Jackie felt like she was back in college, when she’d had to present her undergraduate capstone term paper to a pair of bored professors. This time, however, she was in the asphalt parking lot outside the Kotoyeesinay town hall, speaking before a hastily assembled town council of six, seated behind a folding conference table. A magic-infused, twenty-foot-long ground tarp served as a witness box. Anyone standing on it could be heard far and wide, even when whispering. She and Trevor stood together in a defensive magic circle of chalk near the tarp’s north edge.

Jackie probably would have fainted dead away by now if it hadn’t been for Trevor. The moment they’d left his truck, he’d swallowed her in a long, tension-draining bear hug. After her quick visit to the town hall’s bathrooms and drinking fountains, he’d kept her close as they explained the events that brought them to ask for sanctuary.

She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t enjoyed being near him, or him initiating contact as often as he did. He was the only anchor she had in a reality gone seriously askew. Kotoyeesinay looked like any of the mountain towns she’d passed through during her escape, with ordinary streets and a normal mix of architecture. Its denizens were anything but.

The six council members sat at the eight-foot table. Behind them stood a small red-and-silver, two-legged dragon with bat-like wings, and a dark-skinned centaur male who made Clydesdales look like ponies. It was hard not to stare. They were all right out of the fantasy stories she’d devoured as a child, and better than anything movie special-effects artists could dream up. She didn’t even recognize half of the species in the gathering onlookers.

The meeting was outside because neither the motorcycle-mounted coyotes nor Roehm’s pissed-off pride were willing to leave their vehicles unguarded around the other group. The coyotes, especially the females, laughed at the pride’s post-apocalyptic vehicles and insulted the virility of the felines, who snarled vile insults back. A pair of Roehm’s lynx enforcers flatly refused to leave their vehicle altogether, once they saw the red dragon. Jackie couldn’t blame them since the roof of their jeep still had a gaping tear from where a dragon had clawed off the harpoon gun.

A slim, dazzlingly beautiful golden elf female stood in the center behind the council table. Her clothing seemed to be made of living red-leaf ferns and mosses. An intricate tiara of carved wood held her brass-green hair away from her delicate features. Her eyes said she was far, far older than the teenager she resembled. She watched with apparent disinterest as Roehm and one of the coyote women strode up to the ground tarp from their respective sides.

Two translucent creatures in ghostly armor lowered very real and sharp scimitars to prevent Roehm and the woman from stepping onto the tarp.

The golden elf gestured toward the woman. “We will hear Alpha Zarabitta’s petition first.” More elven magic carried her soft voice right to Jackie’s ear, as if she stood within a few feet. That didn’t startle Jackie nearly as much as the fact that the coyotes’ leader was a confident, muscled, and curvy female. Both Jackie’s ex-lover Barry and Roehm had insisted no male shifter would ever accept a female as alpha. Of course, they’d proven time and again to be liars.

Zarabitta blew Roehm a smart-ass kiss as she stepped forward. Roehm’s lip twisted sourly, but he dropped back a few paces. He could pretend to follow the rules of others when it suited him.

Jackie’s back spasmed with tension. She wished she could sit, but then she’d never see anything. Trevor stepped behind her and pulled her gently against him, wordlessly urging her to relax. His arms wrapped around her, and she allowed herself the comfort of his presence. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she was falling for a man she’d only met the day before. That he was also a shifter didn’t seem to matter anymore. He was a good bear and an honorable, sexy man.

Zarabitta gave a respectful short bow toward the council. “I give thanks to Guivre Gul-Vert and the council for our guest pass into the glade.” Her powerful alto voice had depth and a hint of smoky-bar rasp. “I’ll get straight to the point. Yesterday, with no provocation whatsoever, that bear”—Zarabitta pointed accusingly at her and Trevor—“jumped two of my pack behind Otto’s in Cheyenne and left them for dead. We spotted him this morning in Laramie and followed him here.”

Jackie took an outraged breath to object but stopped when Trevor tightened his arms around her. “Wait,” he whispered. His warm breath in her ear sent a delicious thrill through her. Honestly, her body picked the worst times to take up its own agenda.

“And what do you want with him now?” asked the golden elf.

Zarabitta put her hands on her hips. “Blood for blood. Our training barn.”

