violent.
Eric shrugged. “It’s instinct. A male wants his own genetics passed on. When a male dies, other males move in to try to take the female, kill her cubs, and start their own prides or packs. That way they don’t have to worry about those cubs-especially the male ones-growing up and pushing them out.”
Xavier listened, openmouthed. He closed it again. “I was going to say that was barbaric, but you know, after our dad got killed, other men tried to put the moves on our mother. And they didn’t much like me and Diego. She didn’t have any money or anything, but she was good-looking. And alone.”
Cassidy’s compassion showed in her eyes as she looked at Diego. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d lost your father.”
“Shot by a robber in his own store,” Diego said flatly.
“And then Mamita lost the store,” Xavier said, never shy about giving anyone who asked his life history. “Too many bills, taxes, and besides, the store wasn’t doing good at all. She had to go scrub toilets to put food on the table. Bless her. Now we take care of her.”
Jace listened, sipping his beer. “So did any of those men who put the moves on her succeed?”
Xavier laughed. “With Mamita? No way.”
Diego thought about his mother and the fierce way she’d protected him and Xavier-at the time they hadn’t always appreciated it. But she’d kept them safe and together, and for that he’d love her forever.
“So what did you find out there?” Cassidy asked. She put Torey down. The cub scampered off but didn’t go far, as though an invisible tether tied him to Cassidy.
“Nothing,” Eric said in disgust.
“Shell casings,” Diego said. “From a rifle that shoots thirty-aught-six rounds, pretty common for a hunting weapon. I’ll run licenses and see who owns one, but there are tons of
“Then we don’t know anything more?” Cassidy looked from Diego to Eric, seeming to ask Eric a silent question. Eric shook his head, and Cassidy turned away to walk after Torey.
Eric, Jace, and Xavier watched the cub awhile, then drifted back into the house. Diego handed his unopened beer to Xavier but stayed put, lingering to be alone with Cassidy.
He followed her around some tall mesquite trees to the middle of the common. “So are you babysitting that tiger or does he live here?”
Cassidy sat down on a plain stone bench that stood near one of the trees. The trees had just started to leaf out, a brush of misty green contrasting their dark trunks. Torey took the opportunity to run in wider circles but never far enough for Cassidy to be out of sight.
“Babysitting,” she said, watching Torey. “He has a foster mother, but sometimes she needs a break. She has four cubs of her own.”
“I can see that. What happened to Torey’s mother?”
Cassidy looked sad. “She died bringing Torey in. That was three years ago. Torey’s dad kind of went to pieces after that. He and his mate had the mate bond, and some Shifters don’t recover from that. Torey’s dad… He killed himself.”
“Damn,” Diego said. “Poor kid.” He watched Torey scampering in circles, chasing a butterfly. “I never heard about a Shifter committing suicide.” Something like that would make the newspapers, or at least the files in Shifter Division.
“Eric kept it quiet, told the humans he died of natural causes,” Cassidy said. “Our Guardian sent his body to dust right away, so there was no chance for human doctors to check.”
“If it’s a secret, why tell me?”
Cassidy looked up at him, her green eyes full of sorrow but also conviction. “Because you know how to keep things to yourself. Because you know when to bend rules. I’ve seen you do it for me. And you didn’t do it for personal gain. None that I can tell anyway.” She watched Torey again. “We don’t need Torey getting taken away. This is the best place for him, where he knows everyone, not arbitrarily transported to another Shiftertown.”
Diego nodded. “I get that.” Their secret was safe with him.
“So, Torey’s alone,” Cassidy said. “His foster mother is unmated right now, so it was safest to put Torey with her.” She smiled a little. “But he’s a handful.”
“Are you serious that Shifter males would try to kill him?”
Cassidy shook her head, her blond hair brushing her shoulders. Diego liked how close he had to sit to her on the bench, her warmth spilling onto him. “They won’t. Not with Eric as Shiftertown leader-that means he has authority over all prides and clans here, regardless of species. Everyone obeys Eric, and besides, males only killed cubs like that long ago in the wild. But even though we’re civilized now, the instinct is still there. If a male Shifter is drunk, or angry, or whatever, and loses control, he might hurt him, even without meaning to. So Torey needs to be in a safe household for a while, until he grows up enough to defend himself.”
Diego watched the way her face creased in worry as she followed Torey’s movements. He liked her concern. Hot, sexy, compassionate Cassidy.
“Why can’t the little guy live with you?” Diego asked. “You don’t have four other cubs to take care of. Do you?”
Cassidy laughed. “Listen to the worry in that question. No, we’re cubless here, now that Jace has gone through the Transition. But even Eric has the instinct to kill another male’s cubs, although I know he never would act on it. Besides, he’s Shiftertown leader and our clan leader, and he has to be careful about who it looks like he’s favoring. Torey’s dad was pretty far down in the dominance chain, which means Torey will be too for a while, and if Eric privileged Torey by raising him in his house, alongside Jace-let’s just say there would be issues rippling up and down Shiftertown.”
“That’s way too complicated for me,” Diego said.
“From what Eric tells me, our jealousies and rivalries aren’t too much different from humans’. We just acknowledge them with rules. We follow the rules; no one gets hurt.”
“That explains why Shifters don’t get arrested often. You’re used to following rules. Even stupid ones.”
“Easier than fighting every day of your life. Most of us live a long time, and we learned the hard way that keeping the peace is so much better than bloodshed.” Cassidy looked down the strip of land to other cubs playing in the distance. “Humans shoving us into Shiftertowns sucks, but at the same time, it’s helped us survive. Shifters were dying out. That’s why most of us didn’t fight coming out of the Shifter closet, or even taking the Collar.”
Cassidy’s Collar hugged her throat and looked damn good on her. Diego reminded himself that if it shocked her, it would hurt her badly. But still, the way the Celtic knot rested in the hollow of her throat, the way the silver links glistened under her hair, made Diego want to lean down and press his lips to it.
He closed his hands around the edge of the cool stone bench and changed the subject. “You said Jace went through
“It’s like human puberty on steroids. I went through it, and I thought I’d die, but it’s worse for males. It’s your body deciding you’re ready to fight, mate, and find your place in the hierarchy. Your metabolism goes insane, telling you to mate, mate, mate, fight, fight, fight. Right
Diego thought about his own rushed transition from boy to man and gave her a look of sympathy. “Looks like you made it. So did Jace.”
“I made it because I had Eric. Our parents were dead by then, but Eric was good at knocking me down or even chaining me up when I needed to be. Trust me, it was self-defense on his part. I thought my body was going to spontaneously combust a couple of times. For Jace, both Eric and me were around to help him, but, Goddess.” Cassidy took on a look of pure exasperation. “Jace’s Collar went off ten times a day, and even that didn’t calm him down. Poor guy. At least I got to Transition before the Collar.”
Jace certainly looked amiable now. But all the Shifters did, even Shane, until they were pissed off.
“It was hell,” Cassidy said. “But that’s over.” She blew out her breath. “Jace is ready to mate, but…” She opened her hands. “Not that many female Shifters to go around. It’s a real blow when we lose one. Not as many females die bringing in cubs as they used to, but it still happens.” She looked at Torey, her expression sad. “But you understand what Torey’s going through, don’t you? You lost your dad.”
Diego remembered the utter shock of it, the jolt of the violence that had taken his father’s life. Diego had been eight, Xavier six. They’d been stunned and grieving, but Diego hadn’t understood until he was older what his mother must have gone through. Mamita was a strong woman-she didn’t take shit from anyone-but she must have been
