Kassie had never had so much to think about in her life, not even when Taylor had just been born. Right now, she was in the midst of shifters, something that she had never before known existed or even thought possible. Her own daughter was a shifter. And now, she was bearing the weight of a secret that had the potential to completely change the world of the man she now realized she loved more than she could ever have thought possible.

It was so much weight to have on her shoulders that there were many passing moments where Kassie thought she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Nevertheless, she managed to get through those moments, promising herself that soon this would all be over and she could focus on building a new life—a proper life—for herself and her daughter. A life with Cole in it.

She just wished that she could see beyond the horizon, that she could actually feel hopeful that they could somehow get the Iron Fur Clan to leave them be. Days passed at the Youngs, and though she felt at least confident that they now had strength in numbers, she still had the feeling that it would be any day now that they were once again confronted by the Iron Fur Clan.

Taylor at least seemed to be quickly adapting to her new surroundings. Though he was several years older, she had found a steady playmate in Logan. Despite everything, it brought a smile to her face to see Taylor playing with the older boy, and if he made the occasional comment about shifting, about how he couldn’t wait for her to come into her powers, then perhaps it was good for all involved. The best thing for Taylor was to grow up realizing what she was and that this was normal. Kassie didn’t want her daughter to suffer because of her powers the same way that Cole had.

The only thing that irked her was that Cole still didn’t know who the Youngs were. It was achingly obvious to her that Norah and Abram both wanted to say something, anything, to their son. But they hadn’t so far. Perhaps they were afraid of his reaction, but having grown to know Cole better, she could tell that he wouldn’t harbor any anger in his heart toward them if only they would tell him the truth about everything that had happened before.

However, it wasn’t her place. Was it? Kassie didn’t know. The issue was so complex. She had wondered many times in the past how she would explain her lack of a father to Taylor when she was older, but then Cole had come along and made it so she no longer had to worry about such things. They hadn’t told Taylor yet that Cole was her daddy, but the little girl was already growing close to him. It wouldn’t be difficult to speak those words when the time finally came. That time was fast approaching, she knew.

But there were other words that needed to be spoken as well. She hadn’t yet told Cole how she felt about him, but more and more she felt the need to say something to him. Kassie needed to express those feelings that were bound up inside her. The only difficult thing, the most difficult thing, was figuring out how she could possibly say those things.

It felt so selfish to be worried about something like this when there were so many other pressing matters. Taylor needed to be protected. As far as anybody was concerned, that was the first priority. And beyond that, there was the fact that Cole was still traumatized after his time away at war. He didn’t talk about it. He had never so much as mentioned it to her. However, he had been struggling with it when he first met her, and she knew that things like that didn’t just vanish from a person’s psyche overnight.

It was likely that there would always be a part of Cole that struggled with the things that had happened to him while he was away at war—not just the fact that he had been used and abused for his shifter powers either. War was difficult. She had never been a Marine, but living in Spartanburg, she had known enough veterans to see the effect that being at war had on a person. She couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like, being thrust into the most intense of combat situations the way he had, all because of the animal that lurked inside him.

It was the thing that some people saw as a beast, the thing that Kassie was slowly but surely realizing she saw as absolutely beautiful, a symbol of the courage, the bravery, the incredible culmination of Cole’s being all in one majestic creature. Perhaps other shifters, like those men who were chasing her and her daughter, were beastly, but that was because their form reflected what they were. Just the way Cole’s form reflected who he was.

Kassie had only been at the Youngs for a couple of days, but she could already tell that the same was true of them as well. They may have been shifters, but they were nothing like the others that she had been confronted with in the time since she had been reunited with Cole.

Norah was soft and pleasant, with a kind nature that made anybody around her want to linger for a while. And despite that, there was an inner strength about her that was obvious to anybody who looked hard enough. The bear, thought Kassie. That was the way her bear form manifested itself even when she wasn’t shifted.

As for Abram, he may have been a bit harder than his wife, but he still had laugh lines around his eyes that showed he could smile when it suited him. She had already noticed that it was much the same as Cole’s. But the father in this case resembled his other son more, and the little boy was almost always at Abram’s feet, wanting to know what he was doing and how he could be involved in one capacity or another.

But already, when Logan wasn’t poking his nose in his father’s business, he was all over Cole. The little boy was by no means shy, and even though he didn’t know yet that Cole was his older brother, he seemed to have decided to treat the newcomer to his household as a brother anyway, regardless of this lack of knowledge.

“Do you know karate?” he asked on their third morning at the Young’s home, just as everybody was finishing up breakfast. Cole looked a little bit stunned, uncertain that the question was directed at him until he saw that Logan was staring directly at him, an expectant look on his face.