Jackie didn’t like the sound of that. She remembered schoolyard fights, and how bullies had preyed on the weaker kids. Trevor’s bear was impressive, but even he couldn’t take on a whole pack.

A handsome lavender-skinned male fairy with sharp features and flashing amethyst eyes stepped out from behind the table. His clothes of draped velvet and lace made him seem frivolous, but the thin wand in his hand belied that. Even from twenty feet away, Jackie could feel the magical power emanating from it. “Consent for a geas spell of truth-speaking?”

Zarabitta frowned. “Yeah, as long as you don’t go fishing for stuff that’s none of your business. But I wasn’t at Otto’s.”

The male with the wand paused and looked toward Guivre, who tilted her head slightly. “Are the injured parties with you now, that we may hear their tale?”

Zarabitta nodded, then turned toward the motorcycles and whistled loudly enough to make Jackie wince. “Wiley! Cody! Get your asses front and center.”

Jackie rarely wished she was taller, but this was one of those times. She couldn’t see anything over the heads of the swelling crowd that had stopped to watch the proceedings. Sounds of a commotion arose from near the motorcycles. Jackie twisted in Trevor’s arms to give him a questioning look. He shrugged and shook his head.

Finally, after long minutes, the crowd parted, and three vest-wearing coyote shifters half-dragged, half-carried Wiley and the other shifter who’d come onto her at the truck stop into view. They shoved them onto the tarp.

Zarabitta stomped toward them. Jackie couldn’t see her face, but her stiff shoulders and fisted hands didn’t bode well for Wiley or Cody.

“This is your third strike, assholes,” Zarabitta bit out. “If you don’t tell me right fucking now why you were running and what really happened yesterday, I will feed you to the wyvern myself.” She pointed a thumb toward the red-and-silver reptile behind the council table. The red dragon… wyvern tested the air with a snake-like forked tongue, then snorted wetly.

Wiley hung his head and said nothing. Cody crossed his arms and jutted out his chin. “It’s too late. Dad’s already reported you to the Shifter Tribunal.” He sneered and spat within inches of Zarabitta’s dusty boots. “Bitches belong in the den with the pups. You ain’t even mated.”

Zarabitta shook her head. “Your dad has ruined you.” She nodded, and two of the coyote shifters latched onto Cody’s arms. “You’re out, Cody. You and your father are exiled for good.” A wave of unknown shifter magic passed by Jackie. Cody shuddered hard from head to toe, and the color drained from his face. He whined a curse.

The two grim-faced coyotes dragged Cody away, ignoring his angry protests and threats.

Zarabitta turned to Wiley. “You have a hard choice to make, son, and not much time.” She tilted her chin toward the direction Cody had gone. “He’s your only litter mate, but he and your dad are mean drunks. You go with them, you’ll either be their meal ticket, or you’ll become them.” She pointed a thumb toward the Kotoyeesinay council. “Tell us all the truth, and you can stay. You’ll be on shit patrol for a while, ’cause you fucked up big time, but you’ve got a good heart.”

Zarabitta backed up two steps and stood, arms crossed. The only sound was the afternoon breeze through the aspen trees and the pounding of Jackie’s heart.

Wiley looked up at Zarabitta, then shot a glance at Jackie before casting his eyes down again. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Cody was drunk. We wanted to party with that woman, ’cause we thought she was a prostitute. She ran like prey. We chased. Her bear mate knocked us around and commanded us to shift back to human, then left with her. Dad found us in the alley and beat the shit out of us for being pansies.” Wiley seemed to shrink in on himself. “When we caught scent of the bear again, Dad got the idea to send us all off on the chase, while he told the Tribunal you and the pack went rogue. He’s gonna declare himself alpha, with Cody as his second.” His glance flickered toward where Cody could still be heard shouting. “Cody said we had to run, or the elves would make us into pets like that red dragon.”

The wyvern raised its long, sinuous neck and extended its wings. “I am a wyvern, you cretin.” Its refined, upper-crust British accent held deep outrage. “I am no one’s pet.”

Jackie rubbed her arms where the sibilant hiss under the words raised atavistic goosebumps across her skin.

Zarabitta turned and bowed toward the wyvern. “My apologies, Scholar of the Skies. Wiley has shit for brains, but he meant no offense.”

