As I rang the bell, I tried to figure out what to say, but I had nothing. I had no clue what would happen.

  Kyle opened the door. Where Faron was lean and muscled, Kyle was stocky and burly. Faron was regal, where Kyle was everyman. Kyle was pleasant and logical, but he wasn’t magnetic like Faron. But the resemblance between them was there, beneath the differences, the biggest of which was that Kyle didn’t want the throne. He was eager to hand the reins of power back. That I knew from the hours of talks that we had had, sitting outside of Faron’s room at the hospital, waiting for news about his health.

  Kyle gave me a hug. “I’m glad you could come.”

  “I’m nervous,” I said. “I admit it, I’m not sure what to expect, so…”

  Kyle bit his lip. “I have something to tell you⁠—”

  “Who is it?” Faron’s voice echoed from the living room.

  “It’s Elphyra,” Kyle yelled back.

  My heart skipped a beat as Faron’s voice hit my ears. “Can I see him?”

  “Yes, of course,” Kyle said, but there was a hesitation in his words that made me nervous. “But…don’t get your hopes up. Please.”

  I followed him into the living room, holding my breath. Faron was sitting in a recliner, his feet up. He smiled when he saw me and his smile made me feel like the stars had come out.

  “Elphyra, hey—are you here to see me?” His gaze was curious, his voice surprised.

  That didn’t bode well. “Yes, I am. Here, I brought you flowers. Welcome home⁠—”

  “Oh, this is Kyle’s home,” he said. “I don’t live here—my house is a few blocks away. I’m staying here during my recuperation.”

  I handed him the flowers, trying not to show a reaction. I’d been to Faron’s house several times. Didn’t he remember? “Right. I’m glad you have your brother to help.”

  “So am I. I can’t imagine weathering this without him.” He glanced over at Kyle. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  Kyle laughed. “Here, let me take those. I’ll put them in some water.” He took the bouquet from me, heading toward the kitchen.

  I turned back to Faron, waiting expectantly.

  “Have a seat, please.” He was pleasant, polite, and it felt like I was some random stranger who had just happened to visit. “My brother tells me you helped him pass the time while he was waiting on me in the hospital. Thank you…your support has meant so much to him. I can tell. He really likes you.” He paused, then added, “I know we met a couple times before the accident. You seem familiar. I think we’ve talked several times, correct? You’ll have to excuse me. The accident left several holes in my memory.”

  Accident? My heart plummeted. His expression was expectant, but it was clear that he didn’t remember that we’d slept together, that we’d been dating. I wanted to go over, give him a hug and a kiss, but that was a bad idea right now. It might overload him.

  I forced myself to sit down near him and plastered a smile on my face. “We had several…discussions, yes. You say the…accident…affected your memory?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. When the rubble hit me in the head, my short-term memory—things that have happened in the past five or six months—short-circuited.”

  I forced myself to avoid reacting. Accident? There had been no accident—we’d been assaulted by Bree’s stalker. But I kept my mouth shut.

  Faron continued. “I’m truly sorry, but I don’t remember us meeting before, though as I said, you look familiar.”

  His easy smile invited me to slide down beside him, to lean in beside him, to stroke his hair back out of his eyes. The long black locks had been shaved on one side, where they’d had to go in and do whatever it was doctors did in brain injury cases. I clenched my fists in my lap, sitting perfectly still.

  After a moment, I let out a slow breath. “I’m sorry, too,” I said, glancing at Kyle, who was staring at the floor, a downcast look on his face. “Kyle, can I speak to you for a moment?”

  “Of course.” He sounded like he’d rather do anything but talk to me. He led me out of the living room, into the kitchen, where he turned around, leaning against the counter. “I should have told you before. But we don’t know how long it will be—if ever—before he regains his missing memories. I kept hoping he’d remember as the days went by, before I had to tell you.”

  “He doesn’t know we slept together…that he and I were growing close.” I ducked my head. “What does he think?”

  “That you’re a friendly acquaintance. He seems to be under the impression that you and I might have something going on. I’ve talked about you a lot,” he said. Then, at my look, he quickly added, “I was trying to trigger off a memory. It backfired, I guess.”

