Being a shifter twin was like having embedded GPS; Sophia could always track down Derry if she really wanted to. After leaving the boathouse in a cloud of hurt and anger, Sophia found her twin brother curled up with Jess on a sofa in the family’s favorite room on the second floor of the main house. Within the elaborate, sprawling estate with its multiple buildings scattered about, the Stanton family had chosen this airy room as a comfortable space to be together. Its panoramic view of the lake and mountains, and vaulted ceilings, made it just as luxurious as the rest of the house—Lilah and Gavin had been married there—but the room had a warm, private feel that the downstairs great room lacked.

Sophia paused in the doorway when she saw that Jess seemed upset. Derry was stroking her hair, kissing her cheek, trying to distract her.

“I can’t read it either,” he was saying. “None of us can. It must be something in that serum of Gavin’s.”

“But I thought… I could read the book… now that I’m…” Jess hiccuped and buried her face in Derry’s shoulder.

“Now that you’re sexier than ever?” he asked, effortlessly lifting her into his lap. “The loveliest, most brilliant creature ever to have existed?”

“Now that I’m your wife,” she finished. “I thought I’d be able to read at least as much of that stupid book as Lilah can. But I can’t! Not a word!”

“From the sound of it,” Derry said, “you’re not missing much. Archaic, aristocratic, dreary blathering.”

“I can’t read it either,” Sophia said from the doorway.

Jess looked up in surprise. Derry gave her a little wave, no doubt having sensed her presence already.

“Have you ever tried?” Jess asked. “Ever sat down and really tried?”

Sophia walked over and sat in a chair next to them. “Yes. I can’t even recognize letters.” She reached out and put a hand on Jess’ knee. “This isn’t about you. Derry’s right. There was something in Gavin’s serum that changed Zach. He has powers we don’t understand, like reading the book.”

“And Lilah? She didn’t take any serum before she read it.”

“Who knows? Science cannot answer everything, Jess. But it’s nothing to envy. She doesn’t have your power for healing, which seems a lot more useful, honestly. You and Lilah have different gifts. You should be grateful for who and what you are, a human and a healer who loves my brother and is now my sister-in-law.” Sophia patted her knee. “Zach, on the other hand, is—”

Sophia had to cut herself off and pull away. Zach didn’t know what he was. He wasn’t human, he wasn’t shifter, and he didn’t—

Didn’t know he loved her.

“Is what?” Jess asked.

Sophia shook her head. What could she say? That Zach was a mess but Sophia, ever the caretaker, was confident she could fix him?

“I think he’d rather not be able to read that book,” Sophia said. She faced an unpleasant truth. “Or have anything to do with shifters.”

Derry’s crafty gaze locked onto Sophia. “I’m quite sure there’s one shifter he wants more to do with.”

“Tell him that,” she muttered, feeling herself flush.

Derry jumped to his feet. Jess was still in his arms. “I will. Where is he?”

Jess began to giggle. “Uh, Derry…”

He looked into her face. “Yes, love?” he asked, kissing her on the lips.

“You can put me down.”

Derry frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”

With a laugh, Jess kissed him on the jaw and wiggled her toes. “I love you.”

Sophia froze, watching them together. She’d seen interactions like this dozens of times, far more than she’d wanted to see, but none had upset her. None had made her envious.

But today she wanted to run out of the room crying at the unfairness of it all. How could her irresponsible playboy brother have gotten so lucky as to have found the Beat and lasting love with his One—and she couldn’t?

“I was just kidding,” Sophia said. “I don’t want you to talk to him. For God’s sake, sit down. You look like that time you pulled her out of the lake and nearly spoiled Lilah’s wedding.”

During their unlikely courtship, Jess had gone for a swim in the lake, and Derry had rushed in to pull her out. Unfortunately, both had been naked. Their antics had been in full view of countless wedding guests staying at the house for Lilah and Gavin’s wedding.

Jess blushed and Derry grinned. “Damn, that was fun,” Derry said.

“It really was.” Jess was laughing now.

Sophia saw that her arrival seemed to have improved Jess’s mood, although not her own. In fact, she felt worse than she’d felt in a long time. Despair, that black dog, was chomping on her leg, dragging her down into a dark pit.