The wyvern’s wings folded, and then it relaxed with a disgruntled “harrumph.” Jackie bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Zarabitta crossed to the center of the tarp and nodded to Jackie and Trevor, then turned and bowed to the council. “I withdraw my request for custody of the bear shifter named Trevor Hammond. We further acknowledge a debt of succor and defense to both him and his future mate, that they may pass on to their immediate offspring.”

A murmur arose from the crowd, and all eyes turned toward her and Trevor. She didn’t have a clue what to say, but thankfully, Trevor did. “No harm done. The debt is acknowledged, and the proposed recompense is accepted.” He tightened his arms around her and whispered in her ear. “I’ll explain later.”

Zarabitta nodded, then turned again to the council. “With your permission, we’d like to ride out.” From near the motorcycles, Cody’s howl changed from human to pure coyote. Zarabitta’s eyes rolled. “Seems I have den cleaning to do.”

The beautiful golden elf nodded. “Farewell, Alpha Leader. Follow the right will-o-the-wisp, and your road will be straight and true.”

Zarabitta bowed again, then strode purposefully toward Wiley and the other coyote, who fell in behind her as she passed. They were swallowed by the crowd as Zarabitta shouted, “Someone tie that moron’s muzzle shut!”

From the far side of the tarp, Roehm and five of his pride watched the action. They looked like extras in a low-budget post-apocalyptic movie. Roehm fixed Jackie with a confident, malevolent stare that promised a slow and painful death. Her first instinct was to hunch into a submissive posture and look away, but Trevor’s strong arms and his deep, throaty rumbling behind her gave her the courage to stand up straight and look Roehm right in the eye. A frown crossed his face, before he smoothed his expression. He put one toe on the tarp and looked at the golden elf female. “Is it my turn?” His tone bordered on insolent.

At Guivre’s nod, the ghostly guard’s scimitar in front of Roehm rose. He headed straight for the middle of the tarp, as if taking center stage. His metal-studded leather jacket tightened as his arms and chest bulged. At well over six feet and heavily muscled, he radiated prime alpha dominance and barely contained berserker rage. The power beat against her temple, like it wanted into her brain. She put her hands protectively over her belly.

Guivre yawned.

The council members tittered and covered their mouths to hide their smiles. The lavender fairy smirked. The centaur outright laughed. Jackie only just stopped her jaw from dropping.

Roehm’s veneer of civility cracked. He pointed an accusing finger at Jackie. “That human skank stole stuff from me and my pride. She slit the throat of her owner… uh, landlord and stole his motorcycle. She has to pay. Hand her over, and no one gets hurt.”

Guivre tilted her head, almost bird-like. “Have you an invitation?”

Roehm sneered. “I don’t need an invitation. I have a crew.” He pointed a thumb toward his pride members, all enforcers, but kept his eyes trained on the golden elf. “Give ’em a taste, boys. Shift!”

Jackie felt Roehm’s shifter magic command and instinctively covered her stomach with her arms. In the past, the command to shift had given her a powerful cramp, as if her baby was trying to obey, but this time, the magic slid on by her like an errant breeze. Behind her, the deep growl vibrating Trevor’s chest soothed her.

The enforcers stayed human. They looked at one another, surprised, as if the command had slid by them, too. Roehm spared them a fast glance, then did a double take. “Shift!” he ordered and punched out even harder with his alpha power. Nothing happened.

“I’m sorry,” said Guivre coolly, “but we don’t allow uninvited gatecrashers to operate significant magic in our town.” She didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.

Before anyone could react, Roehm pulled out a huge handgun and aimed it straight at Jackie’s chest. “Then I’ll just kill her now and take back what she stole.”

Trevor shoved her behind him and let out an inhumanly loud growl. She wrapped her arms around his waist, willing him to listen. “Stay human. He wants you outside our circle. The bullets are animal poison.”

“Pendragor, if you would be so kind?” Guivre sounded like she was asking someone to pour tea.

Jackie felt rather than saw the power of the wand that the amethyst-eyed fairy had wielded earlier. Roehm yowled in pain. She peeked around Trevor in time to see a puddle of molten metal burning a hole in the tarp. Roehm stumbled away toward the far edge, holding his charred hand to his chest, yowling. He fumbled at his neckline.

