“Even if the voice I heard on my run came from you, I wouldn’t leap out of a moving vehicle.”

  He smirked, bringing one hand down to cover mine. “I can’t speak to you through mental telepathy.” His voice dropped an octave. “But I had no trouble hearing your entire conversation with your brother on the phone. My senses are heightened.”

  I blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean exactly?”

  “I’m not human, Madison.”

  My eyes widened, and before I could stop myself, I laughed. The nervous, panicky sound shook me. I closed my mouth and looked over at him. “You are not an alien.”

  “You’re right.” He finally slowed the truck as we came up on a roundabout in the road. “I’m a werewolf. So is Wendy. That’s why I’m delivering the babies.”

  Okay, he was right. I did want to jump out of the truck. I looked at him, prepared to tell him off for being such an ass, but then he glanced over and the expression on his face stopped my heart. “Wait. You’re…serious?”

  “As a heart attack.” He made the turn and glanced over at me again. “That’s how I knew you were scared when I picked you up today. Fear has a scent.”

  Impossible. “Does Chandler know you think you and Wendy are…”

  “Werewolves. Yeah.” He turned left, and the vet clinic loomed in the distance. “Your brother was bitten by a jaguar shifter a few years ago when he was visiting you in Lake Tahoe. He’s part of my pack here in Sedona now.”

  Oh god. It couldn’t be…

  But Chandler had been attacked by a jungle cat in a coffee shop with Vivi. He’d gone with her to meet with an informant about a story. He’d vanished for a while after that. I’d worried that he had a drug problem. I’d never imagined it was something like this.

  Cole drove into the lot and parked beside Chandler’s black Z car before killing the truck’s engine. “You can wait here if you want to.”

  My brother got out and came toward us. He stopped cold when he saw me in the cab. Cole got out and slammed the door. Their voices were muffled at first, then Chandler shoved Cole backward, the force knocking him all the way back into the truck. The jolt as his body slammed against the hood made me scream.

  Chandler ran to my door and opened it. “Madison, I swear I’ll tell you everything.”

  Cole slid off the hood and turned around to face me, his gaze locked on mine through the windshield. I focused on my brother and shook my head. “How could you lie to me? Did you tell everyone at the shower today to lie, too? Those little boys were telling the truth, weren’t they?”

  Chandler cursed under his breath. “You don’t know what’s at stake.”

  “Stop arguing and get these out of me!” Wendy shouted from the other car.

  Cole’s eyes lingered on me for one last moment, like he was memorizing my face in case he never saw me again, and then he was on the move. The two men helped Wendy out of the car and into the back entrance of the vet clinic.

  The twins were…shifters? Humans? What?

  I was lost in a mental fog. My favorite books in high school were fish-out-of-water stories. Reading about someone traveling through time or stepping through a portal into another world had fascinated me then. I’d root for them to embrace the new reality, to adapt. I’d never dreamed I’d be that fish.

  My legs wobbled as my feet hit the ground outside the truck. This had to be a dream. People didn’t really shift into animals. How could I adapt to something so impossible? I’d spent my whole life grounded in concrete facts that could be explained by math and science and sales graphs.

  This couldn’t be real.

  I needed to talk to someone, but who could I tell? No one would believe me, and if they did, I’d risk exposing Cole, and my brother and his new family to the world as…shifters.

  I took out my phone and pressed Vivi’s name before I could overthink it. Yes, my best friend was a journalist and a publicist for her husband’s rock band, but she’d been with Chandler that night he was attacked by a jaguar. Maybe she could give me some answers. I’d be careful.

  She answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, stranger! How’s Sedona?”

  God, it was good to hear her voice. “Hey, Vivi. Uh…” Suddenly I had no idea how to have this conversation. “Remember the night Chandler was attacked?”

  There was a long pause. “Yeah.”

  “Do you think it’s possible that the jaguar that bit him was…more?” I waited, holding my breath.

