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much she had to come to terms with in such a short time. From time to time, they heard howls and roars from the forest and Allie had the sneaking suspicion the shapeshifting partygoers were having a good time on their run.
    At about half past four in the morning, Betina started making breakfast. Allie was a little surprised, but followed the older woman’s lead. When Betina took out three dozen eggs and began assembling enough ingredients to feed a small army, Allie started to appreciate why the older woman had started work on the feast so early. An hour and a half later, they had plates of bacon, sausage and steaks as well as mountains of fluffy eggs ready and waiting as the first of the revelers started to return.
    One by one and in small groups, they entered the house, following their noses to the pleasant surprise awaiting them. Allie and Betina stood back and watched as their guests tucked in the masses of food, eating more than Allie had ever seen any human being eat in one sitting.
    “We work up an appetite when we run in our fur.” The deep voice at Allie’s ear made her jump, though she instantly recognized Rafe’s warm presence behind her. Still buttoning his shirt, he sniffed appreciatively at the food.
    A moment later he was joined by Tim, whose eyes snapped fire as he looked down at Allie. Surprisingly, he seemed less angry than he’d been
    before and had a few scratches on his face that needed tending. She couldn’t draw her eyes away from the drying blood on his cheek and before she realized quite what she was doing, she’d taken Tim by the hand and was leading him down the hall toward the small bathroom.
    “Where are we going?” Tim’s voice was tinged with a surprising humor she hadn’t yet seen in him.
    “You’re hurt.”
    She’d been up all night and perhaps that’s why she thought it should be obvious to him that if he were hurt, she would care for his injuries. It seemed perfectly logical in her tired mind, though later she would admit she hadn’t been thinking clearly from the moment she saw the twins in that sacred circle the night before.
    Tim tugged on her hand, slowing their progress. “I heal faster than a human. You don’t have to tend me.”
    She looked at him as if he were crazy. “You don’t want a scar do you?
    Or an infection? Those scratches have dirt in them, Tim.” His eyes flared as he searched her face. “So you can tell us apart.
    Why then are you being nice to me? I’ve haven’t been very nice to you so far, as my brother pointed out earlier.” He fingered the drying blood on his face and suddenly Allie realized the brothers had come to blows over her. The very idea caused her heart to clench in anguish and wetness to gather behind her eyes. She never wanted to come between them…at least not in a bad way.
    “You’re hurt,” she repeated stubbornly, tugging him into the small bathroom. “I don’t like to see anyone suffer needlessly.” She closed the lid on the toilet and pointed. “Sit.”
    Tim actually laughed. “I’m a wolf, not a dog,” he protested, but sat anyway, his gaze tracking her around the tiny room as she gathered a small washcloth and some bandages.
    She ran warm water onto the small cloth and began gently bathing the long scratches on his angular face. The angry gouges started at his left temple and went down all the way to the corner of his mouth. Dirty, the nasty gashes were crusted already and had bits of what looked like tree bark and moss mixed in with the dried blood.
    Tim didn’t complain as she scrubbed gently at the mess on his face, and watched her every movement. Hesitating only briefly, she worked towards his firm lips, using the fingers of one hand to stretch his skin and the other to cleanse it so she could cause him the least amount of pain and still be thorough. The heat of his gaze and the warm, firm feel of his lips against her fingers began to distract her from her task.
    “I haven’t been very nice to you since