Jackie slid herself around Trevor to stand in front of him and sent her magical senses out to see what Roehm was reaching for. “Roehm’s got a lightning charm,” she shouted.

Pendragor’s eyes narrowed as he wielded his slender wand like he was conducting an orchestra. Power surged. Roehm’s screaming turned to screeches of agony as five places on his clothes burst into unnatural green flame, then exploded with fireworks. He twirled in a mad dance, trying to get away from the sparks.

“Oh, do cease the melodrama, Alpha Roehm.” Guivre’s expression was neutral, but her tone was peevish. “We all know your burns will heal in minutes.”

Instead of answering, Roehm launched himself toward Jackie, tearing out of his clothes in a half-shift to give himself muscles, claws, and teeth. Even as she dropped to the ground in a ball to protect herself and her child, Trevor full-shifted in a heartbeat and launched out of the chalk circle to meet Roehm head-on.

Roehm’s body bounced off Trevor’s huge bear as if he’d hit a wall. He rolled away and finished shifting, but the enraged bear was right there with twenty-inch claws that ripped into the lion’s soft underbelly.

The lion scrambled up and leapt onto the much larger bear’s back, biting down and sinking claws into the bear’s heavily shaggy fur. The bear stood upright and shook, throwing the lion off. In a blur of motion, the bear spun and dropped his front body weight, landing heavy paws on the lion’s back. Everyone heard the sickening crack as the lion’s spine snapped.

Incredibly, the lion pulled itself around using its front paws and sank sharp teeth into the meaty part of the bear’s back leg. The bear turned and bit the lion’s flattened ear, but the lion clamped its jaws tighter. The bear tried again, but only succeeded in dragging the lion’s weight around in a circle.

Jackie remembered a tactic from one of the many fights she’d seen on Roehm’s compound. She rolled and sat up. “Trevor,” she shouted, “your human leg is smaller!”

The bear made a throaty sound and became a man in jeans. Before the surprised lion could react, Trevor pried the lion’s jaws open enough to free his bleeding thigh. Trevor limped backward, never taking his eyes off the lion.

“Do what you did to the coyotes,” she yelled.

Trevor nodded, then shot a questioning glance toward Guivre. The golden elf nodded. Trevor squared his shoulders and turned to stare at Roehm.

Everyone with any magical senses at all felt the full, raw strength of Trevor’s alpha command. As before in the alley, it washed over and through her like a soothing wave and had no effect on her unborn daughter.

Roehm fought the command with his own alpha power, but in less than fifteen seconds, he was nakedly human and lying on the tarp, legs inert, and bleeding from four lacerations on his stomach.

“Fine,” croaked Roehm, “you can have the skank.” His voice was weaker than she’d ever heard it. “But everything she has, she stole from us, and we want it back.” He growled as he raised himself up on his elbows. “She has to pay for what she did to Ruben.”

Jackie awkwardly climbed to her feet and brushed the dust off her pants. She looked at Roehm’s pride members, who were showing varying degrees of fear and disbelief. They’d never seen Roehm bested at anything. They looked just like the board of one of her megachurch clients when she’d told them they’d been conned by their minister in a Ponzi scheme. Some of them refused to believe it, even when the minister and his wife pled guilty and were sentenced to a dozen years in prison.

Jackie put one foot on the tarp and raised her hand, uncertain of the protocol. “Uhm, excuse me? Am I allowed to tell my side?” Thanks to the elven magic, her soft voice carried.

Roehm’s right leg twitched, meaning his shifter healing was already repairing his spine and nervous system. “Are you going to take the word of a human?” He made it sound like she was mess to be scraped off his boots.

Jackie was used to it, but she was tired of it. Tired of being hated for the color of her skin, or her gender, or her magic, or her achievements, or her humanity. She’d been guilty of prejudice, too, in thinking Barry Wills, a lying leopard, and Roehm, a twisted sociopath lion, were typical shifters. The young lynx-shifter guards looked out for each other and some of the others against Roehm. She’d seen compassion and caring in the rough-around-the edges coyotes, and Trevor… she wanted to hitch her wagon to his star and follow him wherever he wanted to go. Preferably the nearest bed.

