“Well, well. You two seem to have caused something of a kerfuffle down at the Friendly Bean,” Fiona remarked when they entered The Cougarville Chemist.

“Word travels fast,” Reese growled, frowning as he scanned the little shop to make sure they were alone. As usual, the pharmacy was crammed with all kinds of healing remedies encompassing Western medicine, Eastern medicine, and everything in between. He threaded his way through the packed shelves and Jo followed him.

“Always, my dear. This is Cougarville, you know.” Fiona smiled tranquilly. “So what can I do for you, this fine autumn day?”

Fiona ShadowTree was the closest thing Cougarville had to a medicine woman, and she wore her unofficial title with gravitas and pride. She had auburn hair with streaks of pure silver running through it piled atop her head in an elegant updo and today she was wearing a rich, crimson muumuu with silver beadwork and chunky silver jewelry to match. The white lab coat she wore over her outfit turned it into a strange juxtaposition of mystic wisdom and no-nonsense medicine—but then, that pretty much summed Fiona up in a nutshell.

Reese didn’t know how old she was—it was impossible to tell—but he had an idea she was much, much older than anyone would guess. He could remember her standing right here at the counter of the Cougarville Chemist back when he was a little kid and his father had told him he had similar memories. Each new generation that grew up in Cougarville learned to trust Fiona and came to her with their problems. He just hoped she could help him and Jo.

“Well, well, my dear—and who might you be?” Fiona asked, speaking to Jo this time.

“I . . . I’m Jo. Jocasta Ferrell.” Jo started to put out a hand and then snatched it back quickly before Fiona could take it. “Uh—I’m sorry, I . . .”

“It’s all right, my dear—you won’t hurt me as you did that rude male at the Friendly Bean.” Reaching over the counter, she took Jo’s hand between both of her own.

“How . . . how did you know about that?” Jo looked at her in disbelief. “I mean it just happened.”

“The young lady who works in the Friendly Bean called me to warn me you and Reese here were heading my way.” Fiona smiled tranquilly. “My, you are a powerful one,” she added, focusing on Jo. “I understand you threw Carl Bullond across the room with a simple touch of your hand.”

“Bullond,” Jo said, sounding stunned. “Is that why . . . why Reese called him ‘Bull’?”

“Oh no, my dear—Reese was calling him by the name of the animal he Shifts into. A bull—or a Musk Ox to be more exact. A species of Shifter that are, if you will pardon the pun, extremely bull-headed. As I’m afraid you found out for yourself.”

“I just don’t understand.” Jo shook her head.

“What don’t you understand my dear?” Fiona asked, leaning forward encouragingly. “Why Carl would approach you so brazenly in the first place or how you managed to toss him across the room with barely a touch?”

“Any of it.” Jo shook her head. “I don’t understand any of what’s happening to me lately.”

“Well, let’s see if I can explain. Carl probably smelled your Juvie scent—which is quite strong if I may say so myself—and it emboldened him to try and claim you.”

“My Juvie scent?” Jo frowned. “What’s that? He did call me a ‘Juvie’ but I didn’t know what he meant. And I had a shower this morning—I shouldn’t smell of anything but soap.”

Fiona turned her large, dark eyes on Reese, who squirmed uncomfortably.

“Reese Cooper,” she said severely. “Why didn’t you explain to this poor child what is happening to her?”

“I don’t know, Fiona . . .” He shifted from foot to foot. “I guess I just thought it would be better coming from you.”

To his surprise and relief, Fiona gave him another long look, then nodded.

“Well, as it happens you’re right. But first I need to know everything that’s happened to you, my dear,” she said to Jo. “Let’s start from the beginning, as they say, and we’ll work it out together.”

* * *

Jo looked at her uncertainly for a long moment. Should she trust the older woman behind the counter? It was clear that Reese trusted her implicitly and she had power, Jo could feel it like a warm tingling when Fiona touched her hand. But should she really pour out her life’s story to a woman she’d just met?

Not all of it, she told herself. I’ll tell her about how this whole thing started in Avalon and how I was kicked out but I won’t tell her about anything before.

Finally, she nodded.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll tell you, but . . .” She glanced out the plate glass window of the pharmacy. “What if that, uh, Bull guy comes looking for me? He was pretty angry and this isn’t exactly a big town—he’ll find me if he wants to.”

Fiona’s big dark eyes flashed.

