Kassie unlocked the door and walked inside, her heart still pounding in her chest after what she’d seen. Mrs. Jensen came out of the kitchen and started to say something, but the words were lost on her as she shook her head and collapsed on the sofa, placing her hand on her head.

“Kassie? What’s wrong?” asked the woman, coming over to her.

“It’s… it’s nothing,” said Kassie. There was no way she could tell anyone what she’d just experienced—what she’d seen. It was an impossible thing, and she still couldn’t believe it herself. She was trying her best to put it out of her mind and to tell herself that somehow it was just her imagination. But she knew that wasn’t true. She had seen Cole transform right before her eyes from a man into a bear.

How was that possible? How could he really have done that? How were such things possible in this world?

Kassie had never believed in magic, not even when she was a little girl. She had never been given to flights of fancy, so to experience that… It was completely earth shattering.

“Where’s Taylor?” she asked suddenly. She wanted now more than anything to see her little girl.

“She’s sleeping soundly,” said Mrs. Jensen. “She got tired after playing this afternoon, so she wanted a little nap.”

“Okay. I think… I think I’m just going to go look in on her. You can go now,” she said.

Mrs. Jensen nodded. But before she turned to go, she placed her hand on Kassie’s shoulder. “Whatever it is that’s bothering you dear, and I don’t know what it is, just realize that it’s somehow going to turn out all right. I can’t give you any advice if you won’t talk to me, and I know it’s not my place to make you tell me what the problem is, but these things have a way of working themselves out if you just trust in fate. You have a beautiful little girl in there, and I just know that things will be okay.”

Kassie managed a weak smile. “Thank you,” she said, but at that moment, she couldn’t quite believe what Mrs. Jensen was telling her. She watched as the woman gathered up her things and made her way out the door, and then she walked to the bedroom where Taylor was sleeping.

The little girl looked so peaceful in her bed, her golden hair splayed out on the pillow around her. Kassie sighed deeply and reached out to touch that hair, watching as her daughter responded to that touch.

Was it really true that she was like her father? Did she have whatever powers her father held inside him? Would she too be able to transform like he could? The thought was enough to send a chill running through Kassie. She didn’t want her daughter to be different from the people around her. Looking at Cole now, she wondered if that was the reason that he was such a broken man. It wasn’t that difficult to put two and two together and guess that he was damaged, and that it was very possible this was the source of his impairment.

She didn’t want that for her daughter. He had asked that she not abandon her daughter if she was different, and of course Kassie would never do that, but there were other people in the world who would not be so kind. A shiver ran through her body as she thought about the secret that Taylor would have to live with if this was true—if she really was as different as Cole suspected.

“My sweet little girl,” she said out loud, closing her eyes. She was so small right now, still so young and innocent. She had no idea how painful the world that she lived in could be. It was hard enough to survive, and being different only made things that much more difficult.

For now, all Kassie wanted to do was forget what she had learned about Cole—forget the mere possibility of what her daughter might have to live with in the future. How dare he come back into her life and drop this information on her like he had? What right did he have to come back into her life after just one night together?

Throughout the rest of the evening, she continued to think about what she had seen—that impossible, strange vision at the edge of the woods. But she was also thinking about the other thing that he had said, about the fact that there were other people who knew about her and her daughter. What had he meant by that?

No matter how angry she was with him at the moment, she knew that she needed to go back to him and ask what he had meant by that. She was going to have to see him again, no matter her feelings about the man. Taylor’s fate was too important to leave up to fate, no matter Mrs. Jensen’s beliefs.

He had been so persistent about seeing her, she almost expected him to be at the diner when she showed up for her afternoon shift the next day. But he wasn’t there, nor was he there when she showed up the day after that, or for the next several days. When a week had passed, she almost thought that Cole had decided to excuse himself from her life after all. But then at the end of that week, when she ended her shift and started to gather up her things, she saw his familiar form outside the door of the diner and felt a familiar tightening at the center of her chest.

“God damn it,” she murmured to herself, noting that Hillary was looking her way and then toward the figure at the door, a keen and curious expression in her eyes.

“Him again?” she asked.

