bigger and far less furry than my typical patients, but I think I can manage some scraped knees.”
“I can do it myself,” Lilah insisted. “You don’t need to stick around.”
“Nonsense. We’re here, and I’m sure you have questions. The same as us,” she added in a softer voice. She took a step forward. “We saw what happened on the news and heard what Seth told Dash. It’s true, then? Jasper escaped?”
“You’re not going to hand me over to him, are you?” Lilah blurted.
Shocked silence gripped the room. “Of course not! And if you managed to throw a wrench into any of his plans, you’re at the very top of my Christmas shopping list next year.”
“I’m the only one that saw him escape. The only one still alive, anyway. Or not trying to cover it up.”
Colette frowned. “Well, that’s just stupid. What’s he going to do when the news gets out? Go after everyone who watched the broadcast?”
Hailey shrugged. “Yeah, but this is Jasper we’re talking about. He’s not exactly working with the whole box of crayons. He still thinks he can go back to separating human and shifter lives. The asshole tried to kill me because Trent thought I was pretty. Of course he won’t let Lilah here off the hook for daring to survive.”
Lilah took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Jasper tried to kill you?”
"Welcome to the club! We meet Wednesdays and discuss our revenge fantasies. I'm considering taking up cross-stitch to send him delightful messages from the home front like 'eat shit and die mad' or 'live, laugh, rot in hell'. It's a long game, but I'm hoping he can pick out the thread and eventually make a noose for himself. Trent says it's the baby making me bloodthirsty, but I think that's because he doesn't want to admit I'm better at holding a grudge. Besides, what's a sub-four week fetus going to really influence?"
“Personally, I don’t care if they live or die,” Kyla popped in. “I’m just focused on living my best life.”
Hailey gave her an exasperated look. “This isn’t the interview portion of a beauty pageant, Kyla. Wishing for world peace isn’t going to score you any points.”
Kyla rolled her eyes and waved a hand through the air, but that was all. No snapped response, no launching into an attack. They acted more like close friends giving each other shit than the monsters she’d built up in her head.
Hailey set the first aid kit next to Lilah and crouched down at her feet. All traces of joking left her face. “Trent might be Jasper’s nephew, but blood doesn’t make family. Jasper is most assuredly not family to any of us.”
“Neither are the Levines,” Kyla added. “We have two of them here.”
Sage nodded in silent agreement.
“Let me guess,” Lilah said, turning to Colette, “you’re Ira Jacobson’s younger sister?”
Colette barked a laugh. “Oh, no, I’m just a bear from next door who got roped into this crazy pride, same as you. You couldn’t ask for a better group of people, though. They’ve been there when I needed them the most.”
“It’s true,” Sage said, speaking for the first time. She touched her fingers to her throat with a tiny wince. “They’ll do anything for each other, even if it’s stupid.”
“Especially if it’s stupid,” Colette laughed again.
“Seth, too?” Lilah asked in a measured tone. “He really lives here?”
The mood from the others changed from in-jokes to a careful study of her. She’d felt those looks before, mostly from the sisters of the few men she’d dated. They inspected her, judged her intentions. Whatever they saw didn’t send them running for help.
“Seth has been here for a few months,” Colette said, “but I can’t imagine the place without him. He fits in like family.”
But he shouldn’t have been family. Not as a human. Not unless he mated into things, from what she understood.
Oh, there were secrets here. Secrets hurt her before. She didn’t want them to hurt her again.
Lilah reconsidered them from under her lashes. Tall and short alike, they showed her a kindness by giving her space from the growly posturing of Seth and the other guys. And really, if they intended her harm, why play nice at all? They could have simply shoved her inside and thrown away the key.
One advantage shifters had over regular humans was their ability to pick out lies like a dog trained to sniff out bombs. She wished, for just a moment, she had that ability. It sounded far better than