Page 16 of Taken Home By the Grizzly

But before we’ve even gotten to the top of the stairs, we hear screaming.

“Oh no!” she exclaims, heading for the den at a run.

The kids are busy beating the crap out of each other. They’re making all kinds of feral growls and snarls, and they look like they’re one step away from shifting. I wonder if they’ve had their first shift yet. If it happens in front of Zoe, it’ll scare the hell out of her.

“Kids, quit fighting!” Zoe yells. “Todd, Jace, Mari!” She calls each of them by name. But they don’t hear her; they’re intent on their rough and tumble.

I clap my hands together. “Settle down now,” I say.

They spring apart, guiltily, staring at me with big, shocked eyes. They know.

That’s why one of them came looking for me earlier. He was drawn to his own species. He’s the one on the left, who’s looking at me with recognition growing in his fierce little eyes.

Zoe flashes me a grateful look.

“Now, what’s the problem?” I say.

“Todd keeps telling me what’s gonna happen next!” the little girl wails. “And I just want to enjoy the story.”

“I can see that would be annoying,” I say. “Todd why don’t you quit and just let your sister enjoy herself?”

“I’m just realexcited!” he says, shaking his little fists with pent-up emotion.

I fight back a smile. “I hear you, little guy. But you gotta let people have their own experiences. You understand?”

“Sometimes it’s real nice watching someone make their own discoveries,” Zoe chips in.

He lets out an epic sigh. “Iguess.”

We share a fleeting look. The kind of look that makes my heart beat faster.

“So can you all sit here quietly, while we go in the kitchen for a minute?” she asks, making her face stern.

“Yes,” they say in unison.

“You’ve really gota way with them,” Zoe says, as I follow her into the kitchen. While she fills up the kettle, I gaze at her lovely rear view. The soft, chocolate-brown curls bouncing on her shoulders, the perfect round curve of her ass.

She’s feeling bad about herself. Like she’s not good at controlling them, I think. I’m longing to tell her it’s because I’m a shifter, and they react to me instinctively.

“Just good luck,” I say at last. “They’re bound to test you.”

“They don’t testyou, though.”

“Probably because I look like a crazy wild man,” I say, with a laugh. She looks me up and down boldly. She’s been sneaking a bunch of glances at me when she thinks I’m not looking, but this is the first time she’s looked at me openly. Her mouth opens and closes again, and I sense questions forming on the tip of her tongue.

“You’re wondering what I’m doing, living out in the cabin?”

Her cheeks pink, making her look even prettier. “Kinda.”

She turns away again and makes the tea. “You’re like a real mountain man, right? All cut off from society.”

“You thought we only existed in books, huh?”

“Yeah.” There’s a hint of mischief in her smile.

I take a big breath in and release it slowly. I’m not used to talking about my family. Not sure if I ever will be.

Her smile drops. “Something happened, didn’t it?”

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