Zach had never wanted to desire her, let alone love her. He was doing everything he could to free himself from her and the Stantons’ world. Once he’d gained control of his biological self, his emotional self would fall in line. With each moment, he was less likely to accept the bond that had formed between them, not more. She heard the Beat, but because he was a creation of the lab, maybe…

Maybe he never would be able to. Lilah, Jess, and Molly had discovered some shifter DNA in their past that was triggered in adulthood. Zach was just a human damaged by a freak accident.

For the first time, she realized fate might be quite different from what she’d supposed. It wasn’t everyone’s fate to be happy and loved. Some would suffer alone, without a mate, without a child. Without their One.

But if she couldn’t have a life with Zach, she—

She turned, shocked by the tears that threatened to start flowing again.

She’d want to…

To die.

“Sophia?” It was Jess, her voice tender with concern.

Sophia swallowed hard. Years ago, when she was still working regularly as a nurse, she’d formed a friendship with a patient. A funny, gregarious older woman with terrific tales about her life as a dancer in New York. Sophia would stay after her regular shift just to listen to the dancer’s wild, exciting stories. Every Sunday morning, when security at the hospital was loosest, Sophia had smuggled in the woman’s little dog to see her.

And then she’d died. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, all by herself. Shattered, Sophia had quit nursing full time. In the years since, she’d continued to work for friends and acquaintances who needed help, but she’d walked away from what she’d known was certain heartbreak. Another loss like that would’ve killed her.

She was in similar danger now. Too easily, too quickly, she’d become hopelessly attached to another human being. If she took it too seriously, she’d lose her grip, tumble into the darkness, and never recover.

“Want me to kick some lab rat’s ass?” Derry asked, resting a massive hand on her shoulder. “I’m still bigger than him. Pretty sure I can take him.”

Sophia choked out a laugh. Derry, for all his faults, had always been her favorite person in the world. What had happened to her? Since Zach, she’d become a blubbering idiot. This wasn’t who she was. She was Sophia Stanton, damn it. She was strong, she took what she wanted, she bent the world to her will. She took care of other people; she wasn’t weak herself.

“I just came”—her voice hitched, and she had to clear her throat—“to say goodbye. I’m going back to Boston for a while.”

It was the only way she could survive this.

“Already?” Jess asked, climbing out of Derry’s lap.

But Derry’s expression showed he understood more than Sophia wanted him to. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You haven’t given him much time.”

“I didn’t have much time either,” Sophia said. “But the Beat— Well. Either you hear it or you don’t. After what he’s been through, torn up and barely put together, held against his will by those who hurt him, it would be a miracle to think he would ever be able to—or want to—form a lifelong bond with—”

She stopped herself. She was saying much too much. They’d think she was too far gone to recover from this mess.

“Sophia,” Jess said soothingly.

The pity in her sister-in-law’s voice made Sophia more determined than ever. “I’m calling for the plane now. Did you guys want to hitch a ride with me? Get back to your honeymoon? You know how Asher thinks we should jetpool more.” She snorted. “As if we can’t afford a few cross-country rides now and then.”

“But the babies—” Jess began.

“Please,” Sophia scoffed. “Babies aren’t any fun until you can take them out clubbing. I think I’ll have to wait a few years until they’re old enough to sneak out for that.” She gave Derry a friendly smack on the shoulder, hooked an arm around Jess for a loose hug and a peck on the cheek, and then made for the door. She couldn’t possibly admit that seeing the babies would make her ache, the physical tug growing stronger at the thought of smelling a newborn’s head.

“Derry, do something,” Jess said behind her.

Just as Sophia was walking into the hallway, she heard her twin say, “No point. Even I can’t stop her when she’s like this.”

* * *

Asher Stanton clearly had taken boxing lessons back in Britain, wherever he’d gone to school. The hook nailed Zach just so, his neck twisting in agony, jaw muscles loosening to take the force, but pain was pain.

That hurt like a motherfucker.

Staying steady on his feet, Zach knew that staggering would show weakness. The copper penny taste of blood filled his senses.

So did Asher’s preparation for another blow.

“STOP!” Sam screamed, grabbing Asher’s punching arm, her fingers digging hard into the bulging biceps that raged under his suit jacket. “Stop it, you bully!”

“Bully?” Asher looked at her with a queer expression but pulled the punch, unwilling to harm her even if it meant backing down. “How on earth am I a bully when I defend your honor?”

“Who in hell asked you to defend my honor?” She gasped, letting go of him and getting in his face. She was a tall woman, but Asher was taller, Sam’s wagging finger an inch from his nose.