  “What’s going on?” Vivi lowered her voice. “Are you okay?”

  This was a mistake. “Yeah. I just…learned some things about my brother that I’m…struggling with.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  Okay, this was a big mistake, but now I was hip deep and sinking fast. “Something unbelievable about the night that jaguar bit him. I just needed to talk to someone, but it’s not really my secret to share. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

  She sighed. “I’m glad you called. And I’m relieved he finally told you. You deserve to know.”

  “Wait.” I frowned. “You’ve known this whole time?”

  “If we’re talking about what I think we’re talking about, then yes.”

  I lowered my voice. “Do you believe all this? That people can turn into animals?”

  “Yes.” Her tone softened. “Chandler was bitten by a jaguar shifter, which made him one too. I wanted to tell you everything, but it’s dangerous so he begged us to protect you from it.”

  “Us?” I blinked.

  “Shit.” She groaned. “He didn’t tell you about the Reno Pack?”

  “No. Like…werewolf pack?”

  “Yeah. Logan and I are part of it, so are Taryn and Jared.”

  My jaw slackened. “My old boss and her husband are werewolves? Your boyfriend…wait, are you?”

  “I am now. Yes.”

  Tears welled in my eyes. “How could you lie to me all this time? I trusted you with every secret. You’re my best friend.”

  “I know.” Her voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. I hated not telling you, but I also didn’t want to put you in danger. If something happened to you because of me, it would have killed me.”

  “So you lied to me instead?” I swiped a tear off my cheek.

  “We didn’t want you to get hurt. You have to be careful, Madison. Powerful people come after shifters and they won’t hesitate to use you to get to them.” Her voice wobbled again. “I’m so glad Chandler finally told you. I told him he could trust you with the truth.”

  “It wasn’t Chandler who trusted me.” I cleared my throat, struggling to keep my voice even. “Your secret is safe with me. I need to go.”

  “Madison, wait.”

  “Talk to you soon, Vivi.” I ended the call and wiped another tear from my cheek.

  This was real. And no one thought I was strong enough to hear it.

  Except Cole.

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d stood outside soaking up the late afternoon sun like it might grant me peace. If I ran away now, maybe I could ignore the fact that there might be more to the world than I ever realized.

  Hadn’t I been longing for more? That was why I uprooted my life to move to Arizona. My brother was going to be a father. We had a chance to start a new family legacy. None of that had changed; it just wasn’t going to look the way I’d envisioned.

  The duet with Cole had been inspired because it voiced something inside me that I hadn’t been able to put into words. Until I met him, I’d been living in the shallow waters. No real risks. Comfortable. But this was more than I had bargained for.

  A baby’s cry snapped me back into reality.

  I ran into the clinic and found Wendy on a table, draped in blue surgical blankets and towels. My brother cradled a tiny baby in one arm. A full-term, healthy baby boy.

  Cole was at the other end of the table, his voice controlled and calm. “One more push, Wendy.”

  My new sister-in-law gripped Chandler’s hand. I came closer, keeping my voice down. “Can I help?”

  The love on my brother’s face brought tears to my eyes as he handed me my baby nephew. He was perfect. Ten fingers and ten toes.

  And apparently with the ability to shift into a wolf or jaguar or…? He looked up at me with my brother’s bright-blue eyes, and my heart burst. He was so damned beautiful. I didn’t care what he might turn into. This little guy was family, and I loved him already.

  Wendy panted, sweat running down from her forehead.

  “That’s it, baby,” Chandler coached his wife.

  “One more push for the shoulders. Ready?” Cole said. “Okay, bear down.”

  Wendy cried out, pushing until a tiny yowl echoed through the clinic. Cole was quiet for a second, and I held my breath. He stood up with a baby wrapped in a blue surgical towel, but he looked a little baffled. “It’s a…girl.”

  Wendy and Chandler both craned their heads to see. Wendy gasped. “A girl? I thought…”

  Her words faded as Cole handed the bundle to Chandler and said, “She’s a jaguar shifter.”

