Biting her lip, a nervous habit from childhood she’d never been able to break, Lily listened hard as the car drove very slowly down the dirt road. She could hear the dirt and rocks crunching under the tires, so it must be close. A moment later, it came to a stop, and long seconds ticked by in silence.

She was dying to look, but she promised Noah she’d hide. But it was killing her to not see everything.

Not just for her, although she had that feeling she got when she watched scary movies with ghosts—like something she couldn’t see was stalking her.

But she could handle it for herself. It was not knowing what was happening with Noah that was driving her insane. And as far as she could tell, no one had even gotten out of the car yet.

Hopefully, they hadn’t caught on. All she and Noah did to set this up would be for nothing if they called back and alerted others before they could be stopped.

She knew less than a minute had gone by since the car stopped, all her thoughts going rapid fire through her mind. But she was still starting to panic when the sound of two doors opening finally reached her ears.

A moment later, both doors shut, and then the sound of footsteps on the dirt came to her. Part of why she could hear so well was because she’d cracked the window open for that very reason. But she thought part of it was because what people said about senses was true. Cut one off and the others amplified.

The sound of a scuffle came to her, much louder than the footsteps, and she knew Noah had entered the fray. He must be silent as a cat—she snorted to herself; of course he was, he was a lion—because as good as she’d been hearing things, she hadn’t heard him at all until the fight began.

A shout rang out, and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as the sounds of the fight escalated. She debated with herself long and hard—she’d told him she’d hide, but dammit, she couldn’t sit there without knowing what was going on.

Decision made, she began slowly easing herself up enough to see out of the window. There was Noah, big, strong, fighting the other two with precision accuracy. Relief washed over her, so strong she felt dizzy and weak.

The smaller of the two rushed Noah, distracting him from the other. While he fought the small one, the other made a weird hunching motion as the sound of something popping split the air, and a moment later, a panther was in the man’s place.

Her moth popped open as she took in the huge cat. His black fur was shiny, and Noah had been right—he was much larger than a wild panther. She’d think he was pretty, except he currently had narrowed yellow eyes locked onto Noah as he stalked him.

Eyes darting between the two of them, she wondered if she should try to intervene, maybe call out a warning. But Noah didn’t want them to know she was there, and she didn’t want to make the fight harder for him if they went after her.

Still, it was hard to not try to help in some way.

Noah drew his fist back, the muscles in his huge arm bunching, and then he punched the smaller man hard. The man went flying backward, landing on the dirt with a thud, not moving at all.

Casting him one last glance, Noah turned toward the panther, making the same hunching motion as pops echoed through the air. She watched with fascination as his lion burst out of him, pieces of his torn clothing flying through the air.

Swallowing hard, she stared at him in awe. He was massive, and much bigger than the panther. Underneath his shiny tawny fur, he was heavily muscled, and she thought surely his paws were the size of her head. The top of his head would probably reach to the middle of her bicep.

He’d said he was big, but she hadn’t expected him to be that big.

His mane was full and thick, a few shades darker than his fur, almost an amber color. He turned his massive head toward the truck, and she saw his glowing green eyes flick toward her, and then he turned for the panther who was charging him.

She was pretty sure she just got busted.

The two cats crashed together with a thump she heard easily, growling, hissing, using claws and teeth as they fought ferociously. The panther was big but Noah was bigger, taller as well as more heavily muscled—like his lion form matched his human form in size.

She’d been holding herself tensely, but she began relaxing as she watched the fight. Noah was clearly the superior fighter, and he was winning, hands down. The panther managed a swipe of his claws down Noah’s side, and Noah roared—but it didn’t sound pained. It sounded pissed off.

He started backing away from the panther, and she frowned as she watched. He was clearly a better fighter, so what was he doing?

His eyes flicked toward her, so quickly she almost missed it, and then she understood. He wasn’t trying to get away—he was trying to lure the panther into the woods. As she looked at the black cat, she thought she understood.

