Page 39 of Bear Facts

“Yeah.” Shane felt himself blushing for no reason. “I told her to borrow something from the closet at the cabin. Her own clothes were filthy. And she’s not my new mate. Not yet.”

Iona’s smile held wisdom. “Give her time. I sure needed it.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Shane said with a touch of amusement. Iona had resisted Eric with all her strength.

Eric bent to give Iona a lingering kiss that revealed his love for her more than words. He rubbed the top of Amanda’s head, gave Callum’s a gentle kiss, and continued into the kitchen.

He expected Shane to follow him. Shane gave Iona a pained look and did so, ignoring Iona’s chuckle.

Cassidy and Diego waited for them at the kitchen table. The remains of a vast breakfast were spread around them—Diego was a hell of a cook, and the Warden family let him have mastery in the kitchen.

Once upon a time, Shane had hoped that the tall, green-eyed Cassidy would indicate she’d accept a mate-claim from him. But Cassidy had never encouraged him, and Shane had resigned himself long ago that they’d be friends only. When Diego had come onto the scene, Shane had known he no longer stood a chance.

Diego and Cassidy had obviously shared the mate bond from the start. Shane had given them his blessing and let Cassidy go in his heart. He’d grown to like Diego, who was smart, canny, resourceful, and an all-around decent guy.

“Diego,” Eric said, bypassing any questions the eager couple might throw out about Shane’s mate-claim. “I need to know everything I can about a private security company run by a woman named Althea Webster. Shane will fill you in on the details.”

Instead of bristling at Eric’s abrupt order, Diego looked interested. “I think I’ve heard of her. What do you know, Shane? I can have Xav do some searching.” Xavier, Diego’s younger brother and his partner in DX Security, was good at coaxing info out of the vast information network.

Eric asks, we all jump to obey. Shane had never resented that before, but today, he chafed with impatience. He wanted to rush home, to make sure Freya was all right and that she didn’t hate him too much.

“Not a lot,” Shane answered with outward calm. “Freya might have more information about her, but probably not much. Althea has a Shifter in her ranks, a Feline called Ewan. No Collar. The Guardian Network can probably tell you about him.”

Diego made a few notes on his tablet, which was never far from his hand. “Anything will be helpful. Knowing Xav, he already has a dossier on Ms. Webster’s company. He likes keeping tabs on our competition.”

Shane helped himself to a cup of coffee from the half full pot, pretending he was at his ease. His nerves grated and jangled, which cooling coffee would not help, but he took a sip and tried to appear as his usual affable self.

Diego listened thoughtfully as Shane described what he’d seen of Althea’s crew. In spite of his current agitation, Shane didn’t leave out a single point, even if it seemed insignificant. A tracker provided all the intel he could so his leader could make decisions and do his job.

“Interesting,” Diego said when Shane finished. “I have to wonder about Ms. Webster’s goal. To provide competent teams for her clients? To make a shitload of money? To achieve world domination?”

“She was pretty secretive,” Shane said. “Not happy I turned up.”

“Why did you turn up?” Cassidy asked. She regarded Shane steadily—she had always seen straight through him.

“I didn’t like the idea of Freya meeting them alone,” Shane said with candor. If Cassidy and family thought Shane would be embarrassed about his protectiveness to Freya, he’d have to disappoint them. “Something smelled off.”

“Something seems off to me too,” Eric agreed. “Those guys in the SUVs gave up nothing and turned around pretty speedily. Did Freya tell you she was in Graham’s pack?”

“Not at first.” Not until they were almost on top of Shiftertown, but Eric didn’t need to know absolutely everything about Freya. She had her reasons for doing what she did, good ones, even if Shane didn’t know what they were.

“Surprised me.” Eric’s statement was delivered in a mild tone, but for Eric, that was betraying outright shock. “McNeil never mentioned her.”

“Pack leader being a pack leader?” Diego suggested. “He didn’t want anyone to know he had strays. Shifter Bureau would be all over that.”

“I agree—it was smart.” Eric sounded only slightly admiring, which to anyone who knew him was high praise. Eric had always held his feelings close to his chest—shrewd in a man who had to keep a Shiftertown of Felines, Lupines, and bears together.

“Well, she’s here now,” Shane said with a hint of a growl. “Under my family’s protection.”

Cassidy looked amused. “We know, Shane. Don’t worry. We won’t be insisting Graham’s leadership outweighs a mate-claim. Because it doesn’t.”

She slid her gaze sideways to Diego, who moved a little closer to her. Their love for each other filled the space between them.

“You have to be prepared for her turning you down,” Eric warned Shane. “Then she’ll be fair game, unless Graham is prepared to lock her in his basement. His Lupines are getting out of hand, but they aren’t entirely wrong. Mates would calm them the hell down.”

“You are not sacrificing Freya for the good of Shiftertown,” Shane said immediately. “I’ll go to the mat with you on that one.”

Eric fixed him with an unblinking gaze, while Cassidy and Diego watched with interest.

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