“Mom loves Simon. As for sudden.” Lark took a deep breath. “Look, I was freaked out when Simon first started all this love stuff. He took me to Lycia and all this Ne’est talk came up. I denied it for a while, and to be honest, I needed the time to process. But in my gut, I knew he was it. He told me that I wasn’t human and that I lived in a world of magick and what I believed even though I couldn’t see it, and why not believe I could love him? He was right. I’ve never been so convinced of anything in my life than how I feel about him. And since the bond? I don’t need a man to be complete and neither do you. But he makes me whole in a way I never could have imagined before he came along. He’s everything.” Lark shrugged. “Plus, sudden? Come on. I know he kissed you before.”

“Well, yes, he did. They were fabulous kisses. But what we did today? Well, that’s a whole different level.”

“You’re scared.”

Helena looked out over the hills beyond, at the sway of the treetops in the breeze. The stars were out and she wondered if the sky looked different in Lycia.

“I have so many people depending on me right now. I can’t afford to make any more mistakes.”

“You don’t have to bond with him tomorrow. Though, if I know Faine and he’s enough like his brother, he’ll want that eventually. As for mistakes . . .”

“I can’t. I cannot talk about it anymore. I’ve had a challenging day. I’m barely holding it together and if you make me talk about the haven, I’ll lose it.”

“You can cut yourself a damned break for once in your life.”

“No, not now.” She pushed from the bed and Lark moved to her, pulling her into a hug.

“You could have died today. Please don’t do that. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Helena returned her sister’s hug. Holding on to what she’d always counted on.

They went out to the deck where both men waited. The scent of food made Helena’s stomach growl.

“Come on then, let’s get you fed.” Faine moved to her, putting an arm around her shoulder, and she didn’t mind one bit, which seemed odd, but whatever.

They settled at the table. The air was cool and she was glad she’d taken Lark up on the offer of the sweatshirt that currently shielded her from the breeze.

Food got passed around and all was quiet for several minutes as everyone filled up.

“Are you patrolling tonight?” Helena sipped her tea as she spoke to her sister.

“Not tonight. I took it off when I knew you’d be here. I figured you’d want to go out with me and then I’d have to be the bad cop and make you stay in and I really wanted to hang out with you instead and make you rest.”

“I endorse that.” Faine leaned back, his body radiating heat.

“Me as well.” Simon gave his brother a nod of solidarity.

Helena rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”

Lark waved a hand. “No, you aren’t. I saw you change clothes. You have bruises on your torso from the concussion of the blast.”

“But that’s all I have. I’ll take bruises over being blown to bits in a car bomb.”

Lark’s mouth hardened. “We can’t let this go unanswered.”

Helena blew out a breath. “Rebecca is so angry. I’ve never seen her like this. I sat in on a meeting she had with the Full Council. They’re done with diplomacy. I’ve been officially pulled from Sato. She has a meeting in an hour or so with the other leaders. She said she’d call me when it shook out.”

Helena was silent for a while. “I recommended the creation of a defense force.”

Lark nodded. “That would be my recommendation as well.”

“We need a presence out there. We need the humans to get a physical idea that we are here and we will defend ourselves. Patrols. That sort of thing.”

“I think the wolves would be up for that. I don’t know about the Vampires. They’ve already declared war on the humans. It’s just been in a holding pattern while we tried out this road show.” Lark’s gaze locked to her sister’s. “The road show was a good idea.”

Helena forked up some steak. “Sure. But we can’t do it all on our own. Yes, there are humans like Tosh and maybe more of them than those like Carlo Powers. But the fact is, we’ve been targeted with violence time and time again. We’ve tried diplomacy. Molly delivered her speech and warned them, and now it’s time to follow up the talk with action.”

“How about a run first? Simon and Faine can shift and you and I can do a nice hard jog to get rid of all the day’s tension. You’ll sleep like a rock tonight. We can do it and be back here by the time Rebecca is finished with her meeting. We can even use the hot tub afterward.”

“Oooh, you’ve got a deal.”

They finished eating and headed back to their rooms to change. Or rather, Helena needed to change but Simon and Faine wouldn’t need clothes to shift. Not that that would stop him from coming along to watch her change like a big ol’ perv.

She hadn’t seen him in his other form yet and she was looking forward to it.

His gaze narrowed as she winced when she pulled her running bra on.

“It makes me want to rip someone’s throat out to see you in pain.”

He stepped to her, gently sliding his fingertips over her skin.

“I’m all right. But if you mean to stick around, you need to know this isn’t the last time you’re going to see me bruised up.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed her long and slow. “But I still want to rip someone’s throat out for harming you.”

He took her hand and she followed him out to the deck where Lark and Simon waited.

Both males had on shorts, which they discarded once they reached the treeline.

Helena used her magick to amp up her night vision and let the trees, the dirt and leaves, all the plants speak to her. All that magick seemed to flow around them like the tide.

Faine bent and the air seemed to shimmer and then he was gone. Or the human was gone and there stood a massive wolf-like beast. His shoulders nearly reached hers.

“Wow. You’re huge.”

He rumbled, pressing against her as she ran her hand through his fur, which was surprisingly soft. He looked back at her, still Faine, still shining with intelligence.

“Should we run?”

He tore out ahead, Simon following, nipping his brother’s heels, pulling ahead.

“They’re going to do that awhile. Let’s go.” Lark started, her steps sure and fast on the trail.

“No fair! This is home field advantage.”

In the distance, Lark flipped her the bird and kept running. Helena got her ass moving, hurrying to catch up.

Faine felt trouble before he saw it. There was joy. Clan and pack togetherness. Running with his brother, his Ne’est near enough to scent on the wind.

It was good.

And then the jarring change. Steel. Man-made things in a wild space. Gun oil. Black powder but something else. He growled and slowed. Simon was adjusting, slowing and moving back, Faine knew, to be sure Lark and Helena were covered.

There were No Hunting signs all around the property and it was May, the only hunting allowed around the area was turkey. He doubted it was a law-breaking turkey hunter who’d sent the hackles on his neck rising.

To his right.

Faine slowed and got low, moving with more stealth than anyone watching ever could have imagined possible from an animal so large.

His beast sensed a threat to his mate. An incursion onto protected land. Neither could be borne.

The thread Helena was at the other end of hummed. She was close, but concentrating. His beast was not worried. She was exemplary. A fine mate, canny and vicious.

They’d hunt this interloper together.

Simon moved off to the left, flanking the intruder.

A burst of sound as the human realized he was surrounded by two huge beasts with sharp teeth and claws. A scream and then running, night birds breaking into flight, a beacon to where the human was.

Helena and Lark streaked off, clearly as comfortable hunting with each other as Faine and Simon were.