The part of the mattress she’d been lying on already felt cold without her, but Fleance had more to worry about than the empty space at his side. He sat up. Whoever was pounding on the door was pounding on his brain, too. Shifters, sending out an open telepathic broadcast to anyone in range.
Two voices, he thought, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. They were overlapping too much.
“Do you know who that is?” he asked Sheena.
“Yes!” she cried. “Where’s my bloody—anything? Dressing gown?”
“In the bathroom.”
Sheena swore. She made it halfway across the room before the door burst open.
Two women fought to each get through at the same time. One had the same round face and sturdy figure as Sheena; the other had darker skin and was whip-thin, with tattoos snaking up her arms. Both wore expressions of relief as they caught sight of Sheena. Her own expression was far less good natured as she grabbed a cushion from the sofa to cover herself.
Fleance sniffed the air, and: Sheep, his hellhound thought, focusing on the first one. And… some sort of bird.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re safe—” the sheep shifter began, as the other woman burst out: “We’ve been worried sick! Your mum’s been blowing up Fi’s phone—”
“GO AWAY!” Sheena shrieked at them both.
“Oh, come off your high horse, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” the first woman tutted, gesturing at Sheena as she tried to cover herself.
“Ah…” The bird shifter plucked at her arm and she turned to the bed.
Fleance waved weakly.
The sheep shifter’s eyebrows shot up. “Now there’s something I haven’t seen before.”
“OUT!” Sheena jumped on the bed, straddling Fleance, and threw a pillow at the women with point-blank accuracy. Fleance struggled out of the blankets and started to wrap one around his mate as she screamed at the women he was beginning to suspect were her aunts.
“I’LL TELL YOU!” she yelled, in response—he guessed—to a telepathic question he hadn’t been privy to. “JUST LET ME SHOWER FIRST! CLOTHES!”
She kept shouting until the door closed behind them both, then collapsed onto the bed. Fleance made sure she fell into his arms before they both hit the mattress.
Sheena pressed against him, grumbling wordlessly. He kissed the top of her head.
“Those were your aunts?”
Sheena sighed. “In their defense, I did completely forget to check in with them. In my defense…” She banged her forehead against his chest. “Oh, God. Can I just stay here forever? I mean, they at least know I’m alive now. So really there’s no need for me to ever see them again.”
“I wouldn’t argue. But what are the chances of your aunts busting that door down if you don’t make an appearance?”
She raised her head and groaned. “Too high.” Sheena stretched, but didn’t make any move to leave the bed—or Fleance’s arms. Her body was warm and soft against his.
“Shame.” He closed his eyes, luxuriating in his pack sense. Letting himself sink into it like this, no hesitation, no fear, was an entirely new sensation. Even with Caine, he’d been wary, but now, Sheena was his sun. He basked in her light.
*The shorter one is my Aunt Fiona,* Sheena explained. *She’s a Valais Blacknose shifter, a sheep like me. Rena is her mate, she’s a tūī shifter. That’s a sort of native bird. God, this is just so bloody typical of my family.*
*Does your family always come running to the rescue when you get into trouble?*
*No chance! I’m barely allowed to sniff at trouble back home.* She sighed and then winced. “Oh, God. I never called. The last thing my aunts heard from me was me screaming and dropping my bloody cellphone when Parker came at me.”
“No wonder they came out in force. Your family must—”
He stopped. Sheena was making a noise that was half-terror, half-frustration.
“My family. My—” She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut, mouthing numbers.
Fleance raised one eyebrow. “Counting sheep?” he guessed.
She groaned again. “My whole family. We’d better start moving before they all get up here.”
* * *
Her whole family. Fleance had expected a handful of people. Parents, the two aunts, maybe a grandparent or two.
He stared at the congregation crowded into the hotel foyer with something approaching horror.
Sheena’s voice pressed against his mind as she grabbed his arm. *That’s Fiona and Rena, you know them already. Fiona’s parents are the ones who look like they came straight off the farm. And my aunt and uncle Tara and Mack and their kids my cousins Matiu and Wiremu and… um, a lot of other cousins whose names I really should know… Uh… Mum! Dad!*
She hurried forwards, and Fleance lengthened his stride so he wasn’t left being dragged behind. She stopped in front of a couple who immediately pulled her into a spine-crushing embrace.
“Love, we were so worried!”
“Fiona and Rena told us everything, we came as fast as we could.”
“Are you hurt? I knew we shouldn’t have let you take the bus by yourself—”
Sheena reared back as her mother tried to wipe her face with a handkerchief. “Mum!”
There was a brief buzz of private telepathic speech, and both of Sheena’s parents turned their attention to Fleance. Not just her parents. He felt like he was being backed into a corner by a very large, very short mob.
Sheena drew herself up. Her cheeks burned with pride. “Mum, Dad, this is Fleance. Fleance, these are my parents, Heather and Mike.”
“Pleasure,” Fleance said, shaking their hands.
*Fleance is my mate,* Sheena blurted out, her telepathic voice ringing with mingled embarrassment and pride.
*You don’t need to tell us that, chook,* her father told her. He clasped Fleance’s shoulder. *I’m guessing you’re the one we have to thank for getting our Sheena out of whatever was happening here alive?*
Fleance looked down at his mate. Her love for her family was clear—as was her strangled huff of frustration as her dad suggested she hadn’t had anything to do with defeating Parker. She caught his eye and the mate bond twanged with—hope? A warning?
“Actually,” Fleance said, wrapping one arm