“Karate?”

“You were a Marine, weren’t you? I heard you telling dad.”

“Well… yes, I was. But I didn’t learn karate. I did learn other martial arts though.”

“That’s so cool! Can you teach me some moves?”

Kassie laughed despite herself at the look on Cole’s face. He seemed flummoxed and a little bit uncertain with how to deal with his new young fan. While he may have been good at dealing with Taylor up to this point, she was a lot younger, and playing with her mostly consisted of taking part in whatever imaginary scenario she had dreamed up—mostly involving plastic princesses and stuffed bears.

“Cole has a lot of other things he needs to do,” said Norah as she started picking plates up off the table. “He doesn’t have time—”

“Oh, Mom!”

“I mean, I can show him a few things, if that’s all right with you guys,” said Cole, still sounding a bit puzzled.

Now it was Abram’s turn to smile. He covered his mouth up with the palm of his hand, looking from man to boy as he did so, and Kassie tried to wonder just what he was thinking in this moment. Certainly, it must be good for the Youngs to see their sons getting along, but just when were they planning on telling Cole about the fact that he was of their blood? It was only going to get more difficult with time.

She bit her lip and stood up from the table under the guise of helping Norah with the rest of the dishes. Really, she just needed to hide her face, certain she was going to give something away if she kept on sitting there and watching what was going on.

After that, she immediately retrieved Taylor from her spot and fled to the guest bedroom where she’d been staying. Sitting on the edge of the bed as Taylor played with her favorite doll on the floor, she closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples. This was all getting more confusing by the moment, and she didn’t even know what to think anymore.

“Cool move, Cole!”

Voices carried through the window, and she moved slightly to get a better view of what was happening outside. There was Cole in the yard with Logan, and just as he had promised, he was showing the boy a few basic moves in some form of fighting that seemed safe enough to show a young boy.

She smiled slightly, letting a chuckle fall from her lips. God, that was an adorable sight. She wondered if he would teach Taylor that sort of thing when she came of age. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for her little girl to have a few solid moves under her belt, knowing the kind of boys there were to be found in Spartanburg.

Then again, her little girl was going to have powers that would mean she was a force to be reckoned with. And Kassie still hadn’t quite come to terms with that, though she could accept that Taylor had the right people around to guide her as she grew older. Now all that mattered was ensuring that she grew up safely, without the Iron Fur Clan doing anything to her. But with more and more people ready to protect her, she was gaining confidence that it was possible.

“We’re not alone, Taylor. Isn’t that great?” She shuffled down to the floor, running her hands through her daughter’s silky hair. Taylor looked up at her, of course not understanding what she meant by what she was saying.

Still, she replied with a giggle, saying, “Yes, Mommy!”

Kassie grinned. They weren’t alone. Taylor had a daddy and grandparents, and even an uncle, albeit an uncle who was only a few years older than her and who seemed to be quite the rapscallion. She could only imagine what things were going to be like when Taylor grew up a little. Those two were probably going to get into scrapes together, and…

And was she thinking too far into the future? Kassie let out a sigh. She probably was. Cole didn’t even know about the Youngs being his parents yet, and even though she was fairly confident that he was going to be a part of Taylor’s life into the future, she still wasn’t entirely certain about the two of them and what the future was like for their relationship. Or if they even had a relationship in their future. She couldn’t forget that they’d just been thrown together in all of this.

“Your mommy has been overthinking things, Taylor,” she said. “She’s being really silly. Silly mommy.”

Taylor giggled again, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at Kassie. It warmed something in her heart and made her remember yet again why she was doing all of this, why all the trouble she had been through over the past several weeks was worth it. Her daughter was well worth everything she had been through, right from the moment that she was born.

“You beautiful little thing,” she said, reaching out for Taylor and pulling her into her lap. Her daughter didn’t protest, instead wrapping her arms around Kassie’s waist for a tender hug that brought a smile to Kassie’s face.

“You know, I wouldn’t give up having sons, but having a little girl sure looks nice.”

Kassie glanced up to see Norah standing at the doorway. “I think I remember you saying the same thing back when she was a baby and we went shopping for little girl clothes,” she said. “Remember? You were ogling the pink and frills and ruffles even more than I was.”

Norah laughed as she came into the room, taking the seat on the edge of the bed that Kassie had vacated. “I remember that. But, well, I couldn’t help myself. She’s my first granddaughter after all.” Kassie glanced at the door, but Norah shook her head. “Nobody in the house but me.”

