A shadowy crease appeared between his brows. “Then you’re not in the room. Trust has to be established with the animal, and that’s one reason I don’t want you shifting around them. You lunged at me, so there’s no telling what you’d do to these sorry asses.”

“She did that to your arm, bro?” Denver grinned. “’Bout time someone put you in your place.”

Austin swung his eyes up at Denver, who quickly shoved a pepperoni in his mouth and suddenly became engrossed with a Golden Girls rerun on TV.

“You believe me now?” Austin asked in a soft voice.

I nodded. The evidence was panting in front of me. Jericho had the same haunting eyes in human form.

“Doesn’t he have control?”

“Did you?” Austin asked. “Only alphas have the gift to remain in control when they shift and remember everything. Not all, but some do. Once the animal’s in charge, then that’s what we’re dealing with. An animal. Jericho’s in there, but he’s not in the driver’s seat.”

I reached out to pet him and Austin snatched my wrist. “No, Lexi.”

He tapped Jericho on the snout and called out to Denver. “Take him outside; I need to be alone with her.”

Denver obediently got up, dropped the box of pizza on the floor, and walked Jericho outside. When the door slammed, a few glasses tinkled on the bar.

“You okay?”

I stared like a zombie at the spot the wolf had been.

“Lexi?” He dipped down and tried getting my attention. Then he lifted my chin and grinned. “It’s pretty exciting stuff, admit it.”

Then my head began to shake. “No, no, no. I can’t be one of you. I can’t do this, Austin. If it’s true and I shift in front of Maizy…” I began to panic. “How could I have not known?”

“Calm down,” he said, taking hold of my arm and leading me to the sofa. “I know it’s a lot to take in. Here, sit down.” Austin knelt before me and placed his hand on my knee.

I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up. My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I was suddenly thirsty. Austin smoothed his hands over mine and patiently waited until I simmered down. Or until my heart rate stopped breaking the sound barrier.

“If you don’t develop a relationship with your animal, then you can’t be trusted with your own family. I can supervise your visits, or…”

“Or what?”

He stood up and walked to the other side of the room, where he leaned against the doorframe.

Damn, that lean.

“Or we can tell them. We can sit down and show them what you are. It’s something you should be proud of, and while we keep our world secret from humans, this would be one of the exceptions. She’s your mom, and eventually she’ll notice you’re not aging. But it’s important they don’t tell anyone, and I don’t know about your daughter.”

I blinked.

“My daughter?”

“She’s young, and you know how kids are. Not that anyone would believe her, but they won’t tolerate any disloyal—”

“Wait a second, Austin. My daughter?”

He furrowed his brow and his blue eyes flashed. “Yeah. And if that piece of shit I dragged down the stairs was her father, then I don’t want him hanging around or there’s going to be trouble.”

“Maizy isn’t my daughter, Austin. She’s my sister.”

Something shifted out of place in his expression, a new look I’d never seen before.

He closed the distance between us and instead of kneeling down to eye level, he leaned forward and put his hands on either side of the sofa cushion behind my head.

“Your sister? Wes’s sister?” he asked in disbelief.

I nodded.

I’d never really been scared of Austin until that moment. His eyes bored into me and I looked away. For a minute there, I thought he was going to yell, or maybe I fantasized a little bit that he was going to lean down and kiss me fervently.

But he came to some kind of conclusion after a hard stare and straightened up with his arms folded.

“I don’t want your ex coming around again. If I find out he has, I’m going to track him down and personally deliver the message.”

A knuckle cracked.

“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I have no intention of seeing Beckett anymore. We’re over.”

I stared at Jericho’s belt on the floor, then at Austin’s. I remembered the slow precision with which Jericho unlatched the leather and slid it out, imagining Austin doing a move like that. Maybe it was for the best he didn’t shift after all.

I really wanted to kick myself.

“Does he have anything of yours? You mentioned the car title. I don’t want anything holding you to him.”

“Yeah,” I said. “But I read up on it and I can get a new one.”

“One of my brothers may be looking for a car,” he suggested.

“No.”

He titled his head. “And why not?”

“Beckett had sex in that car and I’d rather see it burn. I want to sell it to a stranger so I never have to see it again.”

