Page 42 of Bear Facts

“Lot of scary shit today,” he said. “Chased by mercenaries, reuniting with Graham, and then that asshole Leo being himself. And you met me and my family.” Shane let himself laugh. “Scariest of all, right?”

Freya sent him a wavering smile. “Not really. I think I like bears.”

Shane pressed a hand to his chest. “Wow. I converted her after one day. Like my brother always says, Once you go bear, you never go back.”

Freya’s smile steadied. “Then again, you’re all really full of yourselves.”

“Oh, and Lupines aren’t? You never, ever take yourselves too damn seriously.”

Shane swore he saw her blush. “Because Felines and bears try to push us around,” she said with a hint of steel. “Just because our legs are thinner than yours, or something.”

“I don’t mind if they are.” Shane glanced at her bare foot and ankle protruding from the blankets. “I like your legs.”

Freya jerked her foot back under the covers. “Not helping me sleep, Shane.”

“Compliments don’t relax you? Mmm, I gotta work on that.”

They were both brittle, throwing out feeble humor to keep from talking about what they needed to discuss.

“You didn’t have to make the mate-claim,” Freya said abruptly.

Okay, so much for not talking about it. “Best thing to do in the circumstances.” Shane tried to sound reasonable and not like he wanted to haul her into his embrace and promise to protect her forever. “Do you want Leo insisting his claim is legit? Or Graham to grow so fed up that he tells you to accept him to keep the peace?”

“Of course, I don’t want that.” Freya made an impatient noise. “But you put me in a bind.”

“Not really. This is what you do.” Shane tapped off his points on his broad fingertips. “Hang out here, pretend to contemplate my claim as a legitimate offer, then I bust Leo’s chops, and Graham sits on him. Once he’s under control, you reject my claim and go on your merry way.”

It cost Shane a lot to say those things. Yesterday morning, he’d never wanted to see another Lupine again. Now he didn’t want to let this one go.

“As simple as that?” Freya rumpled her hair, which tumbled over one eye. Adorable.

“Sure. Meanwhile, eat your fill of Cormac’s great food, put up with my brother’s jokes, you and my mom braid each other’s hair …”

Shane felt the bed tremble with laughter. At least he could distract her with stupid jokes.

“You say I can go.” Freya became serious again. “But will Eric let me?”

“Eric?” Shane blinked in surprise. “Eric’s not into confining Shifters. He’s happy for any who get away from Shifter Bureau, and he’ll help you as much as he can. He’s looking into Althea and her company, by the way. That’s where I was all afternoon, talking to Diego and Xav. They’re going to find out what she’s up to and maybe see if she knows anything about your brother.”

Freya drew her knees to her chest and hugged them, her expression telling Shane she was afraid to hope. “Can they?”

“Sure. Diego and Xav are amazing. Diego was a cop for a long time, and he knows how to find out things. Xav is a computer wizard. Even the Guardian consults him.”

Freya looked puzzled. “Why would a Guardian consult a human? To ask about the best way to stick his sword through a Shifter’s heart?”

“Funny. Guardians are like the world’s greatest hacker geniuses, but Xav sometimes puts them to shame. So says Neal. Neal Ingram. He’s our Guardian. You’ll like him—he’s Lupine.”

Freya’s brows went up. “You’re fine with a Lupine Guardian?”

“I don’t know about fine, but you gotta go with what’s what, in Shiftertown.” The Felines and bears had not been happy when it was announced that Neal was the Guardian for the whole Shiftertown, but they’d all grown used to him. Neal, quiet and enigmatic like most Guardians, was an honorable guy.

“He’s not one of Graham’s Lupines,” Freya said. “How are they with the situation?”

“They have no choice, is how they are with it,” Shane answered. “Shifter Bureau wouldn’t let Graham have a Choosing for a new Guardian when his died, so they had to accept Neal as it.”

“Our Guardian was a good man.” Freya’s voice softened. “I was there when he passed on—Graham had to ask a Guardian in another pack to send him to the Goddess. I didn’t realize Graham wasn’t allowed to have a Choosing.”

“That’s what he told us,” Shane said. “Not that he likes to talk about it.”

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