Sophia let out a frustrated groan, a sound like pebbles being rolled down a rocky slope, her mouth tight with anger and her face red as Zach tried to breathe in and out of his nose, devolved back to basics.

In. Out. Flex. Clench. Stretch. Blink.

Gavin Stanton, the founder and CEO of LupiNex, and Zach’s boss, had just found him naked with the man’s sister’s lips wrapped around Zach’s cock.

That alone violated at least thirteen workplace employment policies. And if Sophia had actually succeeded in getting that pinky finger where it had been headed before the front door opened a second time, make it fourteen.

His zipper was broken, so his hands remained curled into fists in his pockets, holding up the waistband, the fabric scratching against his bare ass. It tickled, but the sensation came from a mile away, blood rushing through him at breakneck speed as he tried to process everything that had happened to him.

What had happened since waking up alone in a strange bed and finding himself Asher Stanton’s prisoner on a ranch in the middle of Nowhere, Montana, wasn’t exactly in his mental repertoire of experiences. Not even imagined experiences. He had to make it up as he went along, which was becoming wearyingly familiar.

Most of the past year had been nothing but pain for Zach. Literal pain as his body had nearly killed him. Mending pain as his bones knitted back together, longer and stronger, tendons stretching and morphing to find new attachments.

One of the nurses who’d helped him during his recovery had joked that he was like Humpty Dumpty until Zach had pointed out that no—it was like Humpty Dumpty had an extra half shell and someone needed to re-shatter him to make all the pieces fit.

Asher Stanton was doing his damnedest to break him. But Zach wasn’t about to walk on eggshells around the man.

Hmmm. Wrong metaphor.

Hairs on the back of his neck and upper arms began to tingle, and he looked up, catching Sophia’s eye. She stared at him with a little smirk, her cheeks full, the skin under her eyes showing amusement.

“What?” he asked, a little too gruff.

“You’re adorable.”

“My boss just caught me with my cock in his little sister’s mouth. I’d hardly call that adorable.”

Shock filled those big brown eyes, the brown deepening as her pupils dilated. He let himself sit there, curling his abs, forcing his shoulders down in a gesture meant to teach his body to relax.

His body.

Was this even truly his body? What did those words mean anymore? His body was the one that clenched first, that sat down on a chair, pants unbuttoned and open, cock deflated by shock and embarrassment. His body was the one that stood taller than everyone but Derry Stanton, Zach’s view of the world radically different now. Not just because he’d become a shifter—whatever that actually meant. His literal view of the world had altered irrevocably.

Depth perception was different. Colors had changed. The added height from his growth meant he looked down at people, at objects, and had to constantly fight a low-level vertigo that plagued him. His entire body was bigger, which meant his coordination was off. Strength had increased, and the amount of muscle everywhere was a source of thrill and confusion.

His old body was one he’d spent thirty-one years in. This new body was only eight months old, and much of that time had been spent in medical recovery.

So whose body was this? he asked himself as a strange numbness settled in, bordering on depression. A black hole, swirling within, made the muscles of his legs twitch. Instantly restless, his body burned to move while his mind struggled to make sense of all the change.

The speed of change was too much.

“Zach,” Sophia said, interrupting his thoughts. Her voice was filled with kindness. “You’re safe here.”

“Not if your brothers get me alone in one of these rooms.”

She didn’t laugh, instead combing over his body with appreciative eyes, remnants of her dress hanging off one shoulder like an invitation. The darkness inside him, the part that threatened to suck him in and hold him down, began to feel more like a warm oasis. Only when he looked at her did the cold feeling lighten.

“You can match my brothers. Go toe-to-toe with them. You’ll have to.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are a shifter now. That’s why I insisted Asher bring you here to the ranch.”

“You insisted?”

“We need to train you.”

Was that rocking blow job part of the training? he wondered.

She laughed. “Yes, technically, sex is part of training you to be a shifter. A civilized one, at least.”

“Seriously?” He used his mouth to talk, unnerved by the discussions that took place without speech, unwilling to openly talk about it because maybe, just maybe, he was hallucinating.