She waved to get the attention of the wand-wielding fairy, who casually leaned against the council’s table. “Master Pendragor, compel me to tell the truth and ask me what happened and what I stole.” She put her hands protectively over her stomach. “As long as it won’t hurt my child.”

Guivre glided around the table and onto the tarp, taking in the crowd with a sweep of her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Roehm’s pride and Roehm himself, before finally lighting on Jackie with a long, assessing look. “It shall be as you have asked. I suspect this tale needs a more comfortable setting.”

“If we don’t invite Florinel Brooker to observe,” said Pendragor, deftly twirling his now shiny wand like it was a miniature cheerleader’s baton, “we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Guivre looked annoyed, then sighed. “You’re right, of course.” She waved a finger toward Roehm. “Besides, he will need time to heal and collect his pride.”

Jackie cleared her throat. “Sorry if I’m out of line again, but could someone look at Trevor’s leg?” Blood had thoroughly soaked the leg of his jeans. She wished she had one of her mother’s magical healing poultices in her back pocket. If he was anything like the felines in the pride, he’d heal the battle wounds in a day, but it would be less painful if the lacerations were clean.

Trevor waved off her concern. “I’ll be fine.” He glanced at Pendragor, then turned and nodded respectfully at Guivre. “Can Jackie and her child get sanctuary, or at least a guest invitation until the hearing?”

Guivre crossed to behind the table to hold a whispered conversation with the council members.

Pendragor sat casually on the edge of the table and whistled. The seemingly careless tune had subtle power in every note. In other circumstances, Jackie would have loved to ask what the magic did.

Roehm began dragging himself along the tarp, toward his pride. Jackie felt the telepathic command he sent to his enforcers. Two cougars stepped onto the tarp and lifted him by his shoulders. Jackie had never been able to hear his orders. She’d assumed it was because she wasn’t a true member of the pride, but maybe her humanity got in the way. Not that she wanted to listen to anything Roehm had to say, but maybe it meant she wouldn’t be a good mate for Trevor.

The thought stunned her. Was she really thinking of mating with him? Surely, she just had a case of animal… okay, shifter lust. And there would be no lust-indulging that night, not with Trevor’s leg still healing.

Her back hurt, and the brim of her borrowed ball cap dripped with sweat. She felt like a tiny paper boat caught in the middle of a fast-running river. She was determined to do what was best for her daughter, but now she had Trevor to worry about, too.

Trevor glanced at the whispering council members, then limped toward her. The second he stepped into the chalk circle, she wrapped him in her arms. She drew in the scent and warmth of him while she could.

He seemed to sense her worry, and gently cradled her head against his chest. “We’ll be okay,” he murmured, then kissed her forehead. “Really.”

“Maybe.” She pulled back to look at the man who was becoming the center of her dreams and fantasies. “You humiliated Roehm. Now he wants to kill you, too.”

“Yeah, but it was worth it.” The corners of his mouth twitched with a smile. “Thanks for the coaching, Alpha Fight Master.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “I’m serious. When they were handing out honor, Roehm was sneaking in the back window, stealing extra helpings of greed and treachery.”

Trevor drew breath to speak, but was interrupted by Guivre clearing her throat.

“The council grants permanent sanctuary to Trevor Hammond, should he still wish it. The council grants temporary sanctuary to Jacqueline Breton and her child, with full glade protection.” Guivre’s dry recitation gave no hint of her personal opinion in the matter. She turned to meet Pendragor’s eyes with a long, meaningful look. Telepathy, Jackie guessed.

The lavender-skinned fairy nodded, then stood up from his slouch and turned sharp eyes to a scowling Roehm. Two of his guards were holding him up since his legs still didn’t work.

“Alpha Roehm, these are the terms. Six days from now, at noon, the full town council will hear your claim against Jacqueline Breton. We will grant passage for you and your pride on that day, but none of you may stay on our lands in the interim.”

One of Roehm’s enforcers growled that he’d stay wherever he wanted, but another elbowed him sharply and pointed to the sky, where the afternoon sun blazed through wispy clouds. “They have dragons, you moron.”

Pendragor smiled without humor. “We do, indeed.”

“Six days is too long,” growled Roehm. “She could find some human hidey-hole and disappear.”