“Oh, Carl Bullond knows better than to come troubling anyone in my shop, my dear. But just in case, Reese, if you would put out the BE RIGHT BACK sign on the front door?”

“Sure.” Reese went to the front of the shop and flipped the hanging card around before coming back to the counter.

“Now then, my dear,” Fiona smiled tranquilly. “Would you like to come to the back of my shop? It’s a little cluttered, I’m afraid, but I have a place to sit there and a teapot. I believe you’d like a nice cup of tea, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.” Jo smiled at her tentatively. “Yes, I would.”

“All right.” Fiona made a motion. “Come on back.”

The back of the little shop was bigger than Jo could have imagined and it was completely crammed with big, dusty books, stacks of paper, piles of bones, heaps of shells, strings of dried herbs, jars of exotic ingredients, and other things perfect for spell and medicine work. It was a witch’s dream come true, and Jo couldn’t help stopping to exclaim over this or that as Fiona led them back.

“Is this a real lump of pure, undiluted ambergris?” she asked, stopping in front of a wide mouthed jar holding a large, grayish-yellow mass as big as her fist.

“Why, yes it is, my dear.” Fiona seemed pleased. “That came from a narwhal, as a matter of fact.”

“And, oh look!” Jo rushed over to another shelf and picked up an oval crystal cut into many beautiful facets. It was as big as her thumb and glittered green when she turned it one way and then red when she turned it another. “Alexandrite!” she exclaimed. “I’ve heard of its healing properties but I’ve never seen any.”

“It’s very rare, as I’m sure you know.” Fiona smiled. “I keep that for my cure-all potion. You simply let the stone sit in the cauldron of potion overnight so that it can convey some of its healing essence and remove before bottling.”

“This is amazing!” Jo spun around slowly, taking in all the ingredients. “You have about a hundred times more spell and healing materials than we had in Avalon.”

“Is that where you came from, Jocasta?” The older woman’s voice was quiet.

“Well, yes.” Jo bit her lip. “I lived there for over twenty years. Until . . . until they kicked me out.”

“Why did they kick you out?” Reese asked. He had been following silently and he sounded curious but not judgmental, which was nice.

“They accused me . . .” Jo took a deep breath. “They accused me of working dark magic. But I wasn’t—and I wouldn’t,” she added hastily. “I would never—”

“Of course you wouldn’t, my dear. The energy that comes from you is pure and light.” Fiona put a hand on her arm and squeezed comfortingly. “Ah, here we are. Why don’t the two of you have a seat and I’ll get the tea.”

She sat the two of them beside a surprisingly neat desk—plainly her work area—and bustled off for a moment to yet another inner room, making Jo wonder exactly how many rooms were in the little pharmacy. When she returned, she was carrying a tray that had a pot of steaming tea, some cups, sugar lumps, and a plate full of what appeared to be homemade shortbread cookies.

“Now then.” She sat down the tray and started pouring tea. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, Jocasta dear? Who accused you of doing dark magic and why?”

“Well . . .” Jo took the teacup she was being offered and breathed in the warm steam coming from it. The soothing scent of bergamot calmed her at once—Earl Grey had always been her favorite. “It started about a month ago,” she told Fiona and the silently listening Reese. “When the silver in my hair started disappearing.” She gestured at Fiona’s regal hairdo. “I had a streak of pure silver—a lot like yours—right here, on the right side.” She touched her right temple, which was throbbing with the familiar headache which never seemed to leave her for long, to show what she meant. “I’ve had it since I was in my thirties—I’m forty-one now.”

“I see.” Fiona looked interested. “And it started to fade?”

“It started to go back to my normal red color. Just little by little, the silver streak started to shrink.” Jo frowned and shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it at first. But Bianca—she’s one of the Elder Witches there at Avalon—noticed it. And the next thing I knew, I was being called to the Elders’ Council.”

“Ahh . . .” Fiona nodded. “And they accused you?”

Jo took a sip of tea, remembering the awful scene. Bianca had been standing there, tall and stately as ever. She was over six feet and had long, black hair Jo was quite certain she dyed. Her eyes were faded emeralds in her wrinkled face, though Jo knew she used firming and tightening agents and potions on her skin constantly.

Miranda used to say that Bianca was fighting the hands of time—she refused to age gracefully as the other Elders did and looked with jealousy on the younger sister-witches at Avalon.