“I’m not kidding.”

He stopped breathing, letting that sink in, a mortifying ripple across his body making his skin tingle. “So,” he said, clearing his throat, “this is just… training.” Using his hand, he motioned between them, waving as if connecting them.

As her mouth opened, he saw the conflict in her eyes, the confusion of her brow turning down, the puzzlement as her lips pursed then opened.

“I—”

Tap tap tap.

A polite knock at the front door rescued her from answering what Zach already knew. Pity had been one of many emotions in her eyes.

Zach was a shifter pity-fuck.

“Not again,” Sophia said as she walked to the door, heedless of her partial nakedness, and opened it a crack. “Yes?” Zach caught a glimpse of a tall, lean man with a distinguished face. Blond, with a beard. He had quiet eyes and a very calm affect.

“Asher sent me to collect you, Sophia,” the man said softly, his voice peppered with the same British accent Sophia had, though lighter.

“Edward! Gavin just burst in to tell us the same thing. Is Molly here? Are you going?” Sophia asked, managing to be both breathless and domineering.

Zach ran through his limited knowledge of the Stanton family. Another brother? How many brothers did she have? Good God.

“Yes.”

“And is Molly going?” Sophia’s voice could cut bridge cables.

“Of course. He said it’s for family.” The man sounded offended.

“Humph.”

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

“Why do you let Asher turn you into an errand boy?” Sophia asked.

Edward seemed to ignore the bait. “Is Zach here? I’d like to meet him.” The man’s voice radiated so little emotion but wasn’t cold or threatening. In fact, Zach started to think this was a Stanton brother he might actually like.

Maybe.

“Hi,” Zach said, keeping one hand in his pants to hold them in place. “Zach Hayden.” He crossed the foyer, hand out. Edward stepped into the cottage and shook his hand with bright, curious blue eyes that held a thousand questions.

Zach was taller, but barely, and clearly had about twenty pounds of muscle on the guy, yet he felt like he was standing before a physical equal.

“Where are my manners?” Sophia exclaimed, as if not introducing them were worse than standing there with all her private parts on display. Zach moved his body just enough to give her cover. “Edward, this is Zach. Zach, this is my younger brother, Edward.”

The handshake ended. Edward just watched Zach. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was definitely unnerving.

“When you shift, how many animals do you become?” her brother finally asked, a shadow coming over his eyes, mouth turning down as if he were reliving a dark memory.

“What?” Zach looked to Sophia for clarification. She just winced.

“We haven’t explained it all to Zach yet,” she told Edward in sotto voce. “He’s just arrived. We’re working on uncontrollable shifting.”

Edward started, then—wait a minute. Did the guy actually blush?

“That… that— How?” Edward’s head recoiled, his brow going down, gaze entirely on Sophia.

“You want details?” She pointed at Zach’s split zipper, his unclothed chest, her body.

“No.” Edward’s answer might as well have been a slammed door.

Sophia giggled. Giggled. “Never change, little brother. Never change.”

“But before the family meeting, I do need to know, Zach: How many animals do you become?”

“I-I’m a wolf.” The words were surreal coming out of his mouth, but he answered the only way he knew.

Edward’s voice sharpened. “That’s it? Nothing more?”

“No. Why? Can— Do— Are some of you more than one animal?”

Sophia and Edward exchanged an inscrutable look, one that made Zach want to grab her and run away, store her someplace safe and away from the rest of the world forever. Clad in fabric shreds and high heels, she was deeply underdressed. Zach’s shirtless state and torn pants matched her look, making it clear they’d violated the basic standards of decency in public.

“Come to the family meeting,” Edward said in a tight voice. “And we’ll explain.”

* * *

To show she wasn’t going to take any shit, Sophia held Zach’s hand as they walked into the great room in the main house for the meeting, Edward right behind them. Gavin had held business conferences in the big space, and thus it was well equipped for a group—there was a panoramic view of a serene mountain lake, comfortable seating, wood beams overhead, a massive stone fireplace and, of course, a full bar.

