women obviously liked tattoos. They, too, welcomed Kim with hugs, though they were less intimate than the family’s hugs. Not all of them looked happy that Liam was bringing a human into their midst, but they were cordial.
By the time Liam walked Kim back to the center of the yard, the night was dark and mercifully cooler. The moon rose rapidly, and as it reached its zenith, the crowd grew quiet.
Liam’s neighbors silently formed two concentric circles, putting Liam, Kim, and Dylan in the middle of the inner one. The smaller, inner circle contained Liam’s immediate family and friends, along with Fergus’s two henchmen. The outer circle held the rest of Shiftertown.
Cool moonlight filtered through the trees, touching Kim’s face as Liam turned her toward him. As he had when they’d stood before Fergus in the San Antonio Shiftertown, Liam held his left hand up, palm out, and pressed it to Kim’s right one. He twined his fingers through hers and met her gaze with steady eyes.
Dylan closed both his hands around theirs and began chanting something in a language Kim didn’t recognize. Irish—Gaelic? Or some kind of Shifter language? The circles of Shifters answered, chanting in slow rhythm. The Shifters began circling around them, the first circle moving clockwise, the second one counterclockwise. They stepped in deliberate, slow movements, an ancient-looking dance that was simple and powerful.
Dylan finally stopped chanting. “By the light of the moon,” he said in a loud, grave voice, “I recognize this mating.”
Ellison howled. Soon all the wolves joined in, followed by wildcat roars and the loud growling of the bears. Liam drew Kim against him and buried her in a kiss.
“Thank you, love,” he grated. “Thank you.”
In the San Antonio Shiftertown, the Shifters had gone nuts with beer and an impromptu party, but that had been nothing compared to the revelry that exploded here. Shifters grabbed one another, hugging, laughing, dancing around like maniacs. Beer flowed, kids ran around shrieking, couples kissed. More than one shed clothes and Shifted, and soon the yard was filled with wildcats, wolves, and bears.
Kim looked around for Silas, wondering what he’d make of all this. The tall man stood with Annie, a bottle of beer in his hand. Annie and he were the same height, and Annie had draped her arm around his shoulders.
“Great party, Kim.” Silas grinned. He looked happy, not angry or scared. Good.
Glory approached, looking a little more relaxed. “Annie,” she said. “Caught a human? Liam’s starting a trend.”
Annie pressed herself closer to Silas. “He’s all right.”
“He’s my friend,” Kim said. “I invited him.”
“I know.” Glory stepped away from Dylan and actually enfolded Kim in a well-perfumed hug. “They need you, honey. Be good to them.”
Connor came hurtling toward her, followed closely by Sean, and Kim backed up against Liam. “More hugging? I’m going to be bruised all over.”
“They’re happy,” Liam said in her ear. “We haven’t had a joining in a long time. In our family, we thought we’d not have another for many years. If ever.”
Kim’s reply was cut off by first Connor, then Sean embracing her, then Connor again. “I have an aunt,” Connor shouted. “I have an aunt, and I’ll have a cousin soon.”
“Something you want to tell me, Kim?” Silas said, grinning.
“Go along with it,” Kim told him. “They like babies. They like even the possibility of babies, no matter how remote. They’ve had a hard time with infant mortality.”
She’d piqued his interest. Again, good. Liam talked conversationally to Silas about the low ratio of females to males and the fact that it used to be sadly common for Shifter women to die in childbirth. “But it’s getting better,” Liam finished. “That’s one thing taking the Collar gave us, a bit of peace in which to take care of our families.”
Silas looked curiously at Liam’s Collar. “What are those made of? I heard that they have magic in them, but that’s just a story, isn’t it?”
Liam’s eyes were clear and innocent. “Don’t you believe in magic?”
“Shifters aren’t magic,” Silas said, smiling to acknowledge Liam’s teasing. “You have some genetic quirk that allows you to shift to animal form, right? An ancient ancestor that we knew nothing about until Shifters were discovered.”
“It’s genetics partly, yes,” Liam answered. “We were bred long ago to be playthings and hunters. Until our breeders discovered that hunters bite.” He smiled, showing all his teeth.
“You were bred deliberately?” Silas asked. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“Aye. And our creators used magic to do it. What other explanation is there for us?”
“Genetic manipulation?” Silas shrugged. “Could ancient cultures do that?”
Kim wondered how much Liam would explain, but Liam kept talking. “The Fae could. That’s the Fair Folk of Celtic and Gaelic legend, I’m meaning. Their magic made us, but our strength kept us alive when the Fae started disappearing from the world. Shifters were good at survival; Fae were good at running away. So which of us was stronger?”
The Shifters around them smiled and nodded.
Silas looked interested. “So the story that magic is in your Collars…?”
“Is true,” Liam answered. “Not that humans believe it, but it doesn’t matter, does it? All they know is that the Collars keep us tame. That’s why you can stand so close to Annie without her eating you. Yet.”
“The night’s young,” Annie purred.
Silas grinned. “Are you trying to terrify the human and make him run away?”
“Now, would we do that?” Annie asked him.
Liam’s teeth were getting a little pointed. “How about a demonstration of what the Collars do? Would that put you at your ease?”
The Shifters looked uncomfortable. Kim knew Liam brought this up for Silas’s benefit, the perfect opportunity to prove that the Collars worked, to show that Brian couldn’t possibly have murdered a human. But the Shifters, including Dylan, started frowning.
“I read that the Collars send deep pain along the nervous system,” Silas said, not noticing. “I couldn’t ask you to show me that.”