“You!” Bianca had thundered, staring down at Jo from her great height. “You have been practicing dark magic, Jocasta! How else could your hair be growing darker and your face younger?”

“I’m not! I swear I’m not!” Jo had exclaimed. She had been aghast at the sudden accusation, though she supposed she ought to have expected something like it. Before Miranda had died, she had warned Jo to be wary of Bianca.

“You have true power, child,” she’d said to Jo. “And you have beauty that defies time. Bianca will covet both—you must be mindful of crossing her.”

Following her mentor’s warning, Jo had done nothing to upset the older witch—nothing on purpose, that was. Yet, before she knew it, Bianca had declared her in violation of the magical rules of Avalon and had gotten the other Elders to agree to expel her from the only home she’d known for the last twenty years.

“That morning everything was normal, and by that night I was out in the cold with almost nothing to eat, not much to wear, and nowhere to go,” she explained to Fiona and Reese.

“Bianca should pay for what she did to you—turning you out in the cold with nothing for no damn reason!” There was an angry growl in Reese’s voice that surprised Jo. Why would he get so upset at a woman he’d never met?

“You’re surprised at Reese’s protectiveness?” Fiona said, speaking her thoughts aloud. “Why should you be, my dear? His Fox has already laid claim to you, as you may well know. He feels you are his to protect and to avenge if need be.”

“Fiona . . .” Reese shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We just met yesterday.”

“The length of a relationship isn’t nearly as important as the intensity of it,” Fiona said tranquilly. “Anyway . . .” She made a “go on” motion at Jo with one hand. “Please, do continue. What happened next?”

“Well . . .” Jo took another sip of tea, trying to put everything in order. “It was a full moon that night . . .”

She told about the group of Shifters and how they’d started to attack her before their leader stopped them—or at least held them back.

“Jase Saunders,” Fiona said and nodded. “He’s a good male—a powerful Alpha—I know him well. You’re lucky he had enough control over the other dire wolves in his pack to give you time to run.”

“I needed all the head start I could get,” Jo admitted. “Because the minute the moonlight touched my skin I started having this horrible pain.” She shivered. “Like something was trying to rip me apart from the inside out.”

“Oh, my dear,” Fiona put down her delicate china teacup and sat forward. “I see what happened now—you are one of the Unformed!”

“The what?” Jo frowned. “I though you said I was a ‘Juvie’? And Reese seems to think I might be a Shifter like him. But I’m not,” she added quickly.

“No, but you must become one if you want to live.” Fiona shook her head. “I don’t understand how you withstood your first full moon when you were in total Rejuvenation without a male to breed you and keep you from dying!”

“I found a white ash tree that had been struck by lightning,” Jo said. “I rubbed the ashes on my skin to cover my scent so the, uh, dire wolves couldn’t find me.”

“Ah . . .” Fiona nodded. “The ash is a holy tree. Its essence must have helped hold you together during what should have been your first Shift as well as masking your scent.”

“So that was the gray stuff you had on you,” Reese remarked. “It covered your Juvie scent almost completely. I had no idea you had the Shifter Gene until after you took a bath and washed it off.”

Jo frowned and put down her own teacup.

“Please—don’t you start telling me I’m a Shifter again, because I’m not. I can’t turn into an animal and I don’t want to either. I’m a witch—that’s all I am.”

“No, my dear—for you are doubly blessed,” Fiona said. “‘Twice brilliant, doubly blessed, rare as diamonds, Lady Moon’s best,’” she recited. “’The Goddess calls and gives at last, power to Shift and power to Cast.’ That’s a little rhyme my own mentor taught me, oh . . . so many years ago. For you see . . . I too was doubly blessed.”

Reese frowned. “You were a Shifter, Fiona? I thought you were just . . . that you just stayed in Cougarville to look after us Shifters and make medicine.”

“Indeed I do, my dear, because I feel for you. For I was one of you, for a single brilliant, blessed year.” Fiona sighed. “It’s not common, you know—to find a witch with true natural power who also has the Shifter Gene. I was one and I have never met another until now.” She nodded at Jo.

“So what . . .” Jo frowned, not knowing if she believed this. “What kind of, uh, animal did you turn into?”

“A Saiga Antelope—there aren’t many left, you know. And my mate—the male who claimed me—was one of the last.” Fiona’s large, dark eyes grew sad. “Only a year after we were mated, he was killed in a hunting accident—shot while he was in his Shifted form.”

