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when he caught sight of her made her burst into tears.
    She’d thought Race was going to turn and run for the door. It would be a short trip, considering he’d planted himself in front of it the second he’d closed it behind him.
    He’d stayed there while she listened to Grace talk about Arin’s night. She saw Kaisie walk over to talk to him at one point but Race never took his eyes off her.
    It could’ve felt creepy. It wasn’t. Not at all.
    It made her tingle all over. And when she thought about that kiss last night…
    That made her heart race.
    And just thinking about it in those terms made her smile. Arin smiled back and she rubbed her nose against his before she lifted her head to look at Race. His gaze had sharpened to a laser focus, taking in her every move, though he appeared to be talking to Kaisie.
    “So you and Race. I like him.”
    Mara should’ve been expecting Grace’s straightforward approach. Even so, she couldn’t stop the blush from painting her cheeks red.
    “Oh, you don’t have to be embarrassed.” Grace reached out to pat her on the jaw and give her a smile. “Hell, if I were a few years younger, he’d be on my wish list too. Too bad there’s never a good time for anything nowadays. But some things you just have to make the time for, in my opinion.”
    Grace’s words stuck with her as she and Race made their way back to her little house.
    The snow had stopped, leaving everything with a coating of white. Fresh. Clean. Amazingly quiet. Almost as if she couldn’t hear again.
    But that wasn’t totally true. She heard Race’s quiet breathing above her as he carried Arin on his back in the metal-frame backpack, though he barely made a sound as he waded through the snow. On the other hand, she sounded like a herd of elephants. Which was music to her ears.
    She was listening to the crunch of the snow under her feet when Race dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.
    “Don’t move.”
    His voice was low, almost subvocal. A warning.
    She looked up at him but his attention was focused to his left.
    They’d been following the tree line of the forest. It’d never occurred to her to be worried about wild animals. She lived with a community of wolf shifters.
    But this wasn’t a wolf.
    A black bear lumbered toward them from the forest. She sucked in a sharp breath, fear making every muscle in her body tense. She wanted to take Arin and run but she knew that was the worst thing she could do.
    She held her breath, waiting for Race to tell her what to do. Hoping he had a plan.
    The bear looked directly at them, made its way straight toward them. And stopped only a few feet away.
    Then, like Winnie the Pooh, it sat on its haunches and growled at them. But it wasn’t a growl. It didn’t sound angry. And the bear made no attempt to lunge at them.
    It sat there, waiting.
    “Okay,” Race said in that barely audible whisper. “We’re going to—”
    Arin began to babble loudly. And squirm in the backpack. Fear made her heart pound.
    Blessed Goddess, please—
    Arin stopped and the bear began again.
    And her mouth dropped open.
    They were talking to each other.
    Yes, it sounded totally crazy but that was the only explanation she could come up with because whenever Arin babbled, the bear fell silent and when Arin stopped, the bear answered.
    It was the most amazing thing she’d ever witnessed. And the most terrifying.
    She didn’t know how long it went on but she did know Race was ready for anything. He hadn’t moved his hand from her shoulder, the weight both a comfort and a warning.
    Finally the bear moved, lumbering up onto its four paws. She couldn’t contain the gasp that left her lips and, even though it was silent, Race somehow heard her. His hand tightened on her shoulder, not painfully but in warning.
    The bear never looked twice at either her or Race. It turned and made its way back into the forest, leaving her and Race to stare at each other.
    “ Vaffanculo.