“Stay out of it,” said Kassie as she stormed toward the exit, preparing herself to deal with Cole, something that she knew for a fact she still wasn’t ready for, the image of his transformation still fresh in her mind.

Once outside, she took a deep breath as she stepped over to him. To his credit, Cole appeared just as nervous as she was, his eyes fixed on her apprehensively as he stood in place, arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t make a single move, waiting for Kassie to close the distance between them. When she had finally done so, the nerves in her body tingling in anticipation, she bit her lip and tried to figure out what it was that she wanted to say to the man.

“So…”

“Kassie.”

She shook her head, and he stopped talking immediately, averting his gaze. It seemed that he was prepared for this reaction, she noted, and that sparked something inside her—an odd feeling of guilt that she couldn’t quite understand just yet. Sighing, she tilted her head down the street.

“There’s a little coffee shop down this way. It’s pretty quiet, and there aren’t many people there this time of day. I think we can manage to have a private conversation there. Let’s go talk.”

Cole nodded, and as she started walking he set off after her. The shop in question was a small place. Kassie liked to go there sometimes with Hillary when she had a little extra time, though to be fair that wasn’t often considering that she had Taylor to take care of. The barista greeted the pair of them as they walked in.

“Just a mug of coffee for me,” she said.

“Uh… same,” said Cole. “And just black, thanks.”

Within just a couple of minutes, they had their mugs, and they found a small table near the back of the room where they could talk without fear of anybody around them overhearing their conversation. It was only then that Kassie finally looked at Cole, that she really tried to see what it was that was in his face at that moment. She saw then that he looked terrified.

“Cole… What you showed me…”

“I know,” he said immediately, cutting her off before she could continue. “I know how frightening it must be for you.”

“It’s not just that,” she said. “It’s just that… It’s completely changed everything I understand about the world. And is it true? That because you’re like this, that Taylor…”

Cole’s face fell, and he nodded. “Yes, I believe so. I sensed it in her when I saw her for the first time.”

“But… I just don’t understand. How is something like this possible? When did you… I mean, how?”

“Honestly, I don’t know much about it myself,” said Cole. “I was abandoned as a child, and raised in an orphanage. I never knew my parents. I don’t know where I came from, and I’ve never known anybody—anything—like myself. I had never met another shifter until…” He trailed off suddenly and shook his head. “No. I won’t go into that just yet. All I mean to say is that even to me, stories about shifters were like fairy tales. Except as a child, I started to feel the animal inside me. And then one night, I went out and I transformed. It was terrifying, and I knew that I could never tell anybody at the orphanage about what I was.”

“That… must have been awful,” said Kassie. On the one hand, she was still apprehensive about the person sitting on the other side of the table from her. On the other hand, she could feel herself sympathizing for the plight of the young boy coming to grips with his strange powers and how frightening that must have been for him. She knew already that this wasn’t something that she wanted for her own daughter, if and when she did have similar powers someday.

“I struggled for years with what I was,” said Cole. “And eventually it became too much for me, staying at that orphanage and trying to hide my powers. I ran away, and that’s when I came to live with Miss June. She could tell I was different, but she didn’t ask questions. So long as I didn’t get into trouble, she just let me go about my business.”

“And that’s why you’re so concerned about me abandoning Taylor,” said Kassie.

“Yeah.” Cole nodded. “Nobody deserves to be outcast because of who and what they are. And—”

“Like I said I’d never turn my back on my daughter.” She gripped her coffee cup between both hands, staring down at it to avoid the fact that he was staring at her intently as she spoke. “This is still… a lot for me to take in, but I would never turn away from her. Never. I love that little girl with all my heart, Cole.”

Silence fell between them again, but this time it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it had been before. They had reached an understanding, and Kassie at least knew that Cole realized what lay in her heart when it came to their daughter. This may be a strange and new world for her, but regardless of how difficult it was for her to understand, that didn’t mean that she was going to turn away from the things that mattered—the things that were important to her. Love was love, and Taylor was her pride and her greatest joy.

“The thing that I was going to tell you the other day,” he said finally, when the silence had stretched on for several long seconds, “about the other people… the people who found out about you and Taylor…”

“Yes, I remember,” said Kassie.