His blazing yellow eyes were crazed and the murderous gleam in them wasn’t hard to miss. He wasn’t going to stop fighting, even though it was clear Noah would win. In the panther’s mind, this was a death match.

Noah knew that, and he was trying to lead him away, so she wouldn’t have to see him kill the panther. Briefly wondering how she could be so sure, she shrugged to herself. She just was. She knew Noah, and that was something he’d do.

They disappeared into the trees, the sounds of a vicious fight coming to her, and she felt herself tense again as the worry came back to her. She knew Noah was the better fighter, but she didn’t like not being able to see him.

Turning her eyes to the man who was still knocked out cold, she watched him closely. The last thing they needed was for him to wake up, shift into whatever animal he was, and take Noah by surprise.

The sound of the fight escalated and then a screech of agony split the air. Stiffening, she forced herself to take deep breaths, her eyes darting back and forth from the man on the ground to where Noah had disappeared behind the trees. The longest minute of her life passed agonizingly slowly and then her massive lion walked into eyesight.

Blowing out a breath, she slumped over, closing her eyes as she became dizzy with relief. Straightening, she watched as he walked over to the man, walking around him as he studied him. Jumping at the sound of Noah’s phone ringing, she glanced over at the screen, seeing Blake’s name flashing.

Deciding Noah would probably want her to answer, she picked up the phone and swiped the accept button. “Hello.”

“Lily? Where’s Noah?”

“He just finished fighting the men who followed us.”

“How’d it go?”

“He knocked one of them men out in human form, and that guy’s still out cold. The other one shifted and they fought. I didn’t see how it ended, because Noah guided the fight into the woods, but I think he killed him. The panther wasn’t backing down even though he was getting beaten.”

“I see. Where are you guys now? Luke’s back. We’ll come take over so you two can get home.”

“I’ll send you the exact location in an email.”

“Sounds good. See you two soon.”

Hanging up, she put the phone in the cup holder as she sat back up in the seat and opened her laptop. She quickly emailed Blake and when she was finished, she closed the lid and set it back on the floorboard. Looking out the window, she immediately spotted Noah. He was sitting between her and the unconscious man, and as she watched, he jerked his head in the universal come on motion.

Nerves suddenly assaulted her and she took a deep, shaky breath. Was she really going to leave the safety of the truck and walk up to an enormous lion? It sounded like a completely insane thing to do.

But as her gaze locked with the glowing green eyes of the lion, she smiled. Yes, she was going to get out and walk up to him. It wasn’t just a lion. It was Noah, and she could see him right there in the cat’s eyes.

Excitement began to replace the nerves, but her fingers still trembled as she opened the door. Easing down onto the step side before hopping to the ground, she took a deep breath, shut the door, and turned around.

Noah seemed even bigger—and closer—once she was in front of him. Cocking his head, he stared at her, and with another deep breath, she walked slowly forward. Even sitting, his head reached up to her breasts, and she could see the definition of his thick muscles as she came closer.

Stopping in front of him, she looked him over, trying to quell the nerves fluttering in her belly. It was hard at moments to remember this was Noah and not a wild lion—she’d only known what he was for a short time.

But at the same time, she was actually standing in front of a lion. They were her favorite animal, and she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Not like a real lion would. Who else ever got this kind of opportunity?

Smiling as the nerves finally dissipated, she looked into his eyes. “Noah,” she whispered, her throat tight. “You’re so gorgeous. Can I touch you?”

He huffed, dipping his head. There were still fine tremors skating through her fingers as she touched them gently to his forehead. His fur was baby soft until she reached his mane, where it was coarser and just a bit rough.

She gently ran her fingers through it before repeating it all, stroking behind his ears. His began purring, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet afternoon, and he closed his eyes, leaning into her touch.

Lily wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that—him sitting back on his haunches, his purr filling the air, while she petted him. But when her arm finally started getting tired, her eyes were filling with tears she desperately tried to keep at bay.