  “I suppose I’m grateful for that,” I said, trying to be gracious. Kyle was trying to help. “And you’re sure I can’t tell him?”

  “The doctors are adamant that any sudden shocks to his system or psyche could send him back into a coma. If Faron found out about the two of you, the docs think he’d strain his brain trying to force the memories. They say that it might take him several months to remember everything. By the end of December, we’ll revisit whether to try to prod the memories he still doesn’t remember.”

  I grimaced. The thought of waiting that long was excruciating. I wanted to be part of his healing, but if he thought of me as an acquaintance, then I didn’t have any reason to hang around for any significant time.

  “Thanks, Kyle,” I said. “This is hard to hear, but I’d rather know the truth.”

  “Do you really love my brother?” he asked.

  I leaned my head back, resting against the wall. Did I love him? The L-word was fraught with minefields. But to be honest with myself, I had to admit that, yes, I did love the wolf shifter, and I loved Bran. And I wanted them both in my bed and my life.

  “Yeah, I do. It’s complicated, but yes. I love him enough to not pressure him to remember, because his health means so much to me.” I let out a long sigh, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. “Give me a moment while I get ready to play my part.”

  As we headed back into the living room, I tried to rein in my emotions. I managed to keep a stoic face while I said goodbye to Faron, and then ran all the way back to my car, where I broke down in tears as I turned the ignition and pulled out of the driveway.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I stopped at Bree’s shop as I passed through town. My best friend and a puma shifter, Bree Loomis owned a travel company called the Olympic Forest Expeditions Company. She led hiking adventures in the Olympics, focusing on guided tours through the spring, summer, and autumn months. She even offered a winter selection, though she vetted the ability of the customers for those tours because the hikes could be grueling.

  As I pushed through the door, a bell jingled. Bree looked up from her desk. At five-nine, she was four inches taller than I was. I was curvier, though, and while I had muscle, she was jacked. She could bench press two hundred pounds. Given she was a puma shifter, that wasn’t all that unusual, but it beat out anything I could hope for. Her hair hung mid-back, blond and golden. She had sleeked it back in a ponytail, and she was wearing cargo pants, a flannel shirt hanging open over a light tank top, and a smidgen of makeup—mostly mascara and lip gloss.

  “Elphyra! What are you doing here?” She came around her desk to give me a hug.

  “I went to see Faron today. He’s home now. Well, he’s staying with his brother.”

  She studied my face. “How did it go? I can tell by your silence that it didn’t work out the way you hoped it would.”

  I sat down on the chair opposite her side of the desk. “No, it didn’t. Want to get a coffee?”

  She glanced around. The shop was empty. “Sure, I can take half an hour. Nobody’s coming in today, anyway, I think. With Thanksgiving next week, everybody’s focused on the holiday.”

  “By the way, what are you doing for T-Day? We’re holding Thanksgiving up at my mother’s house. I don’t want to go. But Aunt Ciara needs to be around people who won’t make the day all about themselves. My mother isn’t exactly the comforting kind. Owen’s only been dead for a few weeks. The holiday’s going to be hard on my aunt.” I prayed Bree wouldn’t be busy.

  “I take it this is an invitation?”

  I nodded, giving her cute-kitty eyes.

  Laughing, she said, “Sure, I’ll tag along. I hadn’t made any plans, and my parents are going on a cruise, and I don’t feel like joining them. I don’t like mariachi music.” She arched her eyebrows. “I keep thinking each year it will get easier, but so far, it hasn’t.”

  “Some wounds take forever to heal, and some only scar over.” I stared at the desk. “I really liked Jeffrey.”

  “He looked out for me. He was my big brother, and I felt safe when he was around. It’s been…what…ten…eleven years? I was in my second year of community college and he was in his third year at the University of Washington. He came home for Thanksgiving. My mother asked him to go out for ice cream and he decided he was going to walk.” She bit her lip, and I could hear the quiver in her voice.