“They’re other shifters,” said Cole. “They’re the first I’ve ever met. They claim to be from my parents’ clan. They came to me, saying that they wanted to make a deal with me, to take me back. But they said that they already knew about you and Taylor. I don’t know how,” he added quickly, when he saw that Kassie was already beginning to speak. “But something about them is… off.”

“Off? What do you mean?” said Kassie.

“They said some things. Things about blood purity.” Cole’s face darkened. “When they asked where you were I gave them a fake address to put them off your trail, and I left the cabin where I was staying after we parted ways, but I don’t think that’ll be enough to stay hidden from them for long.”

Kassie mulled over this information, trying to figure out exactly what Cole was getting at. “Blood purity?” she repeated. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I suppose they mean that I’m different from you. I’m a shifter and you’re human. And they don’t want—”

“They don’t want a shifter to have a child with a human. Is that it?” she said. “So, what does that mean? Would they really harm our child, do you think?”

Cole shook his head. “These people… I don’t know anything about them. But I don’t trust them. Not at all. I wish it was as simple as just telling you to stay away from me, but they already have your scent. They’re going to be looking around Spartanburg for you, Kassie. So, keep an eye out, okay? If anybody suspicious comes around, an older man with white hair and a middle age man with darker hair, be on your guard.”

Kassie stiffened. Was Cole being serious with all of this? One minute she was just learning that there were magical forces in the world, and the next she was being thrust into some sort of strange blood feud between shifters and humans.

“Cole—”

“I’ll protect you. You don’t have to do anything else, Kassie. This is my responsibility. I know that. I have experience with the bad man at the door. The bad man doesn’t get past me. I know that I can at least do this for you.”

He spoke with such urgency that a strange sort of reassurance washed over her. Somehow, Kassie knew that she could trust him, even though she barely knew the man. Perhaps it was because fate had thrust them together the way that it had—not just in the past, but in the present as well—as if they were meant to meet up this way. Still, she hated the idea of having to rely on somebody else for anything, and she intended to let Cole know precisely that fact.

“I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything,” she said.

“Kassie, nobody should have to feel like they’re alone in this world,” said Cole. “I don’t know what you’ve dealt with in the past or what you’ve been going through, but I’m on your side with this. Maybe it’ll amount to nothing, and if that’s the case, then I’ll be on my way and you’ll never have to hear from me again. But if these guys are dangerous, then I want to be there to help you.”

It finally struck her then why Cole was so eager to help. It wasn’t just because he was duty bound because of their connection in the past or because he was Taylor’s father. Thinking back to what he had told her about himself—about his days in the orphanage and about being the only one of his kind for so long—she realized that like herself, Cole knew what it was like to be alone in a tough situation.

“Where are you staying right now?” she asked him suddenly, noting the way his head shot up in surprise.

“Uhm… I found another hunting cabin…”

“That’s no good,” said Kassie. “You really need to be in a safe place yourself. And those guys are going to find you if you’re that close to the woods, aren’t they? There’s a cheap motel a couple of blocks from my apartment that can put you up. I’ll pay for it myself. Consider it a loan. I also know someone who’s looking for some cheap labor right now. Construction work. You can do that, right?”

“Ah, yeah… thanks.” Looking properly humbled, a slow smile spread across Cole’s face.

As they parted ways, Kassie wondered yet again what she had gotten herself into. She didn’t quite know what to make of his story. The idea of blood purist shifters was a bit beyond belief, but she didn’t think Cole was a liar either. However, if he was telling the truth, that meant that there could be quite a bit of trouble on the horizon. How much trouble had yet to be seen though.

As she made her way home, she continued to think of him, feeling a faint sense of gladness that he would actually be able to get a good night’s sleep for a change in a comfortable bed. Despite every instinct that told her she should stay away, she found herself drawn to Cole, found herself caring about him and what happened to him. And at this point, she did hope that there was something she could do for him, especially since he was so committed to helping her with what he perceived to be a possible threat.

“I guess I’m always looking for a fixer-upper,” she said to herself, thinking back to that night so long ago when she had picked him up in the pouring rain and doing her best to ignore the strange tugging in her chest whenever she thought about him.