One of them slipped free, making its way down her cheek, as she lowered her arm. Noah opened his eyes, cocking his head and growling low as he saw the wetness on her cheek. Laughing shakily, she lifted her hand and wiped it away.

“I’m okay. Just feeling a little emotional right now. Thank you, Noah.”

And then, to her horror, more tears broke free, and she sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around his thick neck and burying her face in his mane as she hugged him. He made a rumbling noise in his chest, and she shook her head.

“I promise, I’m fine. I don’t know why I’m crying, but I’m fine.”

She really had no clue what was wrong with her. The only thing she could think of was that she was truly happy in that moment. Happier than she’d been in a very long time, and the emotions were overwhelming her.

Tightening her arms around his neck, she let his mane dry the tears that had slipped free. The moment felt incredibly surreal. She was on her knees, hugging a lion.

A lion who just happened to also be a man—a man she loved so much, she thought her heart would burst with it.

Noah, still in lion form, turned his head and glanced at Lily. She was curled up next to him, her head pillowed against his side, fast asleep. An hour or two had passed since she cried—he wasn’t sure how long, exactly. It was always hard for him to keep track of time when he was in this form.

She’d been so brave when she got out of the truck and walked over to him. She touched him gently, petting him over and over, and he’d eaten it up. He didn’t think he’d been touched before in that form and it was amazing. Although, that was probably because it was Lily doing the touching.

But then she started crying. He hadn’t thought it was because of him or his lion, because she sank to her knees and hugged him close, but he hadn’t known what the problem was. He’d wanted to shift and ask her, but he couldn’t make himself take on his more vulnerable form while she was so close to the unconscious human.

Turning his head, he looked over at the man. He was definitely a human. Noah never would have let Lily get out of the truck if he hadn’t been. He’d hit him way too hard, but he hadn’t had much of a choice with the panther coming for him. He’d been trying to fight them both as humans, but when the other one shifted, he had to hit the human hard enough to put him down for the count while he battled the panther.

But he was starting to think he’d done some serious damage to the other man. He should have woken up a long time ago.

Glancing over, he took in the rise and fall of the man’s chest. He was still alive. He just wasn’t waking up.

The panther, on the other hand, was dead. Noah had been able tell he wasn’t going to go down until one of them was dead, so it had to happen. No other outcome was acceptable, not with Lily so close. And Noah felt absolutely no remorse.

If he could have smiled in lion form, he would have as he remembered seeing just the top of her head and her eyes peeking over the top of the door. She’d been far from hidden in that moment, but it was better than her being completely visible. And he didn’t blame her for needing to watch. If their situation was reversed, he wouldn’t have been able to hide away and not know if she was okay or not.

She stirred and he turned his head, watching as she blinked several times, frowning with confusion. Glancing over, her eyes widened as she saw him. Almost like she’d forgotten for a moment that he was a lion. She smiled gently at him, her eyes starting to fall closed again, and then she sat up abruptly.

“Noah! Why are you still a lion? What’s going on?”

He glanced over at the human man and nodded toward him before looking back at her. She frowned as her gaze followed his.

“Because of him? You think he’s still a threat?” She sighed when he lifted a shoulder in his lion version of a shrug. “I like hanging out with your lion, but this not being able to talk thing can get old.”

She stood, stretching her neck and then her back as she walked back and forth. Rising, he blocked her path when it looked like she was going to move past him, and she swatted at him while wrinkling her brow, exasperation in her blue eyes.

That was his girl. Swatting at a fully grown, massive lion, with zero fear in her eyes. God, she was amazing.

“I wasn’t going to get close. Although, should he still be knocked out? It’s been a while now.” She glanced at her watch and then gasped, her eyes shooting back to him. “Noah! It’s been almost two hours since I got out of the truck. Why did you let me sleep that long? I get that we’re probably waiting for Blake, but I could have been working.”

Before he could lift his shoulder in a shrug, he heard the sound of a vehicle turning onto the road. Whirling to face that direction, he backed up, pushing Lily behind him, never taking his eyes off the road. He should have shifted enough to destroy the two men’s phones, because what someone had discovered where they were and why?