“I’m sorry, Fiona.” Reese reached forward and touched her arm gently. “I never knew.”

“Oh my dear, it was long before your time—long before your father’s time as well,” she assured him. “After that, I brewed a potion to dampen the Shifter side of myself and concentrated on healing medicines instead.” She shook her head. “I knew I never wanted to be mated again, but I couldn’t live on as a Shifter without a mate to help me with my monthly cravings. So the potion was necessary.”

“Wait—” Jo put up a hand to stop her. “So you’re saying that if you are, uh, ‘doubly blessed’ as you called it, you can get rid of the Shifter side just by drinking a potion?”

Fiona frowned. “Not ‘get rid of’, only dampen so that you no longer need to Shift during the full moon or endure your monthly cravings. But the potion is only effective after you have had your first Shift. So it would be of no use to you now, my dear.”

Jo shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m bothering to ask since I am absolutely not a Shifter.”

“Well, well . . .” Fiona looked at her thoughtfully. “A skeptic, are you? I suppose we must work a little harder to try and convince you. Now listen, my dear . . .”

She told Jo about the legend of how Lady Moon had made the first Shifters by consecrating a holy cave where brave warriors could come and draw the animal they desired to be on the wall. Then she spoke of the Shifter Gene which ensured that females who had it would rejuvenate back to youth at a certain time and how the Rejuvenation process brought on a state of extreme lust and hyper-fertility.

Jo had listened with interest to the legend—as she had told Reese, she loved learning new lore. But the part about hyper-fertility and monthly lust cycles made her distinctly nervous. She couldn’t help feeling like the throbbing between her thighs was getting worse—almost in proportion to the dull ache which was growing stronger in her temples. And the way Fiona had explained that a Rejuvenating female would suddenly become twenty years younger seemed to fit her own situation a little too neatly.

Still, she didn’t want to believe she could be a Shifter—that she might turn into an animal every full moon. It was a frightening prospect.

At last, the older woman stopped speaking and stared at her. Jo stared back, her heart pounding and her mouth too dry to talk.

“Do you see now?” Fiona asked at last, after a long moment of silence. “Your increasing powers—which are normal for a doubly blessed one at this time—your suddenly much younger body, the scent you exude. You’re in Rejuvenation, my dear, and ready to be bred by a male. In fact, you’re past due, which means you’ll be suffering a great deal of sexual need and painful lust if you aren’t already. Are you?” She looked at Jo directly.

Jo shifted uneasily in her seat.

“You don’t understand,” she burst out. “Yes, I’m . . . uncomfortable but that’s because of the spell I worked last night. It went wrong—really wrong—and it affected me strangely.”

“Spell?” Fiona frowned. “Tell me all about it.”

Haltingly, Jo explained her original intention and how the spell had been interrupted before she could reverse it.

“Hmm . . .” Fiona frowned. “And you say you felt an outside power which interfered?”

“There’s something out there—something in the woods.” Jo shook her head. “It chased me here—chased me to Reese’s house. I barely got out of the forest and onto his land just in time.”

“So you were chased to the house of a Shifter when you yourself have the Shifter Gene and are going through Rejuvenation,” Fiona said musingly, as though she was thinking aloud.

“I know it sounds crazy but it’s true,” Jo said quickly.

“It doesn’t sound crazy,” Reese said quietly. “I saw something out there too. Don’t know what it was but it didn’t feel very friendly. It was there one minute . . .” He snapped his fingers. “And gone the next. Just like that.”

“I call it the shadow creature,” Jo said in a low voice, glad he believed her. “I don’t know what it is—maybe some kind of a demon. It’s been hunting me since I left Avalon but the night before last it almost got me. That’s why I can’t . . . don’t dare to go out in the woods again.”

“You don’t have to go out there, darlin’,” Reese murmured. “You can stay with me where it’s warm and dry and safe.”

“I can’t keep living on your charity,” Jo protested. “I’m used to making my own way in the world.”

“Which is why you need a job,” Fiona said briskly. “And I have just the thing. I’ve been looking for a knowledgeable young person to help me catalog my inventory. As I’m sure you can see, it’s going to be quite an undertaking.” She nodded at the shelves overflowing with ingredients.

Jo frowned. “You mean it? You want to give me a job?”

“If you’ll take it.” Fiona threw up her hands. “I know it’s something of a mess in here.”

