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contact with the back of her hand. His skin was so warm, hot even, and even though the last thing she wanted to do was snatch her hand away, she couldn’t help herself, almost feeling like she’d been burned.
    Peter couldn’t have failed to notice her reaction. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
    “You didn’t, but you feel like you’re running a fever!”
    “Part of shifter make-up, I’m afraid. We always run at a hotter temperature than anyone else.”
    “Really?”
    Her looked at her, smiled, and nodded. “Really.”
    “So what else?” she asked, her stomach flipping with nervous butterflies, unsure how much she actually wanted to know. “How does it work? Are you like a big cat version of a werewolf?” She felt ridiculous even saying the words. “Do you change with the full moon?”
    He chuckled again, causing lines of amusement to crease the corners of his eyes. “No, the moon has no effect on us, at least no more than it has on any other person. Our gift varies between each shifter. Some people, like Blake, Chogan, and myself, bonded with our spirit guides at birth, and that makes us strong and able to shift at will. Others only connected with their guides during adulthood, so they may struggle to control the times they shift. Others can’t shift at all, though they still have the advantage of having an animal guide to help them through the dark times in their lives.”
    “Wow. It’s all so hard to believe, you know?”
    “Yes, I guess it must be. But you do believe, don’t you?” His gaze flicked over to hers, taking his eyes off the road briefly.
    Mia nodded. “How could I not?”
    They sat in silence until they reached the street the Wests’ apartment block was located in. Peter pulled the car up along the curb and shifted into park. “Let’s hope there are no street cleaners due today. It would be just my luck to come back and find the car towed.”
    She grinned at him. “Wouldn’t be the first time, I’d imagine.” Almost anyone who drove in Chicago had had their cars towed at some time or another.
    Mia glanced up at the tall building, remembering the confusion surrounding how Toby West had been getting out of his room in the middle of the night when the front door had been locked. Now she understood how he was able to. What kind of creature was he able to shift into? And how were his parents coping with such a discovery? She guessed she was about to find out.
    They climbed out together, Mia not allowing Peter time to do the whole chivalry thing. Too much would make her uncomfortable. She led the way to the apartment building and pressed the buzzer for the intercom.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, it’s Mia Henderson. I hope I’m not disturbing you. I brought a friend with me.”
    “No, no. Of course not. Come on up.”
    The buzzer sounded and the latch opened on the door. They went in and caught the elevator up to the fifth floor.
    Dana West was waiting in the doorway and swept Mia into her embrace. “Mia, how lovely to see you. I hope you’re well, after everything you’ve been through.”
    She untangled herself. “Yes, thank you. I’m fine. I wanted to see how you guys were holding up. You’ve been through a lot yourselves.”
    “We’d still be going through it if it wasn’t for you.”
    She felt herself blush. “I didn’t do a lot, really, apart from get myself in trouble.”
    “Oh, nonsense. You got our son back, didn’t you?”
    “With a little help,” she said, and turned to Peter, who lurked behind her. “Actually, this is one of the men who helped me. Peter Haverly was working at the facility where they held Toby. He’s the one who freed me.”
    Robert West appeared behind his wife’s shoulder and leaned forward to shake Peter’s hand. “Well, then, we thank you too, Mr. Haverly. Come, take a seat,” he said, leading them into the small but modern living room. “Can I get you anything to drink? A coffee, perhaps?”
    “It’s Peter,