“Tell you what. I’ll see what I can do about taking the car off your hands, and I promise—it’ll be gone for good.”

That was a relief. Buying or selling a car was stressful, and I didn’t really know how to handle those things. “Thanks, Austin. I’d appreciate it.”

Denver appeared and his voice boomed. “We got company!”

“Who?” Austin’s eyes were bright and alert.

“Jericho’s hunting them down.” Denver hopped on one foot while shoving the other into a sneaker. “We were twenty yards from the house and—”

“Shifters?” Austin peeled off his shirt and his abs tensed.

Denver flicked his eyes to me. “Yeah. One of them said we have an unclaimed bitch and he wanted to meet her.”

My eyes narrowed. “Who’s he calling a bitch?”

“Word’s out then,” Austin muttered. “Doesn’t take long. How the hell do they know about her?”

Denver shrugged as he tied his laces. “Only an alpha would have smelled her if she was close to the change. You been near any alphas?” Denver asked.

“How would I know? I get a ton of customers coming in and out of my store and I couldn’t tell you an alpha from a beta. Are you saying you can smell me?”

Denver quirked a smile and quickly switched over to a serious face. “They didn’t state what pack they belonged to. If Jericho tracks them down, you should have a talk with their Packmaster. I wouldn’t recommend going after them yourself,” he said, eyeing Austin who was squeezing his hands into fists. “You know the consequences if an alpha attacks another pack on the offense without provocation, especially if they’re not on our turf. Rules, bro. Play by ’em.”

In that moment, I saw wisdom in Denver as an older brother, even though he didn’t look it. Austin was in charge, but their experience would serve to provide him with invaluable advice.

Austin pointed at him and replied in a chillingly cool voice. “He’d better find them. Stay outside and keep guard. I don’t want anyone sniffing around my territory. Have Jericho mark the perimeter and leave a warning.”

“Let me just go get him some Gatorade,” Denver said with a suppressed smile and a song in his voice, hitching up his jeans in the back as he sauntered out of the room.

Austin looked me over and released a breath he must have been holding in. “You’re staying here tonight.”

I sprang up. “I have to go to work tomorrow, Austin. I feel better and my work clothes are at home.”

“Call in sick and I’ll go pick up your things. They’re not going to fire you for having the flu.”

“Wait a second,” I protested, inching my way toward the hallway. “I’ll agree to stay here the night, but I go home tomorrow. Period. This isn’t a request. You can’t waltz into my life and start making decisions for me. I have a job, a family, and a life to live. Okay, so maybe I’m dealing with a little bit more… like the fact I’m a wolf.”

I paused. This was too much.

“Do you guys really call us bitches?”

Austin made a little grunt that sounded like he found my question inane. “It doesn’t have any negative connotations with Shifters. It just is what it is.”

“I still have a problem with it.” The bottom of my feet were sticky against the wood floor as I paced in a small circle. “Better warn your brothers, Austin. I’m dead serious. I’ve been called a lot of things, but bitch is one name I don’t tolerate very well.”

He leaned forward. Just a little. “Who’s calling you names?” he asked, and I didn’t care for the darkness in his voice.

“No one. Since when did you become so concerned with my life?”

There was an uncomfortable silence between us as he swallowed thickly, like he wanted to say something. “I’m going to check the locks on the doors and windows. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty in the kitchen. The boys will be out all night; that’s usually the deal when it’s Shifter’s night at the bar. Denver will let us know if something’s up. I don’t have any concerns. This is my turf. Sounds like they were just checking you out. Someone got them riled up about an unclaimed woman in town—someone knows about you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know who that could be. I wouldn’t know how to spot a Shifter.”

“I’ll be back.” When Austin stalked out of the room, the stupid teenager in me actually turned my head to stare at his ass.

As alarming as it was to know a bunch of strange men were snooping around to get a look at me, I felt safe with Austin. I was never the kind of woman who sat around dreaming of a man protecting me, but since Wes died and my dad left, I’d missed out on all the luxuries most other girls got. Having someone help change the oil, sell the car, or shop for a new apartment. A man to stop by and figure out what was going on with the leaky faucet or have my back whenever someone gave me shit.