“But a wonderful mess,” Jo exclaimed. “I’ve never seen so many rare artifacts and ingredients all together before in my life.”

“Then you’ll do it?” Fiona asked, looking at her hopefully.

“I’d love to,” Jo said honestly. “But you really don’t know me. Are you sure you don’t want to do some kind of a background check or something?”

“No need, my dear.” Fiona gave her a mysterious smile. “I know more than you guess. I only have one condition.” She raised one beringed finger as if to illustrate her point.

“And that is?” Jo arched an eyebrow at her.

“That you continue to stay with Reese here and live under his roof. Now the reasons for this are twofold,” she continued, clearly seeing Jo’s mutinous face.

It wasn’t that Jo didn’t like Reese—it was that since her disastrous spell, she liked him too much. She didn’t want to forget herself and have a repeat of last night’s shameful performance. Just remembering his kiss . . . his mouth on her breasts . . . the way he’d stroked and filled her pussy with his fingers until she moaned and begged for more . . .

Stop it, Jo, she told herself firmly, aware that the throbbing in both her temples and between her thighs had become almost unbearable. Stop it, you can’t think like that! You have to forget it ever happened!

“What are your reasons?” she asked, trying to pry her mind away from the dirty details of her encounter with the big Shifter who sat watching her quietly, sipping tea from the delicate china cup Fiona had handed him. It looked tiny and breakable in his big hand but he handled it with gentleness and grace that belied his size.

“You need to stay with Reese, firstly for protection,” Fiona said. “You may not want to believe that you’re a Shifter female in Rejuvenation, but you are, my dear. The Juvie scent you’re putting out right now means every male in your immediate vicinity will be drawn to you. You need to be with an Alpha like Reese who can control his impulses. Without him to protect you, you’ll be in constant danger here in Cougarville.”

“So . . . you’re saying that scene in the coffee shop wasn’t just an isolated incident? That men—Shifters—would be coming up to me all the time and, uh, trying to . . .” She couldn’t finish the sentence—it felt like her throat was closing up as memories of the past came rushing forward.

“Afraid so,” Reese said, frowning. “Your Juvie scent is pretty overwhelming right now, darlin’. Letting you run around town on your own is kinda like taking a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies past a bunch of starving men and expecting them not to try and take a bite.”

“All right.” Jo sighed. “I understand about the need for protection. But you said you had two reasons for me to stay with Reese—what’s the second?”

“You’re going to need the touch of an Alpha, my dear,” Fiona said quietly. “Eventually your cravings will become too much to bear and someone will have to help you. And when Lady Moon becomes full again, you’ll have to be bred—you can’t go through another cycle without a mate. It would kill you.”

“What?” Jo put down her teacup with a tinkling sound, splashing lukewarm Earl Grey over the side into her saucer. “What are you talking about? I can’t . . . I won’t . . . My chastity is vowed to the Goddess!” she got out at last.

“The Goddess—or Lady Moon as we call her—has called you to other things,” Fiona assured her. “She made you a Shifter—she will not also require your chastity. The two are incompatible.”

“I don’t believe that. Breaking my vow would be the worst thing I could do. And besides that I just can’t. Can’t do that.”

“Jo was . . . attacked some time ago,” Reese explained delicately to Fiona. “It’s made her, uh, kind of shy of males, not that I blame her,” he added, casting Jo a compassionate glance.

“I see.” Fiona nodded. “I thought I sensed something like that when I touched you. Well, know this, my dear,” she said to Jo. “When Lady Moon waxes full and you have a male you trust and care for by you, the past will melt away to shadows in the heat of your need.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of!” Jo exclaimed. “That this . . . this need inside me will overwhelm me and make me act like . . . do things I normally wouldn’t do.”

“You will do many things you normally wouldn’t do,” Fiona said tranquilly. “Including Shifting at the full moon. But lust is not the only problem Reese can help you with. There are other pains only the touch of an Alpha can allay. Tell me—how long have you had the headache?”

“What?” Jo half raised a hand to her temple. “How . . . how did you know about that?”

“It’s a common symptom of Rejuvenation. Only the touch of an Alpha can alleviate it.”

“The headache comes and goes on its own,” Jo protested. “It doesn’t have anything to do with if Reese has, uh, touched me or not.”

“Oh no?” Fiona raised her dark auburn eyebrows. “Tell me, my dear, when was the last time you were pain free?”

