EPILOGUE

One Year Later

Dana put her shoulder against Sarah’s and murmured, “Promise me that we can afford this.”

Sarah sucked in some air. “I dunno, boss lady. Might be tight for a while, just like in the beginning.”

“I guess we’re going to have to cut back on the doughnut deliveries, huh?”

“We’ve survived worse.”

Marcella, seated on the opposite side of the large picnic blanket, snickered and rotated baby Finn a hundred and eighty degrees to belly-crawl in the other direction. The child had his mother’s boundless energy and his father’s extroversion and had been trying to crawl out of the circle of Shrews for the better part of twenty minutes, trying to join his foster sister in the sandbox.

Corrine was oblivious, quietly and meticulously raking sand into tidy patterns. The five-year-old hadn’t thrived in her former placements, but Dana had been the one to figure her out, but of course, she would have. Corrine was like a little Shrew—she needed personal space and to know that when she was ready for attention, she could get it. Dana hadn’t talked about it, but Marcella was pretty sure that she and Patrick planned to keep her. With all the to-do during Dana’s pregnancy, expanding Shrew & Company’s offices, getting Gene and Wes settled into their comfortable new cells at the Bear bunker, the birth of Fabian and Astrid’s son, and two weddings, the couple had forgotten that they’d been on the foster family list. Dana had been poised to tell social services that she simply couldn’t manage one more thing right then, but Patrick had said they could handle it.

And they were. There were plenty of willing helpers.

Plenty of friends who were as good as family. They were all so tangled up that Marcella had lost track of who was related to whom.

“Timing’s bad, but we’ll figure it out.” Astrid tightened the flaps on Mateo’s diaper, pulled up his pants, and lifted him up to Fabian, who’d been lurking behind them apparently exactly for that reason. He carried his son off to the circle of testosterone around the grill.

Marcella was pleased to see they’d finally gotten the damned thing lit. The last user had left garbage inside, and they’d had to clean that out as well as the remaining damp charcoal. At the rate they were going, lunchtime would be at three o’clock. Fortunately, no one was in a hurry, and there were plenty of open grills at Forest Hills Park.

The outing could be the last time in months all the Shrews were gathered in one place. They were going to scatter for a while and do some jobs for people who couldn’t pay them.

“We’ll still have some income from the security stuff the guys do and regular investigation jobs that whoever’s near home base can work,” Astrid said, “but we just won’t be able to bring on any new staff in the interim. The training curve is too long, and we don’t want to throw salary money at folks who aren’t bringing any in.”

“If push comes to shove,” Maria said, “we could temporarily contract with some private investigators. They could pick up some of our pending gigs, and we’d pay them per solved case. That’d make up for some of the lost income.”

Dana blew a raspberry. “I hate having outsiders involved in our business because we’ve got to be so hush-hush about the paranormal stuff. I’m willing to give it a shot, though.”

Tamara leaned back onto her forearms and crossed her legs at the ankles. “So, that has me in the mountains with Bryan, Eric, and Maria for another three months getting the clan restructured and back to work. They’re doing so well, but Bryan wants more for them.”

“As he should. Felipe and I will be coordinating with the Bear group in New Jersey,” Sarah said. “They’re not bad off, but they want to get the drugs out of the area like we did for our Bears. Hopefully, that won’t take long.”

Dana counted off on her fingers. “That’s three. Drea and I are four and five. We’ll be at the office, holding down the fort. She pointed to Astrid. “You’re taking the BAR Exam?”

“Yep. Finally. Someone with paranormal knowledge needs to be able to practice law.” Astrid shrugged. “May as well be me. Fabian will be on the schedule as he normally is, though.”

“So, that leaves me.” Marcella let her eyes cross.

She’d barely gotten settled into the little house she and Soren had bought, and they were already heading out for an extended trip. In fact, they still had unpacked boxes in the kitchen. The Bears in Georgia needed guidance, and it was important that they got organized sooner rather than later. They’d wasted a year trying to find a cure to reverse what they’d become to no avail. They needed to look toward the future and not try to reclaim what they used to be.

“I don’t envy you,” Tamara said, studying her nails. “I’d pull out all my hair if I had to work so closely with my parents.”

“Your father is the worst, with his endless questions and jotting everything down in that little notepad of his, and I feel like I can’t tell him no because he was so helpful in finding me other bucket people to network with.”

Maria chuckled. “Ahh, bucket people. That’s perfect.”

“He just wants to know what the heck you are,” Tamara said, “but I know how annoying he can be. Give him a few weeks, and he’ll get bored.”

“Maybe he’ll be so distracted by training the Bears down there that he’ll ignore you?” Drea queried as she picked Finn up and gave him a short snuggle.

“Am I bad for hoping that? I mean, I like Pamela a great deal and consider her a friend, but neither Soren nor I have imaginations big enough to guess sorts of issues a lady Bear alpha will run into.”

“I heard my name.” Soren sauntered over with both eyebrows raised. “What did I do this time?”

Marcella grinned and tilted her head back for a forehead kiss. “Nothing. We were discussing the Shrews scattering into the wind and poor Pamela’s new volunteer position.”

He sucked some air in through his teeth. “We’ll get Pamela up to speed. I’m more worried about your boyfriend Bobby.”

“Who’s Bobby?” Dana asked.

Marcella reached back to clasp a hand over Soren’s mouth but, she was too slow—he’d straightened up from the kiss and backed up a foot.

“A nerd who lacks enough self-preservation to not grin at my wife like he’s seen her naked,” Soren said.

“He has seen me naked. If I’m remembering correctly, he’s seen you naked, too.”

“If he were a Bear, I’d throw him against a tree trunk.”

“Be nice. He’s practically a kid.”

“I was on two most-wanted lists at the same age, so he’ll get no sympathy from me.”

Dana sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. “Oh, the people I hire.”

Soren tucked his hands beneath Marcella’s armpits and pulled her to her feet. “You have to admit, your life is interesting with us in it.”

“Understatement, sir,” Dana said.

“What are you doing?” Marcella asked him. “I’m part of the Shrew fence that’s keeping Finn enclosed.”

“I know.” Soren turned her around, picked her up, and gave her a tender, warm bear hug. “Mmm. Just need to show you off sometimes.”

“I think by now, everyone here and half of the Internet knows who I belong to.”

“Maybe I’m the one who still needs convincing.”

Marcella smoothed down Soren’s sideburns and stared into soulful hazel eyes. “Stop fretting,” she whispered. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere without you.” They’d been practically inseparable for a year. Marcella had always considered herself a loner, but she wasn’t, really. She just hadn’t found her people.

With a whispered, “I love you, too,” he set her down and returned to the raucous conference at the grill.

“Bears are so emo,” Tamara said with a sigh and swiped her sleeve across her damp eyes.

“Aren’t we all?” Marcella murmured and looked at each lady in turn. They’d all become so dear to her because being a Shrew was about more than getting a paycheck. It was about sisterhood and making a new sort of family. No matter what chaos the future held in store for them, they’d face it together.

She’d never been more excited to see what would happen next.