  I’d heard the story at least a dozen times, and each time, she paused at the same spot. “Don’t—not if it makes you sad.”

  I didn’t want her sliding into memories that were hard to shake, but then I stopped. We were nearing the anniversary of his death. She needed to express her emotions, and her parents weren’t able to support her feelings of loss because they were mired in their own. In a way, I felt they’d let Bree down. When they lost Jeffrey, they sort of forgot about her and, while they loved her, both of them became distant. They sought comfort in each other, but seldom included her in their sorrow.

  “He never came home. We got the call about an hour later.” She let out a shaky breath and shuffled her papers into a stack. “Gods, I hate drunk drivers. They don’t give a fuck what they do to anybody else. I don’t care if they kill themselves driving headlong into a tree, but they take so many innocent people with them. That bucket of pus who killed him got away with three years. He’s out and walking free now. At least he lost everything because of the blood money he had to pay my parents. It’s never a replacement, but it paid for my college and it paid off their home. I just hope that everyday, he relives that night and that his heart plummets when he remembers he killed somebody because he couldn’t wait for his fucking whiskey until he got home. I hope the memories of seeing my brother’s lifeless body, mangled in the car, are burned into his mind.”

  It was time to pull her out of the spiral. I stood, shouldering my purse. “Come on. Let’s go get coffee.”

  As she came around the back of her desk, I wrapped my arm around her waist and walked her to the door. She locked the door and we headed into the gloom of the day.

  We tucked ourselves into a booth at Eloise’s Diner. It was a classic, like Denny’s used to be, or Coco’s, for those who remembered back to before I was born. Eloise didn’t aspire for a retro look, nor was she hip or jive, but she’d made the diner cozy and comfortable, with a soft color palette, and plenty of stick-to-your ribs food. Eloise was the owner, but I was more familiar with Taisy, one of the waitresses.

  Taisy was a bear shifter, working her way through night school. She had two young children and a beat-up old trailer, but she was a hard worker, a good student, and a devoted mother. It suddenly struck me that she and Kyle might get along. They had a similar vibe. I made a mental note to bring him here for coffee, introduce them, and see if anything happened.

  “What can I get you?” she asked in the way all waitresses have who like their customers but who also know that if they’re nice, the tips would be better.

  “I’ll take a mocha, double shot, and a side of fries,” I said. “Grams won’t know if I don’t tell her.” I grinned at Bree, who laughed.

  “Mocha sounds good, but I think I’ll have mozzarella sticks.”

  “Want to order calamari and we can share everything?” I asked, suddenly hungry.

  Bree agreed, so we ordered our food and waited till Taisy brought our coffees before I spilled the tea, so to speak.

  “So, I saw Faron today. He’s out of the hospital now,” I said. “He’s staying at Kyle’s.”

  “Were there fireworks?” Bree asked, but she hesitated as I slumped. “What? Did I say something wrong? Is he okay?”

  “He will be, we think. But…he’s lost a lot of his short-term memory and he… Bree,” I said, letting my confusion and hurt out, “he doesn’t remember me. I mean, he does, but he thinks we’re just acquaintances. He doesn’t remember that we…”

  “Canoodled?” Bree strove for a smile, but then she sighed. “I’m sorry. Did you tell him?”

  “That’s the thing. I can’t tell him. The doctors say any stress might cause problems. I had to smile and play along and act like…like nothing. Like I was visiting a sick friend. He thinks Kyle and I might be involved.” Defeated, I stirred the whipped cream into my mocha, then took a long sip.

  “Ouch. I’m so sorry. What did Kyle say?”

  “He wants Faron to heal up. He practically begged me to keep my mouth shut. I mean, I would have anyway, until he said it was okay. I know that the doctors think it’s dangerous to upset him. So I wouldn’t have said anything. But this hurts.” I lifted my head, holding her gaze. “I love him, Bree. I love him. I love Bran. I love both of them, and I haven’t a clue what to do about any of it. I don’t know if I can choose.”

  Bree let out a sigh. “I’m sorry to be blunt, but the choice about Faron might not be yours to make, if he doesn’t remember you. Did they say how long it would be before he gets his memory back?”