“Well, last night after . . .” Jo stopped, biting her lip. The throbbing in her temples had disappeared briefly the night before after she and Reese had been all over each other. And before that, it had left briefly after he touched her in his Fox form.

“I want to show you something,” Fiona said. “Reese, put out your hand to Jocasta if you please.”

Silently, Reese held out one large hand. Jo couldn’t help thinking that for a mechanic, he had extraordinarily clean hands and fingernails. They were large and well formed with long, artistic fingers that looked more suited to painting or sculpting than rebuilding engines.

And you know from experience how good he is with his hands, whispered a little voice inside her head. Jo tried to push it away but she couldn’t help remembering the gentle but urgent way those long fingers had circled the swollen bud of her clit and then pressed deep inside her pussy . . .

Stop it! With a fierce effort, she pushed the memory away.

“Take his hand, please, Jocasta,” Fiona said to her. “You need not do anything else—just take Reese’s hand and hold it.”

Jo really didn’t want to—it felt dangerous to touch him, somehow. As though once she started touching him, she might not want to stop. She hesitated, looking for an excuse.

“What if I, uh, blast him again?” she asked. “Like I did in the coffee shop? I’ve never done that before—never had that power. I don’t know how to control it.”

“Your growing power is simply the sign of a twice-blessed one in Rejuvenation,” Fiona said patiently. “It manifested unexpectedly because you felt threatened by a strange male and needed to protect yourself. You have no need to protect yourself from Reese—he will not harm you.”

“Well . . .” Jo couldn’t think of any other excuses. Reluctantly, she placed her hand lightly on his outstretched palm.

A shiver ran through her—a feeling of pleasure so strong she almost yanked her hand away at once. Reese seemed to feel it too because his eyes were suddenly half-lidded and he gave a little grunt of surprise.

“Hold just a minute more, my dear,” Fiona said to her when Jo would have pulled away from the contact. “That was simply a telling sign—it will pass. Just hold Reese’s hand and concentrate on your headache.”

Grudgingly, Jo did as she was told. Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t fall into Reese’s chocolate-brown gaze, she focused her attention on the throbbing in her temples. Only . . . in just a few seconds, there was nothing to focus on at all.

The pain in her temples was gone—magically erased as though it had never been there in the first place.

Jo’s eyes flew open in surprise. “He . . . you . . .” She looked back and forth between Fiona and Reese.

“Feeling better, darlin’?” he asked quietly.

“Actually, I am.” Jo still couldn’t quite believe it. She’d been willing to think that the previous times the throbbing had left were simply coincidence. But this proved that Fiona was right.

About everything, though? whispered a skeptical little voice in her head. Are you one hundred percent sure you’re a Shifter? And even if you are, do you think that all this lust you’re feeling is due to your new hormones? Because though the throbbing in her temples had disappeared, the ache between her thighs had most definitely not. She still felt wet and hot and ready in a way that scared her. Jo squeezed her thighs together tightly and bit her lip.

Isn’t it more likely that some—or maybe even most—of the need you’re feeling is due to that damn spell you botched? asked the reasonable little voice.

Yes—that had to be it, Jo told herself. What she needed to do was just reverse the spell and she’d be feeling much better and more comfortable about staying with the big Shifter. And she was going to be in a perfect position to do that—Fiona’s pharmacy was filled with rare ingredients. Surely what Jo needed to reverse the spell was here, somewhere in these piles and stacks and shelves.

“All right,” she said at last, looking at Fiona. “I’ll stay with Reese.” She looked up at him. “If you, uh, really don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” he said simply. “It’ll be nice to have a female around the house again—my last sister moved out over two years ago and it’s felt pretty empty since then.”

Jo thought it was nice he was trying to put her more at ease by talking about his sisters, although she doubted he’d ever looked at any of them the way he was looking at her now. Those deep brown eyes of his would be so easy to fall into . . .

Quickly, she looked away and drew her hand out of his.

“Good—then that’s settled,” Fiona said. “Reese can drop you off here in the mornings when he comes to open his shop and take you home in the evening. And if your headaches get too painful to bear during the day, he’s only just across the road.”

“I don’t know if Jo is going to want to be holding hands with me during the day,” Reese said dryly. “Since mine are usually covered in grease about a second after I get to work.”

“We shall see.” Fiona gave both of them a sharp look and then focused on Jo. “Well—can you start today?”