He was a fucking idiot. He was an ex-Marine, and now an Enforcer, for too many years to make such stupid mistakes. If there was one thing he’d learned, it was to leave nothing to chance.

That he’d forgotten that rule while his mate was present was unforgivable.

Lily put her hand on his hip and his growl cut off abruptly. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it, too focused on the road. It was taking the vehicle way too fucking long to reach them and—

A bright red truck came around the bend and he relaxed as he recognized it. It was Blake’s, and he had Luke with him. He watched as they pulled to a stop next to the car, both getting out. Lily walked up next to him, and they watched as Blake and Luke walked over to the human man.

“I’ll get a set of clothes out for you now that they’re here. I saw how your clothes shredded when you shifted.”

He dipped his head, turning to watch as she walked back to the truck. Nudity was a way of life for shifters, and he, Blake, and Luke wouldn’t be bothered by it. But Lily was a human and it might make her uncomfortable, so he’d get dressed as soon as he shifted.

She emerged about a minute later with clothes in her hand and he walked over to her, following her as she led him behind the truck. He’d explain later about shifters and being naked, but it far easier to just follow her instead of trying to convey somehow that he could shift in front of the guys.

Once he was back with her, he closed his eyes and focused on his human form. Loud pops echoed around them, bouncing off the trees, as his bones broke and reformed. With a blinding flash of pain, he was standing in his human form.

She held his clothes out to him, but he ignored them, using her wrist to pull her against him. Squeaking as she hit his chest, she laughed as she looked up and met his eyes.

“Hi,” she said softly, her striking blue eyes happy.

“Hi.”

Not saying anything else, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her softly and slowly, nipping on her bottom lip before he pulled back. He wanted to continue, to deepen the kiss, but he needed to get dressed and talk to the Enforcers. Besides, Blake and Luke had seen him naked plenty of times and it didn’t bother him, but he didn’t particularly want to walk around naked with a boner in front of them, either.

Easing away, he took the clothes from her and quickly pulled them on, giving her another quick kiss before walking to the driver’s side and getting his shoes off the floorboard and his hat from the seat. Once he was finished putting them on, he took Lily’s hand and walked to meet the guys.

“Lily, this is Luke. He’s Tarun’s husband.”

Before Luke could say anything, Lily let go of Noah’s hand and stepped forward, hugging him. Noah shrugged as Luke raised his eyebrows at him over her shoulder, not sure why she was hugging his friend.

“Thank you for taking Noah in when you guys were kids, and for being his friend,” he heard her whisper.

He felt his own eyebrows raise at her words. He hadn’t known why she was hugging Luke, but he never would have suspected that was the reason.

“He’s an easy man to be friends with,” Luke replied as she pulled away.

Blake stood as he glanced over at Noah. “This one’s a human?”

Lily looked over at him with surprise. “He is? Why didn’t you tell me that? I thought he was a shifter like the other one.”

“I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry if you worried about him, though.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “You couldn’t tell me because you refused to shift back. I understood when I thought he was a shifter, but now I think it was overkill. Especially considering how puny and small he is. You could have defeated him as you are now just fine.”

“Not with you around. I wasn’t taking any chances.”

“Can you two do this later?” Blake asked, his words exasperated.

Lily flushed. “Sorry. Hey, do you want me to see if I can get into whatever devices were in the car?”

Blake glanced over at the car, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Can you do it without anyone else knowing you were in them?”

“I think so.”

“Go ahead and give it a shot, but if you think it might be dangerous or alert anyone else to what we’re doing, then stop. We can try to break into them later.”

She nodded. “I’ll turn off any hotspots or internet access if I can get in. Then no one will be able to see any activity.”

Turning without waiting on a reply, she walked over to the car and got inside, almost immediately picking up a phone. Noah watched as she sank her teeth into her lower lip like she did when she worked. Fuck, that was sexy as hell.