“The man made a joke about you.”

“You were the one who brought up Zach’s penis! Not Zach! Not me! Get a grip, Asher!” Sam’s mouth curled back in a near snarl. “You can’t use violence whenever you want just because you’re pissed other people don’t do exactly what you want them to, you brute! Now apologize to Zach.”

“For what?” Asher was aghast.

“For talking about his cock.”

The man just blinked.

“Excuse me?”

While Zach rubbed his jaw and tried to get blood to return to his painfully numb chin, he watched the two of them going at it with a wry sense of amusement. They were oblivious, weren’t they? The raw sexual charge between them might as well have been arcs of electricity on a Van de Graaff machine, Sam’s righteous indignation a fair match for Asher’s cold domination over all things shifter.

“You,” she said, punctuating the word with her finger poking Asher’s chest, “turned a perfectly reasonable scientific discussion about fertility and sperm samples into a dirty joke in my presence, and then you have the gall to blame Zach? You’re a piece of work, Asher Stanton.”

“As are you, Samantha,” Asher said in a low voice. “Your response leaves much to be desired.”

“Oh? Really? Tell me. What am I supposed to say when you punch Zach like that?”

“A cultured woman would say ‘thank you’ and recognize it as a gesture designed to protect your reputation.”

“My what? Did I blink and we’ve gone back two hundred years, Mr. Darcy? Good grief. My reputation is built on my academic and science career, you chauvinistic, anachronistic, out-of-touch ass!”

Asher gave Zach a look that shouldn’t have happened, but did. It was a look he’d seen before between men.

“Now apologize,” Sam demanded.

“No, really, Asher,” Zach started, palms up.

Asher held up one finger to silence him, then said, “I apologize for openly referencing your penis in front of Dr. Baird. It appears she has never had a conversation about cocks before and is scandalized. I am sorry to have caused so much trauma to an obviously virginal woman with such delicate sensibilities,” Asher said, his voice so deadpan Zach didn’t realize what he was doing until it was too late.

Sam’s already-red face turned an obscene shade of purple as she took in the words.

“That’s—that’s not what I meant!” she screeched.

“And Dr. Baird, I assure you that your academic and scientific achievements have been well documented and trigger great admiration in me. Any insecurities you may feel about defending the honor of your intellect are yours and yours alone. Perhaps they originate in some form of Imposter Syndrome from which you suffer?”

“You! I! What?” she huffed.

Asher pulled Zach aside, leaving an apoplectic Sam standing a few feet away, making sounds of outrage that were rising in intensity.

As if she didn’t exist, Asher faced Zach calmly and said, “I came here to warn you about Tomas Nagy.”

“What about him?”

“Based on information I am receiving, he has developed an interest in you.”

Zach went cold.

“What?” Sam overheard the conversation and gasped. “Tomas knows about Zach?”

“Of course he does,” Asher said, looking annoyed. “The man has spies everywhere, just like we do.” He returned his attention to Zach. “Beware. When you return to Boston, always act as if you’re being followed.”

“By him?”

“By him. And us. We’ll have extra security set up for you—”

Zach cut him off fast. “Absolutely not. No.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Asher replied.

There was that phrase again.

“Asher,” Sam said, trying to get his attention. He acted like she wasn’t there.

“No, Asher. You don’t have a choice. I’m done here.” The memory of Sophia’s exit made his heart hurt. “Done. I’m going back to Boston, back to my old life.” He gave Sam an uncertain look as she tried again to get Asher’s attention. “I think I’ll start job hunting. LupiNex isn’t exactly the best environment for me.”

“What? No! You can’t leave,” Sam cried out. She turned to Asher again, waving her hand in his face. “And I am trying to speak to you, Asher!”

“You do not need to work,” Asher said crisply to Zach, ignoring her. “Gavin’s company provided more than enough money to keep you in the lifestyle to which you are accustomed. It’s the least he could have done.”

The trust money. Zach knew about it in theory, the lawyers and financial advisors explaining it all while he was hospitalized at LupiNex, but…

“I’m a working man, Asher. I’m not one to tolerate being idly rich.”

Asher sniffed. “I would hardly call your settlement ‘rich.’”

“It is eight figures.”

“And your point is?” Asher looked confused.

“Never mind.”

“Oof!” Asher winced and suddenly bent down, just slightly, as Zach saw Sam’s high heel spike drive itself into the tip of Asher’s dress shoe.