“I . . . I guess so. I don’t have anything else to do.” Jo shrugged.

“Good. Well then, enough chatting—we all have work to do.” The older woman got up briskly and started clearing away the tea things. When she took them in the other room, Jo looked uncertainly at Reese.

“Are you sure you’re really okay with this? With me staying with you for a while?”

“More than okay,” Reese assured her. “But it’s not just me that wants you to stay.”

“Well, I know Fiona does,” Jo said.

“No, not her.” Reese shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you? My Fox is crazy about you.”

Jo thought of the adorable fuzzy little animal with his sharp, pointed muzzle and big brown eyes and couldn’t help smiling. Though she knew cognitively that Reese and the sweet little fox were one and the same, it was really hard to make herself grasp that fact on a gut level.

“I’m kind of crazy about him too,” she admitted. “Tell him . . .” She cleared her throat. “Tell him I’ll try to be a good roommate.”

“I’m sure you will, darlin’,” Reese murmured. He reached out and seemed about to stroke her cheek. But then, at the last moment he drew back.

Jo wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad about the almost-touch.

“Well . . .” she said awkwardly.

“Well . . .” Reese echoed and sighed. “I’d better go open my shop. I’m glad you’re going to stay and work with Fiona—I think you’re going to really like her. I can tell she likes you.”

“Thank you.” Impulsively, Jo stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She felt a little tingle as she did, though nothing like the electrical charge of pleasure she’d had when she’d deliberately taken his hand earlier.

When she drew back, Reese was giving her a quizzical little smile.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“For everything,” Jo said softly. “For offering me a place to stay and making me feel safe there, for introducing me to Fiona, for believing me about the thing watching in the woods . . .” She shivered at the thought.

“You’re welcome, darlin’,” Reese rumbled. “And listen, you don’t have to be afraid of that thing or of anything or anybody else. As long as you’re with me, I’ll be making your safety my first priority.” He grinned. “Although, with your juiced-up powers, you might not need me.”

Jo thought again of the shadow creature and shook her head.

“Whether I need your protection or not, it makes me feel better to have it.” She laughed. “I guess that’s not a very feminist thing to say. And after all these years of taking the hard line—‘A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,’” she quoted dryly. “Maybe I’m going soft in my old age . . . or would it be my young age?” She shook her head.

Reese gave her that easy, charming grin of his, his brown eyes sleepy with amusement.

“Who says a fish doesn’t need a bicycle? How else is he gonna get to the store to buy fish food?”

Jo found herself smiling back, almost against her will.

“All right. Well, you’d better open your shop so you can look at that old lady’s alternator and all the other bad transmissions and flat tires in town.”

“You got that right.” He nodded. “Enjoy working with Fiona. Her filing system is . . . kind of eccentric.”

“I can see that.” Jo looked around at the crowded shelves. “But I like a challenge.”

His eyes flashed. “So do I, darlin’.” He turned to go but then turned back again for a moment. “And listen, if your headache comes back, just give me a call—Fiona has my number.”

“So you can come across the road and hold hands with me?” Jo asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I thought you said you’d be covered in grease?”

“Well, you can hold my elbow if you want—doesn’t really matter.” Reese shrugged. “Any kind of skin-to-skin contact will do it.”

“Okay.” Jo nodded awkwardly although she secretly had no intention of asking him to drop his work and come across the street to hold hands or elbows or anything else with her. She might be staying with him, but until she got her lust and fidelity spell reversed, it was going to be advisable to keep some distance between them—a lot of distance.

Which is why you shouldn’t have kissed him on the cheek, whispered a reproving little voice in her head. Jo knew it was right but she hadn’t been able to help herself. Even now, she felt herself drawn to the big Shifter, wanting to touch him again . . . to hold him and let him hold her . . . to taste those warm lips just one more time . . .

She took a step back and looked down at her hands.

“I’d, uh, better go see where Fiona wants me to start.”

“Right.” Reese studied her face for a moment longer and then turned again. “If you need me, darlin’, I’m just across the street,” he reminded her. And then he was gone, weaving his way through the crowded shelves to the front of the pharmacy.

Jo watched his broad back retreating and wished she could call him back for a kiss goodbye . . . and maybe much, much more. Then she did her best to squash the impulse and went to find Fiona.

She had to get that spell reversed—and soon—or her living arrangements with Reese were going to get very awkward, very fast.