  We stopped while Taisy brought our order. After she left, I shook my head and picked up one of the breaded calamari. “No. Even worse, they’re not sure it will return. Or when, if it does. There are so many factors involved. Evan hit him so hard that we’re lucky we didn’t lose him. I’m so grateful he’s alive, but I hate this. He’s the King of the Olympic Wolf Pack. He can’t rule from a place of uncertainty. He’s not a man who hesitates…and now, he has to.”

  “Geez…” Bree stared into her cup. “I feel responsible. You were helping me⁠—”

  “Stop. You’re not to blame. We wanted to help you, and it was a good thing we did, considering how fucked up Evan Taylor was. I wish we’d never met him in school.”

  “At least my stalker didn’t come over from France like Bran’s. People are so fucked up, aren’t they?” Bree looked so depressed that I brushed aside my own worries. I had to do something to pull her out of it.

  “Okay, we’re both moping. Want to come over and have a girls’ night? Movies, ice cream, whatever else we can find to eat? You haven’t seen Gem and Silver for a couple weeks. They’re growing like weeds.” I bit into a fry, then the calamari again. “I suggest we dive into the retro vault. Real retro. Like, Marilyn Monroe retro?”

  Bree laughed. “I like that idea. Mind if I bring Atlas and Oscar? They can stay outside.”

  “You can’t leave them out in the rain. They can sleep in the living room. I’ll put the cats in the bedroom.” I stretched, then went back to the calamari.

  “Oscar’s a husky, he loves the cool weather. And Atlas has a waterproof vest. He’ll be fine. You have a covered patio, now.”

  Bran had enclosed the patio so that it was sheltered from the elements. It had a concrete floor and it wasn’t heated, but we could put down a couple blankets for the dogs and they’d stay snug against the weather.

  “True. Okay, sounds good. So you’re in?”

  “I’m in, and leave me some of that calamari.”

  We moved on to other subjects, avoiding the holidays, Faron, and anything else that stressed us out.

  By the time I stopped at the store, it was early afternoon. Grams was going to have to accept a girls’ night’s dinner—spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, ice cream, and one of my favorites—frosted animal crackers. I also added some cat food, a box of milk bones for Oscar and Atlas, tea for Grams, apples and bananas, and lunch meat for sandwiches.

  As I came around the corner, heading to the cashier, I ran into May, Bran’s mother. They were my neighbors, and we hung out a lot. Grams was teaching me the deep magic of the earth, and May was helping me fill in the blanks on the basics of kitchen witchery. I had learned how to coax worms out of the soil, how to use crystals to start a fire, how to move small things like pencils by manipulating the magnetic force that surrounded everything in the world. Everything in the universe, actually. And May had helped me hone my skills with herbs and sachets and she even promised me a mandrake root to work with when I was ready for it.

  “May! Hey, how are you?” I leaned in for a hug.

  The white-haired, spry woman returned my hug. She was about fifty years younger than my grandmother. May was thrilled over Bran and me being together, though I wasn’t sure she felt too good about Faron. But she was kind and caring, with a spine made of steel, and she and my Grams had become good friends.

  “I’m picking up a couple of steaks for dinner, along with some mushrooms. It seems like a night for meat and roasted vegetables. We’re due for a windstorm. I can feel it in the distance.” She was also good with predicting the weather. “How’s Fancypants doing?”

  “He’s good. He’s reached a new stage where he’s turned into a couch potato. All he wants to do is watch TV all day.”

  “Dragnet’s love information and knowledge. He’s probably soaking up everything he can, though I’d be cautious what you let him watch. We don’t want him picking up bad habits.”

  “True, though with his manners, it’s hard to imagine. He’s the politest thing…I still can’t believe he chose me.” Dragonettes bonded with their humans, and that I’d been called out into the woods in the middle of the night to discover his egg seemed like a million-to-one odds.

  “Oh, it wasn’t chance, my dear. It was fate. You and I both know it. Do you have plans with Bran tonight? I was hoping he could tackle some chores around the house⁠—”