Braced for battle, Sophia scanned the room for Asher but didn’t see him. Gavin, however, was at the bar and, upon seeing Zach, turned a dark shade of seriously pissed.

“Sophia,” he said tightly, giving his little sister a condescending look.

“He stays.” She put her palm at Zach’s back and strode over with him to get coffee for both of them.

Gavin frowned at Zach. “Asher won’t allow it.”

“Fuck Asher,” Zach said.

Sophia turned to him in surprise. Zach was regarding his former boss with a steely antagonism that hadn’t been there before.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hayden?” Gavin asked, also taken aback.

“I’ve been thinking,” Zach said, pulling away from Sophia and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve just realized, Gavin, that you owe me all the help you can give.”

The corners of Gavin’s eyes tightened. “Is that so?”

“That is so,” Zach said. “If it weren’t for you, after all, I’d be a healthy man living in Boston with a normal but promising biotech career ahead of me, no months of agonizing pain or recurring nightmares about a horrifying, unprecedented, near-death experience. No uncontrollable urges to turn into a wolf. And most importantly, if it weren’t for you, Gavin, I’d have my freedom.”

Gavin stared at him a moment before looking down at the bar where his fingers were white, gripping the edge. “You’re right,” he finally said.

Heart racing with pride—Zach had gotten Gavin to back down, which was almost impossible!—Sophia picked up the glass Gavin had just poured.

It was orange juice, undoubtedly for his beloved, the pregnant Lilah.

“Zach and I will each have a Bloody Mary,” she told Gavin, realizing she was too wired for coffee and it was too early for whiskey, even for her. She carried the juice over to Lilah, who was curled up on the sofa next to Molly, Edward’s sweet fiancée. Lilah’s impossibly round belly took up an entire seat.

“No sign of Asher,” Lilah said. “Did you see him in the hallway?” Like many pregnant women in their third trimester, Lilah’s face had a glowing affect, round and cheery. Sophia had never been one to like children, but she’d been gripped by a curious maternal sense after Gavin had privately told her of Lilah’s pregnancy, as if a locked door had been merely turned open, waiting for Sophia to poke her nose in and check out the scene.

Edward’s fiancée, Molly, had known Lilah was pregnant before the rest of them, but she’d erred in assuming it was one baby. The twins had been a wonderful detail. Add in the fact that Gavin and Lilah had chosen not to learn the sex of the twins, and the entire baby production was just too much for Sophia. Too cute. Too perfect.

Or maybe she was a little too envious. She wasn’t even close to having a case of Baby Fever, but she was surprised by the warm, fuzzy feeling she had every time she looked at Lilah’s beautiful, growing form.

Sophia handed Lilah the glass of juice, shaking off her thoughts. “No, we didn’t have the pleasure.” She was still flushed with pride—all right, sexual arousal—from Zach’s takedown of Gavin. “Sorry about… ah… earlier.”

Molly giggled, glancing at Zach with a twinkle in her eye.

Sophia wasn’t surprised by Molly’s knowing reaction, having already assumed Lilah would tell Molly about what she’d seen. Lilah and Molly had become friends while working at the Platinum Club and had recently discovered they were half sisters. And since they were both married or engaged to Stanton men, they were now inseparable. Both women, and Lilah’s full sister, Jess, had turned out to be related to one another.

Oddly enough, it was the shifter serum that Gavin’s biotech company—and Zach and Sam—had been working on that led to the discovery.

“No, no,” Lilah said. “It was totally my fault. I tried to get Gavin to leave you alone, but…”

“A fruitless quest,” Sophia said. “My brothers are hopeless.”

“Even Edward?” Molly asked playfully.

Sophia grinned at her. “I’m afraid so. Would you like to change your mind about marrying him?”

During the recent crisis with Tomas, Molly had discovered a special, mysterious gift for healing. All three of the human women—Lilah, Jess, and Molly—had turned out to have surprising qualities that were somehow related to a distant ancestor. Sam, studying their blood at LupiNex, had believed it was a shifter great-great-great-grandfather or even further back than that.

