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place,” Shane said, sitting down. His back was about
     three inches from Joe’s chair. “You like Coolers, Mom. You come here all the time.”
    “Sure, to talk to my friends. Not to get all dolled up like I’m just past my Transition.
     Why did you want me to wear this? You wanted to see if a large woman could stuff herself
     into a tight dress?”
    She was glaring at the Shifter who must be Cormac. If she was Shane’s mother, Joe’s
     research put her as the bear Shifter Nell.
    Nell didn’t look bad in her black, slinky dress. She called herself large, but she
     meant she had breasts the stripper he’d watched early this morning would envy, and
     hips that drew attention to her nicely shaped ass. If Joe were into Shifters, he might
     give Nell another look.
    Nell’s entire attention was on Cormac, and Cormac’s on her. Shane got to his feet.
     “I’ll just go help Brody with the drinks.”
    “You stay right where you are, Shane,” Nell said, in the tone of a person using anger
     to cover fear.
    “If Brody has to carry more than two drinks, he’ll spill something. Better this way.”
    Shane shoved his chair aside, backed up a step, and ran straight into Joe. Joe’s beer
     jolted, but Shane grabbed the bottle out of Joe’s hand in a swift move and set the
     beer down before it could spill.
    “Sorry, man,” Shane said. “Want me to get you another?”
    Joe shook his head, waving to indicate everything was fine. He didn’t want to talk,
     didn’t want to give the bear too many points of recognition. Shane shrugged and went
     across the floor in search of his brother.
    “This isn’t going to work,” Nell said, as soon as Shane was gone.
    The blue-eyed Shifter leaned back and sent her a smile. “Having Shane and Brody get
     the drinks?”
    “Don’t pretend to be obtuse. I’ve been thinking about this all day, while you and
     my sons made so much noise in my kitchen. You felt some kind of obligation to find
     me when you read Magnus’s letter? It’s irrelevant now. He’s been gone for more than
     a century, and I didn’t even know about the stupid letter. It doesn’t mean you need
     to be my mate. Even if you are good at putting up shelves.”
    Cormac listened to her adamant words, his expression one of interest and concern.
     When she finished, he casually draped his arm over the back of her chair. “When he
     died, why didn’t you go back to your own clan? You must have been out of your mind
     with grief, and scared witless.”
    “Because they were about eight hundred miles away, and I had two little cubs and no
     money. All I could think about was survival, right then and there. Besides, no one
     had been happy with me accepting Magnus’s mate-claim, and we’d never gone through
     the sun and moon ceremonies. Magnus didn’t think they were necessary.” She sighed.
     “You know what it means that I couldn’t go back to my clan? Means I couldn’t have
     a Guardian send his body to dust. I had to burn him.”
    Joe knew that when Shifters died, a Shifter called a Guardian stuck a sword through
     the dead Shifter’s heart. Apparently, they believed that this released the soul to
     the next life. Burial or cremation in the human form was anathema to them. Joe imagined
     the poor woman, two little kids clinging to her, having to make a decision to dispose
     of the body that went against all her beliefs. Must have been rough.
    Cormac came forward and put his hands over both of Nell’s, his engulfing hers. “I
     am so, so sorry. I wish I could have found you then. But at least I’ve found you now.”
    “Yeah? Well you’re about a hundred and thirteen years too late.”
    “No.” Cormac’s voice was steady. “It’s never too late to not be alone.”
    Nell studied Cormac with a kind of wide-eyed daze that was almost panic. “I’m used
     to being alone. I’ve done everything alone.”
    “You might be used to it, but you don’t like it. You can’t lie to me, Nell. I can
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