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her coffee,
closing her eyes in pure enjoyment. Mabel had never been much of an
alcohol drinker, thank God, but she worshipped coffee.
    "Scott's still in the shower," Cherie said,
in universal female derision for males who irritated them.
    "I'll talk to him," Ronan said. "Let him be,
Cherie. The Transition is hard."
    "I'm still getting over mine." Rebecca sat
down and shoveled as much food onto her plate as Ronan did onto
his. No dieting in this house. "And with more and more males
mate-claiming in this Shiftertown, the pickings are getting
slim."
    "Don't complain, woman," Ronan said. "There's
four males for every female around here. It's me, Scott, and Olaf
that will be going mateless. You can always hit on Ellison. He's a
party animal."
    Rebecca snorted. "He's a Lupine who's too
full of himself."
    Ronan shrugged. "Well, if you're going to be
picky."
    "What about Spike?" Mabel asked. She scooped
up eggs hungrily. "He's cute. All those tatts. And then Connor.
Mmm."
    "Connor's a cub," Cherie said, wrinkling her
nose. "And a Feline. And a Morrissey. And did I mention a Feline ?"
    "What does that mean?" Elizabeth asked as she
ate. "A Feline?"
    "Means he turns into a wildcat," Cherie
answered. "His whole family does. Ellison is a Lupine, a wolf.
Wolves are all conceited--think they're noble creatures or
something. We're bears, which of course are the best Shifters." She
chortled.
    "Cool," Mabel said. "Can I see you turn into
a bear?"
    "No shifting at the table," Ronan growled.
"We have company, and I'm not cleaning up the mess."
    Cherie winked at Mabel. "Later."
    They were going to be BFFs any second,
Elizabeth knew it. "We might not have time to do much visiting,
Mabel," she said, chewing on thick Texas toast which did taste good
with butter and honey. "I have to get back to the store and clean
it up before we open. I'm going to need your help. We open at
eleven, and it's already eight, so we need to get a move on."
    Everyone at the table went quiet. The shower
finally snapped off upstairs, adding to the silence.
    "Elizabeth, you'll have to keep your store
closed today," Ronan said. "I talked to Liam after you went to bed,
and he says things are bad for you. So until he and I can work them
out, you're staying here."
    The entire table was looking at her. Cherie
with her mottled hair, Rebecca with her even stare, Olaf with his
wide black eyes. Only Mabel kept her gaze on her plate. Elizabeth,
who'd learned the dynamics of a group home early in life, realized
that as much as Rebecca and the others bantered with him, Ronan was
the leader.
    Elizabeth pushed back her chair, wiped her
mouth on a napkin, and got to her feet. She said to Ronan, "Can we
talk outside, please?" and then walked out the back door into the
morning heat without waiting to see if he'd follow.
     
    * * * * *

Chapter Five
     
    Ronan went after her without hesitation.
There was nothing better than a cute female with the hottest ass
he'd ever seen ordering him around.
    Behind him he heard Olaf say, a little
fearfully, "Ronan . . . he will punish Lizbeth?"
    "No, sweetie," Rebecca said. "But she might
punish him ."
    The back door swung shut, cutting off Olaf's
reply.
    Elizabeth waited by her truck, arms folded.
This morning she wore tight blue jeans and a little top that
exposed both her navel and the tattoo on her collarbone. It was a
butterfly. Nice.
    Ronan didn't usually like small women, but
decided he'd make an exception for Elizabeth, who was not tall but
generously curved. Her smallness made him want to be gentle,
although the fire in her eyes said she wasn't about to be gentle
with him. Rebecca had that right.
    "Let me explain something about the retail
business," Elizabeth said as soon as he was within earshot. Human
earshot--he could have heard her all the way in the kitchen, and he
knew that his family was listening hard. "If your store closes
unexpectedly, people think you're not opening again, and they go
away and don't come back. I spent years building