Unlike Zach, their abilities were in their blood, part of their DNA.

Zach’s abilities were wholly manufactured in a lab.

“It’s too late to change my mind,” Molly said. “We already set a date. I’m stuck with him.”

Lilah rubbed her belly. “I know what you mean. In for a penny, in for a pound.”

“Speaking of pounds,” Sophia said, looking at Lilah’s midsection, “I bought your little ones a present in London a few weeks ago. Don’t let me forget to give it to you.”

“Ooh, what is it? Toys or clothes?” Molly asked.

Sophia leaned closer. “The cutest little rompers. You know how all the baby things in America are either pink or blue? Well, these are the loveliest, happiest shade of yellow—”

Asher’s booming voice interrupted their cheerful mommy talk.

“What is he doing here?”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “Here we go,” she muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Molly said. “Edward has Zach’s back.”

Indeed, at the bar, Edward stood in front of Zach, facing Asher with a grim, determined expression. “I invited him.”

“I did not,” Asher said. “Mr. Hayden, you’ll be more comfortable waiting in your own room. Ariana will escort you there. She waits on the other side of the door.”

Edward’s voice was polite but firm. “He should be here. Gavin agrees.”

“I do,” Gavin said.

“What you or Gavin think is irrelevant,” Asher said.

“Listen, Asher—” Sophia cut herself off when Zach shot her a quelling glance.

“I’m here,” Zach said, stepping out from behind Edward, “and I’m staying. I can promise you, I don’t want to be here any more than you do, Asher. But what’s done is done. What’s been done to me has been done. Now I exist, whatever I am, like it or not—and I don’t. So give it up and start your meeting. I’m not going anywhere.”

While Zach’s commanding attitude was sexy as hell, his words stung Sophia. He didn’t want to be here? And he loathed his own existence, whatever it was? Given what they’d shared, she couldn’t help but feel insulted. She expected the pleasures of her company to inspire a little more gratitude and joy than that.

“While you’ve been careful to teach us this family is not a democracy,” Gavin said, “neither is it a dictatorship. Your wishes are not infallible, brother. In this matter, you must yield.”

“Don’t tell me what I must do.” Asher walked slowly across the room and sat in the large, solitary leather armchair near the fire, a chair they had subconsciously left empty for their eldest brother. Balancing an ankle on the opposite knee, he let out a sigh and said, “But we don’t have time for this. I’ve just received news I must share with all of you. Tomas is in Rome.”

Sophia watched Zach for any reaction to hearing Tomas’ name. Like Zach, Tomas had worked at LupiNex, although at a higher level. How much did Zach know about what had happened? How much had Gavin told him?

“What does he want in Rome?” Gavin asked.

“How did we let him escape Budapest?” Sophia added. “I thought we had him surrounded. Unable to travel more than a mile or two from that hotel.”

“Sophia, that is an excellent question,” Asher said.

She frowned at him, suspicious. “It is?”

“‘We let him escape’ is correct,” Asher said. “When it became obvious that he was preparing to flee, we decided to let him succeed—or let him think he had.”

“Why?” Sophia asked.

Gavin was less patient. Jaw tight, he approached Asher with his fists clenched at his sides. “You choose this time to play with the man? When my wife is on the eve of giving birth to our children?”

Asher’s voice grew quiet. “I assure you, Lilah’s condition is never far from my mind. This was not a time of my choosing.”

Sophia wrapped her arms around herself, feeling Asher’s unhealed grief as if it were a cold mist shrouding the room. “We aren’t blaming you, Asher. Tomas is an evil we all have to deal with. We all have a duty to destroy him before he can do more damage. Thank you for taking the majority of the burden upon yourself.”

Gavin took a step back, unclenching his fists. “She’s right,” he said softly.

“Well said,” Edward added.

Even Asher nodded, appeased.

But Zach, eyes wild with anger and incomprehension, clearly wasn’t having any of it. He opened his mouth, pure challenge pouring out.

“One of you is going to explain—now—what the fuck you’re all talking about.”