Jackie found herself the center of attention. She started to speak, then remembered to put a foot on the tarp so she could be heard. “Six days is fine with me. I promise I’ll stay.” She crossed her arms.

Before Roehm could react, Pendragor pointed his wand at her foot, and power surged. “Your word is your bond.” An invisible weight settled around her ankle. It felt like a tracking spell. She nodded and stepped back. Trevor moved to stand behind her and rest his hands on her shoulders.

A crafty look passed over Roehm’s face. “I demand you impound everything she’s got. It’s evidence.”

Jackie sent a disdainful look toward Roehm’s naked, filthy, slack body. “I don’t think my maternity pants will fit you.”

Trevor snorted behind her, and the crowd laughed. Even the wyvern chuckled.

“I think not,” said Guivre, with a small smile. She waved fingers in obvious dismissal. “Leave within the hour or feed our dragons. Come back in six days or forfeit.” Her tone said she didn’t care one way or the other.

She turned her back on him and walked back around the table toward the wyvern. “Scholar, a word?”

Roehm swore a blue streak as his guards turned with him and headed toward the haphazard circle of decidedly worse-for-wear vehicles. Jackie felt sorry for the members of his pride, because once he healed, they’d likely be his punching bags.

Pendragor crossed toward Jackie and Trevor. As he did so, he pointed his wand toward the tarp and whistled three notes. The magic vanished so suddenly it made Jackie’s ears pop.

Up close, Pendragor seemed both more and less human. His flowing poet’s shirt revealed a chiseled, toned chest, worthy of being a cover model, but his variegated purple and gold hair turned out to be very fine feathers, and his eyes had an avian shape. She had never seen a fairy like him.

He waved toward her ankle, where the tracking spell still tingled. “You may go anywhere in the glade. I’ll introduce you to Shiloh, the deputy sheriff, so he can look out for you.” She thought she heard hints of a Russian accent in his musical voice. He gave her a wide smile. “You’ll like him.”

Behind her, Trevor rumbled, then coughed.

Pendragor laughed and looked up at Trevor. “You’ll like him, too. He’s very happily mated.”

She turned to look at Trevor in time to catch him blushing. She had to admit to being secretly flattered he was jealous and trying to hide it. Outside of the shifter-mate potential thing, men had rarely been interested in her for more than a casual good time, and she didn’t do casual.

“Mr. Hammond,” said Pendragor, “I am pleased to welcome you to Kotoyeesinay. The glade’s border will be instructed to admit you.” His tone sounded more formal than before.

“Call me Trevor. Glad to be here, and thanks. That magic barrier packs a whallop.” He squeezed her shoulders briefly. “I forgot to warn Jackie about it.”

Jackie shuddered at the memory. “Felt like being strapped naked to an exam table.”

“Apologies.” Pendragor shook his head. “The border was fine until they built the casino. Their security team added a complex set of spells to let the tourists in, and discourage the rest, while letting magical people and those in need in, but warn us about those with ill intent. It’s been a mess ever since. I’m trying to get it fixed.”

From out of a pocket that his form-fitting black pants should have been entirely too tight to have, Pendragor produced what looked like a tree-shaped trinket on a keychain and held it out to Trevor. “This charm is for your truck, so you can access the shortcut to town. I think you could find load-hauling customers here.”

Trevor smiled as he took the keychain. “That will definitely come in handy.”

Jackie realized she’d completely and selfishly forgotten that Trevor had upended his life and business just to bring her to safety. She turned to face him. “You need to get your trailer in Nebraska and deliver your load of furniture. Billings, wasn’t it?”

A stubborn look settled on his face. “I’m not leaving until the hearing.”

She crossed her arms and gave him her best stubborn look back. “Oh, yes, you are. I’m safe here until then, and it’s bad for your bottom line to piss off your customers.”

“It’s my…” He trailed off, then blew out a noisy breath. A flurry of emotions flitted across his face, too fast for her to read them. “You’re right. But I’m not leaving until I meet this sheriff guy, and not at all if I don’t trust him.”

She nodded. “Deal.” She reached out and took his hand, lacing her fingers through his, then turned to Pendragor. “Would you please introduce us to Deputy Sheriff Shiloh?”