“And you! You are a beastly, self-centered jerk who thinks he has the right to control other people, but you don’t, Asher Stanton!”

“I see I’m not the only person who cannot help using violence to make a point, Samantha,” Asher replied, giving her a look with so much repressed lust Zach nearly blushed.

“You are impossible!” she exclaimed, turning away, practically running down the stairs in the second display of an irate woman leaving the boathouse that Zach had personally witnessed in the past fifteen minutes.

“Is she gone?” Asher asked, not turning around to see for himself.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now I can have the real conversation I came to have with you.”

“Me? You started the conversation with a sucker punch. I’d hate to see what’s next.”

Asher blinked rapidly, his face a mask again. “I am relieved you denied my sister her wish, and I want to commend you for it.”

“What?”

“She has Baby Fever. It is a strong force and usually one that only comes when you find true love, but you yourself told me you did not feel the Beat, yes?”

“Right,” Zach repeated, lying again.

“A relief.” Asher gave a slight smile. “Sophia is likely on her way to Boston by now. I assume you’ll return there too?”

“Yes.”

“And you will leave her alone.” It wasn’t a question.

“I’ll—what?”

“Man to man, shifter to… whatever you are,” Asher said pointedly. “Sophia is a billionaire heiress with a steel will who is also a bear shifter. It will take a very, very special shifter to meet her needs. Not a human who was injected with a small amount of serum and whose future remains uncertain.”

Uncertain.

“What do you mean?”

“Zachary, let me be blunt.”

“If this is you pussyfooting around the truth, what the hell does your version of blunt look like?”

“You don’t know whether you can father children.”

“So we’re back to talking about my cock?”

“And we don’t know how much of the DNA has actually become part of you. Webb didn’t die at our hands, you know.”

“But you said—”

“I said he was dead. Not that we killed him.”

Stunned into silence, Zach just stared at him.

“Webb died after shifting into a multi-animal creature of barbaric proportions,” Asher explained.

Edward’s question made so much sense suddenly. “How many animals do you become?” took on a deeper meaning.

“Oh God,” Zach murmured, horrified.

“And then he… devolved.”

“Devolved?”

“His body collapsed in on itself as he shifted back into something not quite human. It was as if he had turned inside out.”

Zach became sick to his stomach.

“I tell you this not to alarm you and not to be cruel. You are a man of science. You respect facts and truths.”

“I do.” His belly roiled. Some facts were nearly unbearable to hear. He steeled himself for more. “And?”

“And what?”

“What else should I know about the only other human who ever took the serum?”

“He was a slimy, unctuous, deceptively evil piece of excrement who became Tomas Nagy’s henchman.”

“Got it.”

“You are still an unknown variable, Zach. You’ve proven yourself here, on the ranch. I thank you from the bottom of my soul for your help in delivering the babies. But being with Sophia would be a tragic mistake. Your body could experience changes we cannot predict. You could experience health crises, be targeted by rival shifters, or—”

Zach held up a palm. “Got it. No need to elaborate.”

“I’ve already called Roger. A second plane is ready to take you to Boston. Sophia commandeered the earlier jet.”

“Only two in the Stanton family?” Zach joked, trying to distract himself from the harsh reality of Asher’s facts.

“It is time for a third,” Asher said seriously, taking Zach’s comment at face value. “I never could have predicted my siblings’ deep connections to Boston and need to jet between Montana and Massachusetts.”

“Well, I just need a one-way ticket. I’m never coming back, Asher.”

“For everyone’s sake, good.”

“And don’t worry,” Zach said quietly, talking around the lump of emotion in his throat. “Given all the unknowns about my body, my future, my life, I agree. Being with Sophia is the worst action I could take, for us both.”

“Indeed. It is, I must say, a joy to converse with a man so rational about his emotions.”

“It is?”

“My siblings all lack such common sense. They’ve paired up with humans in spite of my orders not to.”

“They seem like they’re all in love.”

“That is beside the point.” Asher put his hand on Zach’s shoulder. “Love is the single most destructive force in the universe. Using it to guide one’s choices is a fool’s errand.”

“We can’t choose who we love,” Zach argued.

“No. But we can choose whether to give in to those emotions. Sometimes the best way to love someone is to let them go, for their own good.”

For their own good.

Zach closed his eyes for a second. Two seconds. Five.

And heard only his own heart beating.