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Steve shook the older man’s hand with genuine affection. Pete was like an uncle to him and always had been.
    The men went their separate ways and Steve headed to the closet to gather supplies. His hands were full when he scented…something. Something stirring. Something amazing. Something…
    He turned around, clutching the supplies to his chest as he stared down the hallway that led to where the human women were being housed for the time being. The alluring scent wafted nearer and he stood, transfixed as a terrycloth-covered female shape stepped into view. She was rubbing at her long, dark, wet hair and her face was obscured, but Steve knew exactly who she was.
    She was his mate.
    Now that the overpowering chemical smell had been scrubbed away from her body, Trisha’s natural scent bombarded Steve’s senses with an undeniable truth. She was his. The cat inside him stood up and yowled while the man stood, unable to move, frozen by the startling realization that lightning had finally struck.
    Trisha Morrow was almost certainly his destined mate.
    And her brother was going to kill him.

Chapter Three

    “Oh, good. You found some supplies for me. Thanks.” Trisha walked right up to him clothed only in a fluffy, white terrycloth robe and a towel draped around her neck to absorb the water still dripping intermittently from her hair. She wasn’t shy about taking things out of his hands, her delicate fingers brushing against the fabric that covered his chest, heightening the instant arousal that had attacked him the moment he’d caught her true scent.
    She seemed preoccupied by the crinkly wrapped syringes, alcohol wipes and various other first aid supplies he’d collected from the closet. She emptied his hands and turned to go, and he was powerless to do anything but follow in her wake. He was struck nearly dumb by the idea that he’d finally met his mate.
    And she didn’t know the first thing about the real world. She was human. Innocent of the knowledge that they were not the only highly advanced creatures that inhabited the earth. Even though she was friends with a half-fey, it was clear the pixie-woman—as Steve had come to think of her—was keeping her friends in the dark about Others.
    Trisha didn’t know. And her brother was one of his best friends in the human world. He didn’t know either, though he often questioned some of the things he’d seen Steve do in the field that a regular human man wouldn’t have been able to accomplish—even someone as skilled as Deke Morrow.
    Deke was gonna murder him. There was no way around it.
    “I’m going to take blood samples from everyone and then I’d like to go see your lab.”
    “What about sleep?” He had to object. It was for her own good.
    He felt a new responsibility for her welfare—even above and beyond what he’d felt before knowing she was dear to a good friend of his. Suddenly, she’d become dear to him , personally, and he felt some kind of weird biological imperative to protect her in all ways.
    “Oh, I feel fine now. The shower revived me.” She peered back over her shoulder as he followed her down the hallway. “I’m good to go for a few hours yet. And I’d like to narrow down what’s affecting my friends as soon as possible, just in case it’s something worse than it appears.”
    “Maybe I can help with that,” a new voice sounded from behind Steve. It was a mark of his preoccupation that he hadn’t heard the priestess come up behind him.
    He turned and made way for Kate, the priestess for the Clan, to pass.
    “Hi, I’m Kate. I came to help.” She held out her hand and took some of the nearly overflowing supplies out of Trisha’s hands. “My husband, Slade, is the big guy creeping up on Steve.”
    Dammit!
    Steve turned around and sure enough, there was Slade, one dark brow quirked in surprise. Then his icy-grey eyes turned to Trisha and back again, widening.
    Slade slapped Steve on the back and grinned as he came even with him.