“When are you guys going to tell him? I’m starting to feel…”

“I know.” Norah sighed. “Abram and I talked about it just last night. And we know we need to address the issue with him, but…well, it’s a scary prospect. You’re a parent, so you can imagine, I’m sure. The possibility of losing a child is just… And we already lost him before. I don’t want to lose him again.”

“I understand. But…” Kassie stopped herself. She didn’t want to say anything untoward, and it was true that she hadn’t really known Cole for that long, not in the grand scheme of things. However, she still felt that she knew him well enough to speak on his behalf, which urged her forward after a long pause. “Norah… I don’t think he’d be angry. It will be difficult for him, I’m not saying it won’t. I’m not even saying that he’ll completely understand. But I do think that if you let him, he’ll be willing to give you a chance. He’s not the sort of person to shut others out, to cut them down. And I think that comes from the fact that the most important people in his life have been people who have been willing to give him a chance. People like this Miss June he talks about.”

“Miss June?”

Kassie nodded. “I probably shouldn’t be the one to tell you this. It’s his story. But… after he ran away from the orphanage, he met this older woman. She didn’t know he was a shifter. Didn’t want to know. All she cared about was that he was a young boy in need of a second chance at life, so she gave him a place to stay. Helped him go to school. He lived with her in Spartanburg until he was recruited into the Marines. Unfortunately, she passed away while he was out of the country.”

A solemn expression passed over Norah’s face. “He’s really lost so much.”

“Something that we’re here now to remedy,” said Kassie quickly, before the woman could begin to beat herself up over those things. “We’ve all been given a second chance. I thought that Taylor would never get to know her father, didn’t I? But here we are. Just don’t let the chance you have slip by.”

As she spoke those words, though, Kassie almost felt like she was speaking to herself. Don’t let the chance you have slip by. While that was true for Norah and Abram and their relationship with Cole, it was also true of her own relationship—or potential relationship—with the man. For far too long, she had been keeping her feelings held too close to her chest. Perhaps it was time that she finally said something.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” said Norah, distracting Kassie from her thoughts. And she seemed about to say something else when they suddenly heard voices, Cole’s and Logan’s, from downstairs. They were talking about some move or another than Cole had just taught the boy. Norah laughed, getting up from the bed. “I guess I better go and check up on that one before he practices any of those martial arts in the house,” she said, excusing herself.

More days passed in the Young’s house in much the same manner. Logan had taken quite a liking to Cole, and before too long he had become almost a shadow to his older brother. Kassie often thought it was a shame that Cole still didn’t know the truth of the fact that the Youngs were his family, especially when she found herself grown quite attached to the three of them. Even Taylor had taken a liking to the group, especially Norah, who she had coerced into playing dolls with her more than once.

Over those days, she almost grew relaxed—almost. But the fact of the matter was that she never quite forgot what had led them to the Youngs in the first place. She was at least a little confident that with more shifters around they would be safer in the event that the Iron Fur Clan tried to come at them though.

There was always that underlying fear that something was coming. That the small peace that had enveloped them from the moment that they arrived with the Youngs would snap and they would be thrown into chaos.

And that moment eventually came. Kassie rose from her bed to the sound of shouting, of noise in the house below. It was a little after sunrise, and she wasn’t certain what was going on, but she had never heard this kind of disorder in the Youngs’ house before, so she knew that it couldn’t be good.

She got up, and before she even made it through the door of her bedroom, Cole was there, his hands grasping her upper arms, eyes cutting into her own.

“Kassie. Please tell me that Taylor is in here with you.”

“What? No, she slept in the nursery room—”

“God.” He took her by the hand and pulled her out after him toward the aforementioned nursery. Kassie could barely stay on her feet as she moved after him, but she did, confused but already alert, aware that something was dreadfully wrong.

Cole shoved open the door, and she immediately saw the something that was wrong. The nursery was completely empty, the covers of the small toddler-sized bed tossed aside and the window wide open.

“What? Cole? This is—”

“Logan is gone too, Kassie. But why? Why him?”

Her eyes widened. “Shit. No.” And she ran. She ran downstairs as quickly as she could to where she could hear the others in the kitchen.

“Abram! Norah! It was—”

“I know,” said Norah, reaching out and grabbing for her, pulling her into her arms. “The Iron Fur Clan. They finally found us, after all this time.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Norah, I should never… We should never…”

“Don’t say that,” said Norah immediately. “Family protects family. And we’ll get them back. We’ll fight like hell to get them back. Both of them. Because they’re our blood.”

Kassie turned to Cole, who was standing in the kitchen door, watching. And in that instant, she saw it in his eyes.

He knew.