  They all seemed puzzled, staring at the baby like she was an unexplainable paradox. Obviously, I was new to all this, but they looked as stunned as I must’ve looked in the truck when Cole told me he wasn’t human.

  “She takes after her daddy,” I offered, unsure how to read the confusion in the room.

  Chandler took the boy from me and placed both babies in Wendy’s happy arms. My brother kissed Wendy’s forehead. “They’re perfect.”

  She nodded, a tear rolling free from the corner of her eye. “Welcome to the world, little ones.” She pressed her lips to each tiny head and looked up at Cole. “I thought the shifter gene was carried on the Y chromosome. How is she a jaguar without being bitten?”

  He stood up and pulled off his gloves. “I’m not sure, but I remember Luke Reynolds mentioned something about their Alpha’s mate being a born shifter. She’s a jaguar, too. I’ll give him a call.” Cole grabbed his stethoscope and listened to their tiny chests and gave the new parents a smile.

  “Hearts and lungs sound healthy. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, Cole,” Chandler said, stroking his fingers through Wendy’s hair. “Sorry about earlier.”

  Cole shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  He crossed to me, taking my hand as he left the room. I followed, so overwhelmed by conflicting emotions I wavered between tears and laughter and an ache I couldn’t quite place. Once we were in the parking lot, he slid his hand free of mine.

  “Thanks for staying.” He shifted his weight, and I realized he was nervous.

  “Did you think I would leave?”

  “Well I did drop that I was a werewolf while we were in a moving vehicle, and your brother’s wife was in labor.” He shrugged. “No one would blame you if you ran now.”

  I took a slow breath. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.” I pointed toward the door. “Those babies didn’t look premature.”

  “Nope.” He glanced over at me. “Gestation for shifters is four months. Wendy was full term. Chandler needed an excuse to explain why Wendy was so big at the shower, though, so that’s what the diabetes was about… I’m sorry about the lies. He thinks you’re safer not knowing about any of this. Part of me agrees with him. We were protecting you.”

  “From the truth?”

  He shook his head and met my eyes. “From the people who want to hurt us.”

  Vivi said the same thing. A chill ran up my spine. “Who wants to hurt you?”

  “Your boss, actually. Among others. She used Wendy’s DNA and blood samples to make a super soldier serum. It killed most of the men in a Special Forces unit, but we think a few of them might still be alive.”

  “Deidra experimented on Wendy?” I gaped, shaking my head. This was all too much. My mild-mannered boss was some sort of mad scientist? I couldn’t process it. “But I can’t shift. Why would they be after me?”

  “Your brother can.” He paused. “I can.”

  The pieces slid into place. “And they could use me to get to you.”

  “Exactly.” He faced the mountains again. “Chandler thought if we kept you out of all the shifter business, we could keep you off their radar…but I fucked all that up.”

  “How so?” I turned to face him, waiting for him to look at me.

  His eyes searched mine. “Because you’re my…” He hesitated and finally whispered, “You’re the fairy tale I never believed existed.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Cole

  I couldn’t force the word out—not with the panic shining in her eyes. Madison was my mate, but I’d dumped enough on her for one day. I could tell her the rest later.

  My mouth went dry as I stared into her eyes, my pulse rushing in my ears. Deep in my soul, my wolf growled, aching to claim her. “I gave up on relationships years ago.” I caressed her cheek, my thumb stroking her soft skin. “And then you walked into my life and turned my world upside down.”

  She closed her eyes for a second and whispered, “Thank you.”

  When she opened them again, a burst of energy rippled across my skin, followed by warmth. Gratitude, affection, and worry filtered into my consciousness, and my knees wobbled.

  She frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  I didn’t have an answer for her. What had just happened?

  “Did you feel that?” I asked.

  “The breeze?”

  Was that all it had been? I could have sworn I’d somehow sensed her emotions, felt them. Maybe the mate bond was hitting me harder than I’d realized. “Maybe. What are you thanking me for?”