“She’s a handy one to have around,” Blake said.

Not taking his eyes off his mate, Noah made a hum of agreement. “She’s more than handy.”

Luke snorted. “Some things are TMI, Noah.”

Blake rolled his eyes at Luke before looking back at him. “Have you two made it official yet?”

Exhaling, he shook his head. “Not yet.”

Luke glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. “Why not?”

Reaching up, he tugged at his hat, looking back at Lily. “She’s taken all this so well. She accepted it easily, accepted me, even with the history we share. But when is something going to be too much for her? And we haven’t been back in each other’s lives for long. I don’t want to push it.”

“I can understand that fear,” Luke said, his voice serious. “I didn’t tell Tarun at first, either, and she’s a shifter. But we’re hardwired to get attached fast to our mates—and that goes for shifters and humans. I don’t think you have anything to worry about with her. If nothing she’s learned so far has put her off, I think it’s probably a good bet that won’t, either.”

Blake nodded. “I agree with him. And Damara said you two were, uh, intimate after she found out. I don’t think Lily would go that far with you if what you are truly bothered her. And I haven’t known her long, but I don’t see her going that far with anyone she doesn’t already have feelings for. Don’t let her walk away without making sure she knows what she means to you.”

He exhaled as he shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m physically capable of letting her walk away without fighting for her. I was just hoping she wouldn’t bring up leaving yet and I’d have more time to ease her into it. Have you had any updates on Damara yet?”

“She’s still being held in the bedroom. No one has even attempted to talk to her yet,” Luke replied, his mouth set in a grim line.

Noah frowned as uneasiness moved through him. “You don’t think they figured her out, do you?”

Blake shook his head. “No, we don’t think so. She heard some people move down the hallway and when they paused by the door, someone said the new girl was in the room. They’re just taking their time getting to her.”

The man on the ground groaned, his hand raising to touch his jaw. They all crowded around him and Luke whistled low. “I was starting to think he wasn’t going to wake up. How hard did you hit him, Noah?”

“The other one had shifted and was coming at me. I needed to hit him hard enough for him to stay down while I fought the panther. I guess I misjudged.”

“I’d say,” Blake replied with a snort, pointing to the huge bruise forming on the man’s face. “He was a little guy. You might have gone overboard.”

He shrugged. “I have no regrets. I had to make sure Lily was okay. Speaking of, I’d like to get her out of here before he fully comes to.”

Blake pointed to the woods. “The panther is over there? All right, get your mate and get out of here. We’ll see you later.”

Nodding, Noah turned and walked to the car. “Hey, beautiful. Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Lily looked up with a smile. “Sure. Am I bringing these with me? I got into all of them and disabled the internet. No one will be able to trace them now.”

He glanced down, eyebrows raising as he took in two phones and a laptop. “That didn’t take you long. You can be pretty scary, you know that?”

She laughed as she stood up. “You might be able to turn into a real beast, but I’m a beast with technology.”

Blake jogged over, clearly having heard them. “The human’s coming to, and I didn’t want him to hear me. Go ahead and take them with you. My concern was the devices leading to you two or B&B, but if they can’t be tracked, have at them. See what you can get off of them.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lily replied seriously.

“I know you will. Be safe going home.”

Blake turned and jogged back to Luke and the human, and Noah put his hand on her lower back, guiding her to his truck. Opening her door, he kissed her before helping her up. By the time he climbed in his side, she had her own laptop open and she was typing away at the keys.

“No rest for the wicked, huh?”

She glanced at him as she chuckled. “I have a lot of work to do. And I want to see how many names I can get from the website. They might take the whole thing down as soon as the gala’s over tonight.”

He nodded at her as he pulled back onto the highway, reaching over to squeeze her thigh before leaving her in peace. He didn’t mind driving the rest of the way in silence. She was right—there was a good chance they’d shut the website down that night, and her work was too important.

And whether they spoke or not wasn’t what mattered. The only thing that did was that they were together.