  She smiled, cupping my face in her hand. “I was thanking you for trusting me and believing I could handle the truth.” She glanced at the clinic. “My brother means well, but I’m stronger than he realizes.”

  I hooked her chin with my finger, turning her attention back to me. “He’s right about the danger.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It can’t be a coincidence that Deidra hired you. She can’t get to Wendy anymore so she could be planning to use you to get to Chandler or the babies. Now that we have a female who was born a shifter, all bets are off.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but it turned into a gasp as she squeezed her eyes closed. She wobbled, her knees buckling. I caught her before she could fall, adrenaline lacing my bloodstream. “Madison? What’s wrong?”

  “My head,” she hissed.

  And then I felt it, too. I ground my teeth, keeping us both upright as something compressed my brain in an invisible vise. Fuck. What the hell was happening?

  “Help,” Madison whispered. “She needs us.” She hiccupped. “She’s hurting me.”

  I growled, holding her tighter. “Set. Boundaries. Tell her to stop.”

  The pain was overwhelming me. I wasn’t sure she could even hear me anymore. Somehow, I needed to break the connection between her mind and this other woman. My vision wavered, and an idea flickered. A distraction. Something to bring Madison back to me, to the here and now. I bent my head and pressed my lips to hers.

  Just us.

  I repeated the thought like a mantra as I kissed her. Gradually, the mental assault receded. Her arms moved around my neck, and a new heat warmed me—desire. Her teeth scraped my lower lip, and I growled in answer.

  She drew back and blinked. “Just us.”

  My jaw slackened for a second. “What?”

  She searched my eyes. “I heard you.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know.” She closed the distance between us, brushing her lips against mine. “This connection is… Is it a werewolf thing?”

  “Not that I know of.” My parents’ mate bond had never granted them the ability to hear each other’s thoughts or experience what the other one was feeling the way I just had with Madison.

  And I hadn’t even told her about her being my mate yet. But maybe she already knew… “Can you hear what I’m thinking right now?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “We’ll figure this out.” I caught her hand. “What happened?”

  “It was like earlier on my run. There was a flash of light, and then I heard that voice again. She’s in pain. I think she was sharing it with me, and it must’ve overflowed into you. Or something?” She took a step back from me, shaking her head. “I can’t take anymore weirdness today.”

  I agreed. Telling her about the mate bond could wait for now. First, we needed to figure out how this person was getting into Madison’s head.

  “Let’s get back inside and check on Wendy and the twins.” I squeezed her hand. “You’re an auntie.”

  Her face lit up with a gorgeous smile. “I’m going to rock it.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  Wendy’s vitals were stable, and the babies were already nursing. I gave the new family a little space and started cleaning up the room with Madison’s help. She seemed fine now, but I couldn’t keep from stealing glances her way to be sure.

  Chandler surprised me, patting my shoulder. “We had the baby shower just in time. We’ve got at least enough diapers for a week or two.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else. I can get supplies over to you. You guys are going to have your hands full.” I helped Wendy off the table. Shifters healed a little faster than humans, but after giving birth to twins, she had every right to a little exhaustion. “Are you light-headed at all?”

  “No.” She looked over at Chandler. “Just tired and happy.”

  Madison grinned at the babies. “Do they have names?”

  Chandler nodded, staring at the twins in his arms. “This little guy is Brock after Wendy’s brother, and we both like Brianna for his sister.”

  “Oh, I love that.” Madison kissed each tiny hand. “And I already love you both, Brock and Brianna.”

  Seeing all of them together with such joy in their eyes made the threats around us more pressing. I retreated to my office and left a voice mail for Adam Sloan up in Reno. He was the Alpha of the wolf pack up there, and his wife was a jaguar shifter who had given birth to a female jaguar shifter, effectively passing on the shifter gene without the Y chromosome. Maybe they could clue me in about our unexpected set of twins.